[ARSCLIST] ARSC Conference 2009

[Bill Klinger <klinger@xxxxxxxxx>]

The Outreach Committee of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections
(ARSC) posts the following message. If you have any questions, please click
on one of the links or e-mail addresses below.


--- 2009 ANNUAL CONFERENCE ---

You are invited to join friends and colleagues for the 43rd annual
conference of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections. The event will
be held at The Liaison Capitol Hill, an Affinia Hotel, at 415 New Jersey
Avenue NW, Washington, DC, May 27-30.

The hotel, which opened in April 2008, is located three blocks from the
Union Station railway depot, ten minutes from Reagan National Airport, and
within walking distance of the U.S. Capitol, Library of Congress, the
memorials on the National Mall, and the Smithsonian museums.

For ARSC conference attendees, a block of rooms has been reserved for the
nights of May 26-30, at a special rate of $149 per night, single or double
(one king bed or two queen beds). The rate also applies three days prior and
one day after the conference, based on availability. Reservations must be
made by May 5 at (866) 233-4642 or reservations@xxxxxxxxxxxx Remember to
request the ARSC 2009 DC Conference Rate. Rooms are available on a
first-come, first-served basis. We expect our room block to sell out before
the conference, and possibly prior to May 5.

For more information about the Liaison Capitol Hill:
http://www.affinia.com/Washington-DC-Hotel.aspx?name=Liaison-Capitol-Hill

Register early and save! Full conference registration postmarked by May 4 is
$145 for ARSC members, $170 for non-members, and $85 for students. After
that date, registration is $170 for ARSC members, $195 for non-members, and
$95 for students.

Single-day registration fees are as follows: $50 per day, members; $58 per
day, non-members; $30 per day, students. After May 4, $58 per day, members;
$65 per day, non-members; $35 per day, students.

For the complete preliminary program, registration form, and further details
about the conference:
http://www.arsc-audio.org/conference/

For further information (including exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities),
contact Brenda Nelson-Strauss, Conference Manager, at bnelsons@xxxxxxxxxxx
or 812-855-7530.


CONFERENCE PROGRAM

ARSC is dedicated to the preservation and study of sound recordings -- in
all genres of music and speech, in all formats, and from all periods.
Reflecting this broad mission, the upcoming conference offers talks and
sessions that will appeal to both professionals and collectors.

Scheduled presentations include:
-- Copyright Reform: "The Fight for Copyright Reform and What It Means for
You" (Tim Brooks) and "The Outlook for Sound Recording Copyright Reform in
2009 and Beyond" (panel) comprise this keynote session, as ARSC actively
advocates in Washington for copyright reform to promote better preservation
of and access to our recorded heritage.
-- "The State of Audio Preservation in the United States: A National Study
and Next Steps" (Patrick Loughney, Gregory Lukow, and Eugene DeAnna)
-- "A Partnership for Preservation: UCLA and the Lou Curtiss San Diego Folk
Festival Collection" (Aaron M. Bittel, Russ Hamm, and Lou Curtiss)
-- "A Brave New World at the National Archives" (Kate Murray and Jessica
Sims)
-- "Access to Historic Field Recordings: The American Folklife Center's
Digital Card Catalog" (Margaret Kruesi)
-- "Worlds of Sound: The Story of Smithsonian/Folkways" (Richard Carlin,
Atesh Sonneborn, and Andrea Kalin).

Two Technical Practicums will be offered:

1. Signal Recovery & Data Integrity
-- "It's Not Just Analog: Issues and Problems Recovering Linear Digital
Audio Tracks" (Robert Heiber)
-- "Phase Equalization and Its Importance in the Playback of Disc Records"
(Gary A. Galo)
-- "If You Turn Over Rocks, You Will Find Things" (Jason Bachman, Preston
Cabe, and George Blood).

2. Preservation Workflow
-- "Scaling Up: Increasing Audio Preservation Efficiency through Automation
and Parallel Transfers" (Mike Casey)
-- "From Ingest to Web-Site: Creating a Preservation Master and Automating
On-line Access" (Rob Poretti).

The Technical Committee Session is "Perfection vs. Reality: Strategies for
Preserving Born Digital Audio" and consists of:
-- "Born Digital but Not Equal: A Survey of Digital Audio Formats, from
Physical Media to Files" (David Nolan)
-- "Strategies for Preserving Born Digital Audio" (Chris Lacinak)
-- "Case Study: The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music" (Travis
Gregg).

Don't forget to bring your questions to the Technical Committee's Open
Meeting on the evening of May 28.


PRE-CONFERENCE TOUR OF NAVCC

The Library of Congress invites registered conference attendees to tour the
new National Audio-Visual Conservation Center (NAVCC), in Culpeper,
Virginia, on May 27. Visitors will enjoy an in-depth tour of the
state-of-the-art facility that houses the sound-recording and moving-image
collections of the Library of Congress. The buildings on the 45-acre campus
provide 415,000 square feet of space for cataloging, re-formatting, and
storage of more than five million sound recordings, videotapes, motion
pictures, and born-digital works.

The library staff has planned this full-day open house especially for the
ARSC conference. Participants will be welcome in all the primary areas of
NAVCC: the Moving Image Section, Recorded Sound Section and Vault Spaces,
Digital Archive, Audio and Video Preservation Sections, Film Laboratory and
Nitrate Film Vaults, and the Mt. Pony Theater and Listening Auditorium.

Library staff will be on hand to discuss the facility and demonstrate their
work in many areas, including: high-end audio preservation suites for disc
and tape preservation; rooms for high-throughput audio digitization; IRENE
and SAMMA, new technologies for digitization of discs and videotapes;
vintage A/V equipment; cataloging and collection management tools and
strategies; processing of paper collections; new workflow management
software; and A/V conservation and storage strategies.

The NAVCC tour is limited to 100 people; reservations will be accepted on a
first-come, first-served basis. The $50-per-person fee for this optional
pre-conference tour includes round-trip bus transportation from the Liaison
Hotel and a box lunch. Due to expected demand, the tour is open only to
those who register for the conference.


ADDITIONAL PRE-CONFERENCE TOURS

For those not wishing to go to NAVCC, three free tours of area archives will
be offered on May 27. Tours will depart from the lobby of the Liaison Hotel
at 1:00 p.m.
1. National Public Radio and Smithsonian/Folkways -- Downtown Washington
2. Library of Congress Music Division and American Folklife Center --
Capitol Hill
3. National Archives II and the University of Maryland Library of American
Broadcasting --College Park.

For more information about all pre-conference tours:
http://www.arsc-audio.org/conference/tour.html


AWARDS BANQUET

The conference will conclude on the evening of May 30 with the annual Awards
Banquet at Clyde's of Gallery Place. The restaurant is located next to the
Verizon Center, in the heart of the vibrant 7th Street business district,
about eight blocks from the Liaison Hotel or 15-20 minutes by foot. We have
reserved the Piedmont Room, modeled after a grand Victorian saloon and
decorated with equestrian antiques. Winners of the 2008 and 2009 ARSC Awards
will be honored, and the Local Arrangements Committee is promising
additional entertainment. Tickets for the banquet are $50 per person.




The Association for Recorded Sound Collections is a nonprofit organization
dedicated to the preservation and study of sound recordings -- in all genres
of music and speech, in all formats, and from all periods. ARSC is unique in
bringing together private individuals and institutional professionals --
everyone with a serious interest in recorded sound.