Stewarding NYPL’s Audio and
Moving Image Collections
into the Future
Ann Thornton and Evelyn Frangakis
CNI Fall Meeting December 9, 2014
Now We Know
• NYPL has one of the largest and most significant AMI
collections in the worId
• The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation funded a comprehensive
assessment of this collection’s physical state, storage
conditions, cataloging needs, and preservation needs
• The data-driven assessment identified the scale and scope of
the challenge and outlined strategies by which to address it
• As a result, NYPL is developing a systematic and integrated
approach to preserve the most essential material
Stewarding NYPL’s AMI Collections
Where We Started
• Elevated profile of Library’s
AMI collections in 2010
• Ticking Clock: identified
AMI as an at-risk collection
• Wanted to be proactive;
began talking with the
Mellon Foundation
Stewarding NYPL’s AMI Collections
Building an Integrated Internal Program
• Historical lab investment in three
curatorial units
• Many needs across Library not
being addressed
• Reorganization consolidated labs
into single unit to serve entire
institution
• Technical specialists reporting to
Library’s central preservation
program
• Turned individual labs into a team
• IMLS Fellows rotated through labs
Stewarding NYPL’s AMI Collections
Environmental Scan and Partnerships
• Investigated other institutions’
approaches
• Modeled our approach to Indiana’s
• Allowed us to beta test MediaScore
• Modeled executive sponsorship,
AMI Working Group, guiding
principles, and project management
• BROAD involvement across NYPL
with multiple curatorial,
administrative, technical, and IT
units
Stewarding NYPL’s AMI Collections
Mellon-Funded Assessment
Ambitious 12-month time frame
Chose AVPreserve as contract partner
Phase 1:
• Surveyed curators, individual physical formats, and spaces
• Generated format-level inventory of all AMI materials
Phase 2:
Analyzed data and developed recommendations
Phase 3:
Assessed facilities, equipment, and workflows
Stewarding NYPL’s AMI Collections
MediaScore
Stewarding NYPL’s AMI Collections
Labor Hours
Stewarding NYPL’s AMI Collections
Life-cycle Costs
Stewarding NYPL’s AMI Collections
Findings - Collections
• Over 800,000 AMI items in 9
curatorial units across 3 of
NYPL’s research libraries
• 60 formats
• 4 asset types
• 1/3 of collection determined
high priority for preservation
(unique, rare, mission
critical)
• Cost of inaction
Stewarding NYPL’s AMI Collections
Cost of Inaction (CoI)
https://coi.avpreserve.com
• CoI is a model aimed at helping organizations make wellinformed decisions regarding digitization of legacy physical
AMI media and also understanding implications of their
options
• To date there has been no consistent way for organizations
to quantify the financial and intellectual cost of inaction (to
supplement traditional arguments and bridge
communication gaps between caretakers and budget
holders)
• Cost of Inaction addresses issue and offers platform to
enable productive discussion and decision making
Stewarding NYPL’s AMI Collections
Recommendations
• Scenarios developed for status quo, increased
outsourcing, fixed budget, and no loss
• Considered 15-year window of opportunity
• Scenarios included costs for: reformatting, cataloging,
physical storage, and digital storage
• Recommendations made for policy changes in acquisitions
and life-cycle management
Stewarding NYPL’s AMI Collections
Immediate Next Steps
• Reallocated vacant positions to create head of digital
preservation, head of AMI lab, audio engineer position,
cataloging/processing positions
• Further centralized processing staff to maximize capacity
• Still to come: further curatorial engagement for deeper
prioritization to ensure that collections that need
reformatting get into the workflow
• Developing focused fundraising strategy
Stewarding NYPL’s AMI Collections
Sharing Approaches and Progress
• The tools and methods used for and refined during project
can assist other institutions in addressing common needs
for AMI collection life-cycle management and preservation
• NYPL’s summary report is online
• NYPL will continue to share its progress through:
http://www.nypl.org/node/270307
and http://www.nypl.org/preservation
Stewarding NYPL’s AMI Collections
From Preservation Week 2014
80 Years of Bizet’s Habanera in one Stunning Rendition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBy1X4-ul7o&feature=youtu.be
Stewarding NYPL’s AMI Collections