Audiovisual Archive Exploitation in the Networked Information Society

Safeguarding the massive body of audiovisual content, including rich music collections, in audiovisual archives and enabling access for various types of user groups is a prerequisite for unlocking the social-economic value of these collections. Data quantities and the need for specific content descriptors however, force archives to re-evaluate their annotation strategies and access models, and incorporate technology in the archival workflow. It is argued that this can only be successfully done provided that user requirements are studied well and that new approaches are introduced in a well-balanced manner, fitting in with traditional archival perspectives, and by bringing the archivist in the technology loop by means of education and by deploying hybrid work-flows for technology aided annotation