Technical standards for digital Audiovisual donations

There are particular technical standards to which AIATSIS adheres; these are based on the UNESCO “Memory of the World” recommendations. UNESCO has not yet announced standards for digitally originated materials.

AIATSIS makes the following recommendations for anyone wishing to deposit digital Audiovisual files in AIATSIS Collections:

Digitally originated recordings (born digital)

Still images

Minimum of 6 megapixels ; maximum quality (finest or best quality, or if possible - no compression). If possible “Native Camera format” or “Camera Raw” files, if RAW is not available use TIF.

 

If JPEG is the only option: Select maximum (best or fine) quality do not edit & re-save the file – provide the JPEG as it was stored by the camera.

 

Please avoid obscure or un-branded cameras – the specifications are seldom reliable. Recognised brands (Kodak, Nikon, Canon etc) are a better choice.
Audio

Suggested minimum of 48khz, 24bit (BWF) If the equipment does not produce a BWF file, an uncompressed WAV or AIFF file @ 48khz, 24bit is also acceptable.

 

If MP3 is the only option 128kb/sec (or higher) is also acceptable do not edit & re-save the MP3 file – provide the file as it was stored by the recorder.
Video & DVD

Please contact AIATSIS Moving Image Archiving Services for specific advice regarding the submission of digitised or digitally originated video or DVD materials. Each format has specific options to ensure the best possible results.

 

As a general rule, if the video camera has a quality setting, select “best” or “finest”; if there is a “native” or “camera raw” format please select that. If the camera is High Definition (HD) – please contact AIATSIS for brand-specific advice.
Other

Mobile phones with integrated cameras and voice recorders are currently not acceptable as they do not at this time produce files that can be read by AIATSIS equipment, and use extremely high levels of data compression.

Scanned analogue materials (born analogue)

Film (35mm)

400dpi, 20cm output size (shortest side), 16bit Tagged Image File Format (PC TIFF). No data compression or any other enhancement should be applied, in order to create a file that is as faithful to the original object as possible.

 

For other sizes of film, or if prints are being scanned, please contact AIATSIS Still Image Services staff for recommendations.

 

Please avoid obscure or un-branded scanners – the specifications are seldom reliable. Recognised brands (Nikon, Canon, HP etc) are a better choice.
Audio tapes

48khz, 24bit Broadcast Wave Format (BWF) If it is not possible to create BWF files, an uncompressed WAV or AIFF file @ 48khz, 24bit is also acceptable.

 

Please avoid low cost, obscure or un-branded audio converters – the specifications are seldom reliable. Contact AIATSIS Audio Archiving Services for recommendations.