6 August. The first international course SOIMA 2007: Safeguarding Sound and Image Collections started this week at the National Archives of Brazil (AN), Rio de Janeiro. The opening of the course was attended by Jaime Antunes da Silva, Director-General of the National Archives of Brazil.

The course is being organized in partnership with:

• National Archives of Brazil (AN)
• Laboratório de Ciência da Conservação (LACICOR)
• Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
• Cinemateca Brasileira, São Paulo, Brazil
• Centre de Recherche sur la Conservation des Collections, (CRCC), France
• Coordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations (CCAAA), UK
• European Commission on Preservation and Access (ECPA)
• Masters Degree Program in Moving Image Archiving and Preservation, New York University (NYU), USA
• Office of Records Services, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), USA

It will provide an overview of issues related to the preservation and access of audiovisual materials and promote better understanding of the possibilities offered by new technologies within the framework of management of cultural heritage collections.

Nineteen mid-career professionals responsible for managing audiovisual collections in heritage institutions from fifteen countries are attending the course, thanks to the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Member States represented: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Barbados, Brazil, Chile, Georgia, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Senegal, United States, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe

updated on: 20 November, 2009