Video

In the digitized, networked information society video and television are omnipresent and indispensable. Countless analog and digital recording techniques have emerged in the 60 years of this medium’s history. Many have already disappeared or soon will. The future use of content
depends on, among other things, the on-going transfer to suitable formats.

Activities

Carole and Paul Roussopoulos, 1969. Photography: Association Carole Roussopoulos

With the introduction of the video recorder, the audiovisual family was expanded by an independent medium. Television pictures were then able to be recorded on magnetic tape and played back as they were initially broadcast. Since then, video has long freed itself from the isolation of the TV studio and has had an enormously broad effect. Professional productions for companies or research institutions fulfil important communications and recording tasks, artists have used the medium for their projects since the end of the 1960’s, and private individuals replaced Super8 film with video by the 1980’s at the latest.

Memoriav Activities in Video/TV

Memoriav initiates and promotes projects for the preservation and availability of TV and video recordings in Switzerland. In collaboration with institutions that own video collections and the video competence network, selection criteria, transfer procedures, cataloguing methods and access forms are determined for each Project.
Explore the Projects (in German/French/Italian)
Memoriav advocates better access to video collections, so that, for example, television productions saved with the help of Memoriav are available to the general public. Of special interest are education and research institutions dependent on easy access to audiovisual recordings.
Memoriav sensitises interested parties and professional circles to the problems of video preservation through training courses and the presentation of saved recordings.
With the organisation and coordination of a video excellence network, Memoriav is filling a void in Switzerland’s framework of audiovisual institutions. The network tackles the contextual and technical aspects of the long-term preservation of video recordings. Thanks to the inclusion of different experts, the excellence network serves as a contact point for video preservation issues from all areas.
Go to the video excellence network (in German/French/Italian).

RECOMMENDATIONS

Selected information from the areas of archiving, cataloguing and digitisation, as well as practical advice on the care, handling and storage of audiovisual recordings.

Memoriav recommendations

Memoriav publishes recommendations for the preservation of audiovisual recordings. They were developed by the experts participating in Memoriav’s competence networks or result from Memoriav projects.

Since March 2022, the Memoriav recommendations are available as an online publication in German and French.

Memoriav Recommendations – Digital Archiving of Film and Video: Principles and Guidance

External recommendations

International recommendations and standards from the field of audiovisual cultural heritage preservation, published by expert organisations or specialised institutions:
list of links

Note

As a national organization Memoriav makes every effort to publish the contents of its web page in Switzerland’s three most important national languages: German, French and Italian.
We thank you for your understanding that we are able to translate only a small part of the contents into English.