IASA welcomes you to participate in the 47th Annual IASA Conference hosted by and held at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., USA from 25-29 September 2016.
IASA invites everyone engaged in or simply curious about the discovery, care, preservation, and dissemination of our sound and audiovisual heritage, to join us in the US capital and explore the digital landscape as it impacts and benefits us all.
This year's conference theme, A World of Opportunity: Audiovisual Archives and the Digital Landscape, will touch upon and delve deeply into the following sub-themes:
- Born digital audiovisual content
- Continuing issues surrounding digitization (dematerialization)
- International access to intellectual property
- Planning for and supporting large files and large data storage
- Content integrity and authenticity
- Metadata management for internal and external uses
- Managing obsolescence in formats, software, and hardware
The programme includes papers, keynotes, posters, tutorials and practical workshops.
Welcome to the IASA 47th Annual Conference!
Those of us on the Local Arrangements Committee here in Washington DC look forward to greeting you in September when IASA convenes for its 47th time. Washington DC is a vibrant, walkable, bike-friendly city with excellent public transportation and served by three airports as well as rail and bus lines. It’s well-known for its wide variety of cultural, historic and professional places of interest – including the many free attractions in the downtown National Mall – and boasts a growing reputation for local food and craft beer. Not only is it a great area for the conference, it’s also a wonderful place for family and friends of all ages to visit.
In order to accommodate complementary events of interest to IASA members including the Audio Engineering Society (AES) meetings in Los Angeles and the travel logistics for visiting the Library’s audiovisual “crown jewel” - the Packard Campus in Culpeper, Virginia - some aspects of this year’s meeting will differ from the traditional IASA conference format.
Those wishing to get to the AES Los Angeles meeting starting on Thursday, Sept. 29th, will find flights from all three of the Washington area airports, most leaving on Wednesday afternoons and early evenings, given the three-hour time difference between the East and West Coasts. Travel time to Culpeper is generally around two hours each way, so a visit to that facility requires a full day. This trip is limited to 110 people so be sure to sign up early to secure a spot on the bus.
We have therefore scheduled workshops likely to be taught by those who might go then to AES and the major paper sessions on Monday through Wednesday, and moved all of the professional visits to Thursday. Those not traveling to Culpeper will find a full day's schedule of tours and many options for visits to interesting D.C.-area archives.
And we will rejoin at the end of the day for the closing dinner at the National Press Club, “the Place Where News Happens,” and an integral part of the news and information culture of Washington.
Most of the meetings will take place at the Library of Congress in the historic Capitol Hill district:
Since the Library is not open on Sundays, however, the newcomers’ welcome and the committee/section meetings will take place in the beautiful National Museum of the American Indian, just 10 minutes’ walk or one subway stop away from the Library of Congress: http://nmai.si.edu/visit/washington/
(Everyone here will tell you that Mitsitam, the café in the Indian Museum, is the best in D.C., so we trust you will enjoy the museum and hope that you will take time during the day to visit some of its exhibits.)
Wait! There's more!
Extend your stay in Washington DC by one day and attend this exciting follow-on event: The National Endowment for the Humanities will host a one-day symposium on Friday, September 30 at The Constitution Center in Washington, D.C. titled Play/Back: Preserving Audiovisual Heritage. The symposium aims to foster collaboration among humanities scholars, preservationists, educators, students, curators, and filmmakers. The proceedings will be free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required and space is limited. Registration and further information is available at http://www.neh.gov/playback. This event will be held at the Constitution Center (400 7th St SW; Metro: L'Enfant Plaza; see http://www.neh.gov/about/visiting-neh).