The main objective of a preservation plan for Norwegian sound recordings is to arrange for the documentation of Norwegian history and culture through the use of sound recordings.
There is a time aspect here; an object must be preserved before it can be accessible. The main point is that it must be preserved in a way that will increase access. Since the content of the recording usually is of more interest than the physical carrier, the systematic arrangement of surrounding material can give information of great help before one chooses which recordings to listen to. Accordingly, preservation must include the surrounding material.
The following chapters will account for some conditions for a concerted preservation effort. We will establish criteria for the assessment of sound recordings and collections, and we will describe the four phases of protection (collection, preservation, accessibility and distribution) in order to have a basis for setting priorities.
We offer our descriptions as a contribution to a common base of knowledge for the discussion of priorities.
 Ole Tobias, a playback machine for phonographic rolls |
12.1 The distribution of responsibilitySound collections belong on many different administrative levels, and although a national network for sound preservation can be established, there will still be a conflict between professional priorities (strategies) and the administrative allocation of resource. We hope this plan can at least help in getting a common set of reference. |
Because Norway has such a variety of sound collections, it is important to develop a national network of competence rather than one centre of competence. To make this a dynamic network it is necessary to assign areas of responsibility to some of the actors. These can be named as "nodes of competence", and must possess or develop professional competence that will enable them to have a special responsibility for development and advice within their areas. The competence should be attached to thematic and / or methodic subject fields.
There are however some relatively large institutions that have not been developed on the basis of a networking philosophy. The material that resides in these centralised collections must be made accessible to all uses of the network.
It is desirable that the National Library should be given the overall responsibility of developing a functioning network of competence for Norwegian sound collections.
In order to make preservation work effective, there is a need for a more thorough and updated system of training. There are a lot of competent archivists, but many of the personnel that are assigned to the care of sound collections have not had adequate training for this. They must be given a chance of professional training, particularly in the field of using computers for digitisation and network presentation. Participation in the national Conference of Norwegian Sound Archives, The International Association of Sound and Audio-Visual Archives (IASA) and its Nordic Branch will be of great importance here.
Playback equipment is a prerequisite for making it possible to hear sound recordings. Original reproduction equipment is not only necessary to have in order to play back certain carriers; it is also a documentation in itself of how recording and playback was done.
As a general rule, the contents of all existing phonograph rolls should be transferred to new media, as more and more wax rolls now are falling apart , in part due to bad storage. When transferring rolls (and older discs) it is important to find the correct playback speed.
There are also modern methods for the playback of rolls and older discs. Most common are electrical playback systems which include features for noise reduction, but some use optical readers in combination with digital techniques.
There are some early (1980s) digital tape formats that are now extinct and the contents of these tapes will soon be unplayable when the few machines made for these formats no longer work. It is important to have these tapes converted to a standard digital tape or file format.
Many archives lack the equipment to reproduce old sound material, and the solution is to get help elsewhere. The National Library is able to play back all analogue tape formats at a variety of speeds.
Inspired by the wording in the Nature Conservation Act, an Act on the Preservation of Sound Recordings could define the preservation of sound recordings in the following way:
The preservation of sound recordings implies the management of sound recordings on the basis of the close connection between humanity and sound and in order to preserve the quality of sound for posterity.
A two-pronged approach should be envisioned:
Although sound as the product of a human activity usually also includes other/visual activities, there is still a considerable amount of artistic and scientific experience to be gathered from sound recordings.
To assess the potential value and need for preservation of a sound recording, these tables can be used:
| CONTENT | Professional | Regional / national |
|---|---|---|
| How unique? | ||
| How representative? | ||
| How endangered? | ||
| Educational value? | ||
| Documentation? | ||
| Action required? |
| SOUND CARRIER | Technical | Historical |
|---|---|---|
| How unique? | ||
| How representative? | ||
| How endangered? | ||
| Educational value? | ||
| Documentation? | ||
| Action required? |
Types of sound collections
A collection is a gathering of several sound recordings, and one institution may have several types of collection.
In relation to preservation these collections can be divided in three types:
Before deciding which action to take, it is necessary to compare several collections. But an assessment of the specific collection must also be made, touching on most of these points:
According to the types of collection mentioned above, one can locate collections in this table:
| VALUE | Regional / National | Professional | Special Qualities |
|---|---|---|---|
| **** | The collection is typical of a geographic area otherwise lacking or is little documented elsewhere. | The topic of the collection is without serious flaws and is well documented. The topics are well catalogued. | The collection contains unique recordings. The collection has high educational value. |
| *** | The collection is typical of certain traditions which are also documented elsewhere in the country, but it contributes in important areas. | The topic of the collection has lasting flaws, but is mainly intact from source to reproduction. The topics are well researched within some sub-topics, and are well catalogued. | The collection has recordings of great regional or topical value. Parts of the collection have been subject of professional assessment, and the collection is of high educational value. |
| ** | Parts of the collection have regional reference value, but this will mainly function as a supplement to other collections. Material mainly of local interest. | Parts of the collection has reference value, but it is otherwise limited due to lasting technical intervention and flaws in content. The professional status has been partly assessed, and the material has been systematised but maybe not catalogued. | The collection has recordings of some value. Parts of the collection have been used in professional contexts, but there are other collections which fuller cover the topics in question. |
| * | The collection contains little material of regional reference value. The region is well documented in other collections. | The collection is already limited through lasting technical intervention and lacking in content. It is not systematised or catalogued. | The collection contains recordings of little value both regionally and professionally. |
(See 10.1)
Norwegian releases:
If the legal deposit is to be effective, it is necessary for the publishers to take their responsibility seriously. This is feasible for the ones that are in the business a long time, but it is harder to reach those who maybe only do a few releases and disappear. It is difficult to get hold of releases that are not distributed through the well-known channels, and as a result many sound recordings evade legal deposit.
Foreign productions:
Ideally all recordings that can be related to the Norwegian sound ought to be deposited. The question is who is to be responsible for depositing the recordings. In the regulations to the Act, the obligation to deposit has basically been attached to releases by Norwegian record companies. This raises the question of those Norwegian artists who are published by foreign or international companies. Although the importer is supposed to deposit, these cases are not clear-cut. Some do and some don't. In order to get releases by such artists as Mari Boine, Leiv Ove Andsnes, Jan Garbarek, Morten Harket, Arve Tellefsen and Truls Mørk it has been necessary to collect them in other ways, usually by purchasing the releases as Norvegica.
Norvegica can be divided in two groups:
The purchase of Norvegica should to a larger extent also cover foreign releases that are not imported or distributed in Norway. As an example there are hundreds of Grieg recordings which never reach Norwegian shores, but which would be of both artistic and scientific interest.
The Act or at least its regulations should be revised in connection with the reorganisation of the University of Oslo Library and the National Library. There should be more resources assigned to give more information and clear routines should be established.
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Ideally, all recordings could be considered endangered material, since all media are subject to deterioration in time. But selecting a protection strategy solely based on age is not to be recommended. Inferior storage can also be an endangering factor. The solution is to move the material into a suitable storage environment, such as the one at the National Library. The lack of knowledge about a sound recording may lead to irreplaceable material being discarded. It is important to locate and collect sound material which is of no interest to the owner, but may be of value in another context. Therefore it is necessary to set up a national network of competence in order to collect and preserve old sound material. The National Library should be an important factor in this work, but it is absolutely necessary to have a climate of cooperation with existing museums and sound collections. |
 Tape attacked by fungus |