Projects
Digital technologies developed and in some cases invented specifically for the Library will acquire, preserve and provide access to the world's largest collection of recorded sound and moving images.
SAMMA (System for the Automated Migration of Media Archives)
SAMMA was built by Media Matters in response to the Library's need to efficiently digitize the more than 600,000 videotapes in its collection. Over the next several years the Library will use the SAMMA robotic cassette reformatting system to migrate and digitize its ¾" video holdings, and will eventually expand to include other cassette-based video and audio formats. The final product will be preservation-quality MJPEG2000 digital files and the technical metadata describing the condition of the media item and the migration process.
IRENE (Image, Reconstruct, Erase, Noise, Etc.)
Scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory developed IRENE to help preservationists restore at-risk recordings and improve audio quality. IRENE uses digital imaging technologies to generate in real time high-resolution digital maps of the grooved surface of recordings, allowing preservationists to reconstruct damaged or broken recordings and to capture sounds without interference from the debris and other extraneous sounds present on deteriorated recordings.
Last Updated: 08/03/2007