IASA 2018 Annual Conference

Two sound archives are going to move into the Humboldt Forum in Berlin in 2019: The Berliner Phonogramm-Archiv (Ethnologisches Museum – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) and the Lautarchiv (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin). Both archives have their own databases but as they want to cooperate intensively, it is being considered if data from both archives could be brought together. In addition, enabling international and intercultural cooperations is a particular concern of the Humboldt Forum. Thus, on the one hand, data should be made accessible—particularly with regard to online access; on the other hand, questions around the legal situation are still unanswered. Another challenge lies in the configuration of a meta-archive: We are looking for a database layout which will allow us to collect ideas, details, and references that might be important, but are not yet verified. Moreover, we want to provide information about the different kinds of usage: How often have researchers, artists, journalists, students, made use of a certain recording? How has it been used, and what was the person who used it interested in? This information may be interesting for future research as well. Solutions for these challenges should meet the respective requirements of both archives, which contain different kinds of recordings, and they are up for debate. This paper approaches the aforementioned problems and engages in discussing potential solutions.