Abstract

The new definition of the professional profile of information managers in the digital era cannot be uniformly considered, but will be determined by particular variations in each sector. The specific field of audiovisual production, defined by the ever increasing consumption of image-based digital content and a fragmented market of providers, will require a multi-skill profile that is not always compatible with the former monographic identity of information managers in some organizations. This change will not be viable without the provision of appropriate training opportunities that cover all the main new skills requested by this sector, which are identified in this paper.

Abstract

Digitization and the rapid development of Internet capabilities are encouraging audiovisual archives to add parts of their collections to the web, both for commercial and for nonprofit or education purposes. This article describes the different services offered by online archives, befitting the nature of the archive and of the end users in each case, their development of new business strategies, presence in social networks, creation of distribution channels, educational programs and collaboration projects. Moreover, the open access that the Internet allows also helps film production companies, who find in these archives a new source of inspiration.

Abstract

All trends seem to indicate that, to survive in a virtual environment, mass media need to incorporate some operational principles specific to the social media. This paper focusses on how the traditional Media are implementing 2.0 tools, incorporating to their know-how a new way of interaction with users based on collaborative participation and users- generated content. Some Spanish media, such as Elpais. com for online press and RTVE.es for the audiovisual sector, represent different strategies where users are connected with each other; they share ideas, information, entertainment and projects. However, when using 2.0 tools users and media should know they are facing potential legal risks, especially related to intellectual property, personal data protection, privacy, reputation and right to publicity.

Abstract

The need to preserve audiovisual archives and the possibilities for their dissemination resulting from digitisation have generated a growing interest in the development of platforms to provide access to their content. One of these platforms is VideoActive, a pan-European collaborative project that has developed a thematic approach to European history through TV and to the history of European TV. One of its key objectives is to encourage collaboration with the academic world. The consortium has developed its own technical infrastructure to offer at least 10,000 items from 10 different European archives, including that of Televisió de Catalunya, the Catalan public service broadcaster that seeks to contribute to international awareness of Catalan culture.

Abstract

The audiovisual holdings of archives, libraries and museums are in danger due to the degradation of analogical content recorded on tapes. The article lists the possible damages suffered by videotapes as well as the problems posed by the technical obsolescence of equipment needed to read them. There is an international consensus that digitalization is the best way to preserve videotapes. Digitization is not an easy process considering the complexity of video’s digital file formats, which include rich multimedia wrappers and multiple standards for compressing video and audio. Technical decisions should specifically address the needs of each different service, which is illustrated with a case study on audiovisual recordings from local televisions in Spain.

Abstract

The distribution of large audiovisual archives through electronic networks has problems like the lack of scalability and an excessive cost. To deal with these obstacles, some institutions and broadcasters are applying peer-to-peer architectures in order to optimize the transmission and to reduce its cost. This article explains this model and its main characteristics, as well as some of the projects which are using it nowadays. It analyses the advantages associated to this system and the contribution it can make for a more efficient distribution of archives. The aim is to make the audiovisual heritage available to a citizenry educated in a culture of images and sound

Abstract

Although many analogic audiovisual archives are still awaiting a digitization project that guarantees their preservation and public access, a massive generation of audiovisual content is taking place, once the source has completed the transition to digital production and distribution. The demand for an increasingly diversified production at TV stations is leading to the need to prioritize image retrieval from the archives for reuse. Efficient alternatives for automatic metadata extraction, indexing and searching are sought, and text information to describe images continues to be necessary. The documentary image processing is extremely costly in human resources, with dedication times of two, three or even more times the length of the treated material. In parallel, part of the audiovisual production is indexed during the production process by people other than archivists, librarians or information scientists. Therefore, a transformation of the traditional tasks carried out by the above mentioned professionals is becoming more evident; on the other hand, these professionals continue to be isolated and less hybridized than expected with other labor profiles.

Abstract

The reuse of archive footage is usual in television productions to complete or contextualize a story, to develop a biography or to cover anniversaries. Other times it is used when there are no current images related to the story or just to fill the schedule grid. However, not all archive materials can be reused; contractual rights, intellectual property and individuals’ fundamental rights must be preserved. The lack of awareness of these standards and restrictions can create problems. Pictures from the Internet have become another common audiovisual source, but due to their special characteristics, they must be used very carefully.

Abstract

This paper examines segment-based shows and televisual nostalgia from the perspective of audiovisual documentation. Both phenomena have gained prominence in recent years among entertainment shows and represent a firm commitment to the increase in value of audiovisual archives. Segment-based shows are proposed as a curated audiovisual product. However, within this context of documentary product creation, there is concern that press archives, when compared with television archives, are facing a difficult future.

Abstract

The results of a project on news segmentation at Radio Nacional de España (RNE) carried out by the RTVE Technological Innovation and Media Management areas is presented. The aim of this project is to apply artificial intelligence to automatically transcribe and cut the news items that make up a radio news program. The main goals of this project are to increase the accessibility of the content and to allow its reusability on various platforms and social media. The project was planned in two phases, covering system configuration and service delivery. The minimum quality criteria required were defined in advance, both for automatic voice transcription and for news segmentation. For the speech-to-text process, the highest word error rate (WER) allowed was 10%, while the precision rate for the news segmentation was 85%. System performance in both transcription and segmentation was considered to be sufficient, although a higher degree of accuracy in news cutting is expected in the coming months. The results show that, despite using these quite mature technologies, adjustment and learning processes and human intervention are still necessary.