The AV collections of the Finnish National Sound Archive — accessible, yet safely preserved

BAAC CONFERENCE 2022 ABSTRACT

Aku-Pekka Kurjenniemi
Assistant librarian
The Finnish National Sound Archive
The National Library of Finland

In my presentation, I will discuss the audiovisual collections of the Finnish National Sound Archive and the contingency plans and safety measures taken to make sure the collections will be safely preserved in normal and emergency situations.

The National Library of Finland is the oldest and largest scholarly library in Finland. It is responsible for the collection, description, preservation and accessibility of Finland’s published national heritage and the unique collections under its care. The Finnish National Sound Archive is Finland's most extensive archive of public recordings and is a part of the National Collection of the National Library of Finland. It contains most Finnish audio recordings produced since 1901. The archive also includes several unique music collections obtained from private parties. The Finnish National Sound Archive is accrued through legal deposit copies, procurements and donations. The archive contains both music and voice recordings in various formats, from physical recording media to born digital materials.

The main points of my presentation are the ways the AV materials in the National Collection are stored, made accessible to the academia and public without endangering the collections, and the practices that the National Library and the National Sound archive will undertake during different emergency situations. At present the National Library is surveying and bringing its contingency plans and the practices for safeguarding collections up to date and the work will be completed in the autumn of 2022.