Sustainable Archiving and Storage Management of Audiovisual Digital Assets

With the advent of end-to-end tapeless production and distribution, the concept of what it means to archive audiovisual content is being challenged. The traditional role of the archive as a repository for material after broadcast is changing as a result of digital file-based technologies and high-speed networking. Rather than being at the end of the production chain, the archive is becoming an integral part of the production process and is being absorbed into wider digital storage environments, including those distributed or used across organizational boundaries. This paper presents some of the work done in the U.K. AVATARm project on service-oriented approaches to digital permanence and preservation of audiovisual content. The main focus is how to specify and govern federated storage services to ensure the long-term safety, security, and accessibility of audiovisual assets in a managed and cost-effective way.