Vilnius Conference 2009

Conference Announcement

Joint BAAC (Baltic Audiovisual Archival Council) and LCSA (Lithuanian Central State Archive) Annual Conference
"Aggregation and Management of Audiovisual Content in the Digital Space"
The Joint BAAC (Baltic Audiovisual Archival Council) and LCSA (Lithuanian Central State Archive) Annual Conference (The Riga Seminar) takes place this year in Vilnius, Lithuania, October 4-7, 2009.

The conference will be hosted by the Lithuanian Central State Archive, and Institute of Library and Information Science at the Vilnius University.

Large-scale digitization, and aggregation of digital content in the national and international portals representing cultural heritage, is the latest trend in management of cultural resources in Europe and worldwide. This is exemplified by such international initiatives as European Film Gateway, Europeana and other emerging networks. Such portals improve access to heritage resources for diverse audiences, and unlock it for various uses. However, building such repositories of shared resources requires collaboration and organizational decisions.

The development of virtual memory institutions for audiovisual collections requires the establishment of effective content management solutions. High on the agenda of audiovisual archives are a wide spectrum of issues. They range from analogue-to-digital conversion, development and maintenance of digital archives, long-term preservation of digitized and born-digital material, as well as standardization and interoperability of digital information systems.

In accordance with the latest emerging issues in the management and dissemination of audiovisual heritage, the conference, "Aggregation and Management of Audiovisual Content in the Digital Space", aims to promote a higher visibility for the Baltic heritage in a digital environment. Nationally and internationally, this can be achieved by sharing best practices and encouraging collaborative networks for stakeholders.

Three major aspects to be discussed in conference sections:

1. Content aggregation experiences - national and international initiatives focusing on large-scale cultural heritage systems, allowing for improved access to diverse audiences.

2. Content management - issues at various stages of the content management cycle. These range from digital conversion or creation of born-digital content, to its processing, description, access and long-term archiving. Special emphasis on digital preservation and standardization.

3. Audiovisual content - access to the European audiovisual heritage: Projects and Initiatives. Actual practice in digitisation at the Lithuanian Central State Archive  (national initiatives, international projects: MIDAS, EFG). Seeking "balance" between protection and access.

The conference will be conducted in English.

Program Committee:

Juozas Markauskas
Valerija Jusevičiūtė
Zinaida Manžuch
Piret Noorhani

Conference Organizers:

Valerija Jusevičiūtė - Lithuanian Central State Archive
Zinaida Manžuch - Institute of Library and Information Science at the Vilnius University
Piret Noorhani - Estonian National Museum
Andris Ķesteris - Library and Archives Canada
Georg Eckes (Deutsches Filminstitut-DIF)