AUDIOVISUAL PRESERVATION WORK

Here I’m preparing Grunding Stenorette dictation reels for digitization in my former lab at UNC-Chapel Hill. These reels are fairly standard, albeit thin 1/4” audiotape on small reels. The quirk is that they were recorded by “rim-drive” machines with only one motor driving the take-up reel, instead of the capstan and reel motors used in most tape media machines to keep consistent speed over the heads. The physics of rotating less and less tape around the unregulated supply reel on the original recorders mean that the media is progressively moving much faster over the head as the tape is played. When played back on modern equipment, this leads to a linear speed increase throughout the tape. Because the original playback machines are a bit tough on tapes and do not interface well with modern reformatting equipment, the solution is to wind them onto standard 7” reels, transfer them at an average speed over the course of the tape (~2 ips), and apply pitch processing in post-production. The pitch processing is the easy part - the hiss produced by the original recorder creates a visible diagonal line that precisely follows the speed change.

Current

Audio Preservation Specialist

Smithsonian Libraries and Archives

As part of the Audiovisual Media Preservation Initiative, or AVMPI, I serve the audio collections of the Smithsonian at a pan-institutional level, specifying and building three digitization labs, and developing workflows, quality control procedures, and performing digitization transfer work for the world’s largest education, museum, and research complex.

PAST

Audiovisual Preservation and Digitization Lead

The Ohio State University

I led the beginning stages of a digitization and preservation program, in collaboration with Special Collections staff and the Preservation and Digitization Services department at one of the largest academic research libraries in the United States. This included planning workflow development, deliverable specifications, digital preservation strategy, vendor digitization work, and in-house digitization lab specification.

Junior Fellow

Library of Congress

I served as a fellow in the Digital Collections Management and Services section at Library of Congress. In this role, I contributed to the Library’s Sustainability of Digital Formats website via digital file format research, connecting other hubs such as the UK National Archives’ PRONOM and Wikidata to one of the world’s leading digital preservation resources. Additionally, I co-wrote a new Format Description Document for the defunct word processing format WordStar. I also conducted user research among the site’s 40,000 average monthly users and formulated a report containing data analysis and strategic planning recommendations for the future of the website.

Teaching Assistant

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

In addition to my work as an engineer, I supplemented my graduate education by working as a teaching assistant for AMST 560: Food and American Culture with Prof. Kelly Alexander. I really enjoyed being in the classroom in this role and gained experience communicating with and assisting students. Additionally, this offered multiple insights into performing outreach and access to materials for undergraduate students, and made me realize that I really love collaborating and educating as part of working in a library.

Preservation Audio Engineer

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Southern Folklife Collection

I evaluated and digitized legacy audio material for UNC’s University Libraries division, primarily serving the materials housed in the Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library. Additionally, our team at the Southern Folklife Collection worked with smaller cultural heritage institutions throughout the state to serve as a regional digitization hub for AV materials. Materials ranged from DATs to transcription discs to “rim-drive” Grunding Stenorette dictation reels. My role handled digitization and metadata workflows, as well as physical object remediation and equipment maintenance. I also wrote some blog posts! Work for the team was funded by a $1.7 million Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant.

Senior Quality Control Technician

George Blood, L. P.

I ensured that company production and media digitization were successful and up to client standards. Additionally, I informed and refined workflows upstream of me in real time by communicating with staff to mitigate fail prone behavior or processes. Tasks involved spot-checks of 1:1 analog-to-digital transfers and their compressed or trimmed derivatives, as well as schema based documentation and file metadata. This position drew upon - and expanded - my knowledge of audio and video technology, digital media "flavors," and metadata workflows in a media production environment. I managed two team members and led the department. Projects included work with the U.S. National Archives, the New York Public Library, the Smithsonian Institution, and many more.

AUDIOVISUAL PRESERVATION PROJECTS AND SERVICE

Project Lead

AVKID (Audio/Video Known Issues Data)

AVKID is a project focused on gathering an accessible, structured corpus of “known issues” found with equipment commonly used in A/V preservation efforts. The focus is on subsiding the loss of knowledge that technicians and professionals might possess, documented informally in forums, databases, and brains across the globe. The scope of a “known issue” is defined here as a “problem that shouldn’t exist, but does, and often enough to be notable.” This includes “quirks” due to lack of manufacturer foresight, parts scarcity, firmware issues — anything experienced practitioners are aware of that might not be apparent to someone who hasn’t been working with these machines for years.

Board Member-at-Large, Virtual Conference Manager, Continuing Education Series Co-Coordinator

Association for Recorded Sound Collections

The Association of Recorded Sound Collections brings together archival audio professionals and private collectors for robust discussions surrounding recorded sound preservation techniques, information, and culture. As a member of the Conference Committee, I took on the role of selecting and evaluating web platform vendors to host the 2021 ARSC Virtual Conference, and was subsequently elected to the Association’s Board. Additionally, I co-coordinate ARSC’s first-ever Continuing Education series of webinars, funded by a CLIR/NRPB Grant. This series focuses on knowledge-sharing, innovative concepts, and new developments throughout the field.

Audio Archive Volunteer

Thomas Edison National Historical Park

I performed transfer, preservation, and cataloging duties in the audio vault at the site of the inventor's old lab, one of the most complete archives of Edison discs and cylinders in the world. I assisted in the digitization workflow for Library of Congress' National Jukebox preservation initiative. This project extended beyond my volunteer experience and into my paid work at the project's contracted digitization vendor, George Blood (listed above.)

Education

M.S., Information Science

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ‘22

B.A., Audio Post Production & Sound Design

Emerson College ‘14