BAAC Conference 2016

Conference Announcement

The 13th BAAC annual conference will be held from November 2nd to 3rd this year in Vilnius, Lithuania, on the premises of the Arts Printing House – the building of a former printing house dating back to the 16th century. The conference will be hosted by the Lithuanian Central State Archive and Archivists’ Association. The BAAC conference will be followed by the second international Europeana Sounds conference, “Unlocking Sound Collections”, which will be held on November 4th this year at Vilnius University.

During the last few years, it has become apparent that more and more audiovisual content is going digital and then is put online. There are numerous websites created by audiovisual memory institutions where the public can watch films, listen to sound recordings or navigate through historical photo material. Various national and international projects gather together audiovisual memory institutions in order to expedite access to their material online. However, an increasing amount of available digital content inevitably raises the question – what to do with it? What could each audiovisual memory institution do to attract audiences and engage users? On the other hand, who are the users of online content – scholars, professionals, creative industries, general public, etc..? How and why do users interact with digital audiovisual resources?

This year’s conference is closely connected to the Europeana Sounds project. Europeana Sounds opens the gateway to Europe’s sound and music heritage, increases the amount of audiovisual content available via Europeana, improves access and promotes the creative reuse of recordings. The conference will pay specific attention to sound material online and its re-use by a variety of audiences.

It will be interesting and useful to share experiences – both good and not so successful – in the fields of online content re-use and curation. The following topics are offered as starting points:
• National and international practices, initiatives and projects dealing with audiovisual, especially sound material, online.
• Curating of online audiovisual, especially sound, content – both from the user’s perspective and from the viewpoint of collections holders.
• Efficient dissemination channels and tools for reaching audiences.
• Dealing with copyright of audiovisual material when curating and engaging.
• Various practices of re-using online audiovisual, especially sound material, by different types of audiences – scholars, professionals, creative industries, etc…

The conference language will be English.

Programme committee:

Jolė Stimbirytė (Lithuanian Central State Archive)
Zane Grosa (National Library of Latvia)
Maria Mang (Estonian Film Museum)

Conference organizers: 
Jolė Stimbirytė (Lithuanian Central State Archive)
Juozas Markauskas (DIZI)
Inga Vizgirdienė (Lithuanian Central State Archive)