Official Photo and Video Archival Standards: Guidelines for Personal Use

Archiving photos and videos is crucial not only for institutions like libraries and museums but also for individuals looking to preserve personal memories. Understanding and leveraging official archival standards can greatly enhance the longevity and quality of these personal archives. Here’s a look at some key standards and guidelines and how they can be applied to personal photo and video collections.

Key Archival Standards

1. ISO Standards:
The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) provides several standards relevant to digital media archiving. For example, ISO 18902 provides guidelines for the storage materials used for photographic images to ensure they do not cause fading or staining. Similarly, ISO 14721, known as the OAIS (Open Archival Information System) reference model, outlines a framework for storing, managing, and preserving digital information over the long term.

2. FADGI Guidelines:
The Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative (FADGI) is a set of standards developed by U.S. federal agencies for digitizing historical content. For video, FADGI recommends formats like MXF and MOV for video files, using codecs such as JPEG 2000 or AVC Intra 100, to balance quality and file size effectively. For images, TIFF is recommended due to its non-compression, ensuring high-quality image preservation.

3. IASA Guidelines:
The International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA) offers guidelines specifically tailored for audiovisual archives. IASA’s TC-06 guideline, for instance, provides detailed information on the best practices for the digitization and handling of video documents, emphasizing the importance of choosing the right file formats and codecs for long-term preservation.

Leveraging These Guidelines for Personal Use

1. Choosing the Right Formats:
For video, consider using formats like MOV or MKV, which support a range of codecs and offer flexibility in terms of compression and quality. For photos, TIFF is preferred for archival purposes due to its uncompressed nature, which preserves the original quality of digital images.

2. Storage Solutions:
Adopt reliable and durable storage mediums such as SSDs for active storage and high-quality external hard drives or M-Discs for long-term storage. Cloud storage can also be an effective part of a 3-2-1 backup strategy—keeping three copies of any important file, on two different media, with one backup offsite.

3. Handling and Maintenance:
Handle physical media like DVDs or older tapes with care, store them in cool, dry places, and convert them to digital formats if they are in degradable formats like VHS or film. Regularly check the health of digital storage devices and update storage technologies every few years to mitigate risks of technological obsolescence.

4. Metadata and Organisation:
Maintain detailed metadata for each file, including the date of creation, subjects, and location, if possible. This not only helps in organizing the archives but also in retrieving specific files easily in the future. Software tools that support metadata management can be extremely useful.

5. Regular Updates:
Technology changes rapidly, and file formats that are standard now may become obsolete in the future. Regularly review and possibly update your digital formats to current standards, ensuring compatibility with modern playback and editing tools.

By incorporating these professional archival standards into your personal photo and video storage practices, you can significantly improve the lifespan and accessibility of your precious memories. While these guidelines may seem daunting at first, even partial implementation can go a long way in preserving your digital legacy.