Mining campus treasures

by Pamela Sichel

Brandeis brings valuable archives to the web.

May 2006

How many recorded gems of American history are languishing in campus archives on outdated media? At Brandeis University, the answer begins with 500 audio recordings, and they are the tip of the iceberg.

In the 1950's, Brandeis hosted lectures by Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, psychologist Abraham Maslow and poet W.H. Auden, among others. Now Karen Abramson, assistant director for special collections and university archives at Brandeis, is delighted to make the recordings available to anyone with an internet connection.

"Those recordings were sitting on reel-to-reel magnetic tape. I formatted the tapes into preservation masters. Then they were transferred to a new system we're using which allowed me to edit them for our web site. As a result of this project we are providing public access to these lectures for the first time in 50 years," Abramson says.

A classy asset management tool

The software that enabled Abramson to archive the rare recordings digitally is Vfinity, a web-based asset management tool. A distinguishing characteristic of the product is its development as an online tool from conception to its present form.

"Vfinity functions totally online," says Lee Morgenroth, the company's vice president of technology. "The product was built to deal with rich media as well." Users can perform audio searches by word and visual searches by image. While the product does not replace video editing software such as Avid, Vfinity provides Avid editors with greater access to archival material such as video clips and sound bites.

"Asset management is the focus. Network is the medium. Older asset management systems were developed with little web or internet awareness," Morgenroth says.

Numerous possibilities

Digitizing and archiving audio files are just a a few of Vfinity's capabilities. An archive administrator can create catalog classifications. When searched, the user receives preview, which can be thumbnails with metadata.

The software is ideal for broadcast news, telecommunications and security surveillance. Additional higher education applications include instructional presentations using any media that can be digitized. Outside the classroom, athletic, cultural and fundraising events are ideal for archival.

What's next for Vfinity at Brandeis?
Prioritize a long and growing list of projects. Digitize Martin Luther King's 90-minute lecture by September '06. Digitize lectures by psychology pioneer Abraham Maslow. Digitizing conference video footage for DVDs. Putting managed digital assets to curriculum use by faculty. Digitize the campus photography collection - negatives and still images. Digitize political campaigns of the 1960's. To hear Eleanor Roosevelt's lecture clips, click on go.brandeis.edu/eleanor.

"The Vfinity demo knocked me off my feet. I had never seen anything like it. You can search image or text. I started imagining all sorts of possibilities. The product had so much promise, I just wanted to acquire the tool and work out the applications later," says Perry Hanson, chief information officer at Brandeis.

The American Jewish Historical Society is headquartered at Brandeis, along with its library of thousands of films. "We would like to partner with them and get the library digitized," Hanson adds. "Meanwhile, we're experimenting with different formats. We did a Katrina disaster management teach-in with Anita Hill moderating and captured it digitally. We can search the audio track by word," he says.

Meanwhile, the person who fills a new digital initiative librarian position will prioritize and manage the opportunities afforded by the new system.

Is it easy to use?

After using Vfinity for five months, Abramson says Vfinity is easy to master. Josh Wilson, a Brandeis IT specialist, is pleased with the learning curve. "Training someone to create clips from an asset takes about two hours," he says. According to company VP Morgenroth, "Anybody who can use the Internet can use our system. Google has trained our user base."