On June 25-26 the University of New Caledonia in Nouméa hosted the 1st Joint Workshop of FIAT/IFTA and SEAPAVAA, the South-East Asian and Pacific Audiovisual Archives Association. The workshop brought together 23 archivists from 13 countries and was lead by FIAT/IFTA Preservation and Migration Commission members Etienne Marchand (INA) and Brecht Declercq (VIAA).

Titled ‘Databases for Audiovisual Preservation’ the workshop aimed first to make the participants acquainted with databases as a concept, the difference with a simple spreadsheet and their importance for audiovisual archives management. Step by step, participants learnt to formulate their needs in the form of use cases and how databases can help in getting them fulfilled. LibreOffice Base was chosen as a demo tool because it provides a simple insight into how a database works and what to pay attention to when setting it up. 

“ It was so helpful and I appreciate all of your insightful instruction. I truly had a fantastic time and it reminded me of all the reasons why I love studying and working in film and media. “

[Hannah Garibaldi, UC Santa Barbara, workshop participant]

Working in small groups participants learned to describe carriers, to define fields properties and to compare metadata models. At the end of the first day participants were able to set up a basic database with several tables and connected fields. The second day focused on the basic skills of field mapping for data import, error correction and data cleanup. Through basic exercises the pitfalls of mass editing were made clear. Also the importance of data exports, reporting and statistics were briefly discussed. 

During the last part of the workshop the participants studied the particular case of a fictitious broadcaster archive prone to several kinds of risks. In mixed groups, they each chose one threat, of which they tried to reduce the risk by designing a specific database. Finally, they presented the database concept that they had developed to each other.

After the Joint Workshop, Brecht Declercq and Etienne Marchand also attended the 23rd SEAPAVAA Conference at the world famous Centre Culturel Tjibaou in Nouméa. More pictures about that conference are available on the FIAT/IFTA Facebook page.