Digitisation of the Sound Archive of the Institute for Cultural Anthropology of the Centre for Albanological Studies

A pilot project for the long-term digital preservation of the documentary and cultural heritage in Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia
Supported by the Austrian Development Agency

Preamble

Since the 1950s the former Institute of Folk Culture of the Albanian Academy of Sciences has recorded, documented and preserved a unique collection of ethnographic sound recordings, mainly of traditional music. The project leader was acquainted with this collection, probably the one best organised in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, from earlier visits to Albania in 1973, 1978 and 1995.

The scholarly and cultural importance of the collection

The collection represents the orally transmitted culture of the nation during the past 50 years. Recorded in times before the globalisation in the wake of the political change around 1990, these documents mirror the cultural and linguistic diversity of the nation, subjected to radical changes in the more recent past and threatened by the developments to come. The collection is an important part of the sources of Albanian cultural history, and an indispensable research corpus for studies in ethnomusicology, cultural and social anthropology, and linguistics.

Urgency in terms of preservation

As with all audiovisual research collections in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe after political changes, the Albanian institute suffered from financial constraints under the new economic circumstances. In addition, specifically the survival of the oldest magnetic tapes was endangered due to instability caused by chemical deterioration. Long-term preservation of audiovisual holdings can only be achieved by digitisation.

Support by the Austrian Development Agency

After several attempts to finance the project, the Austrian Embassy in Albania succeeded in winning the support of the Austrian Development Agency in the form of a grant of 180,000 Euros.

Organisation of the project

Modern analogue magnetic tape replay machines, digital audio workstations for transfer, digitisation and replay of contents, as well as a server for the digital archival files have been purchased. Equipment has been installed in Tirana in cooperation between the Albanian and Austrian teams. Two Albanian team members received a two-week training course in the Vienna Phonogrammarchiv. The digital transfer and preservation was then performed autonomously by the Albanian project team, supported by regular contacts with the Phonogrammarchiv and occasional visits of Viennese specialists in Tirana. Parallel to the digitisation of the sound recordings, the metadata, the description of contents of the recordings, have been reorganised in modern digital form by the installation of a database developed and specifically adapted by Dr. Andreas Matzke, a specialist from Berlin.

Inclusion of audiovisual archives in Kosovo and Macedonia

In a fact-finding mission audiovisual archives in Kosovo and Macedonia have been contacted in order to explore possible future cooperation. Curators of these archives have been invited to attend workshops organised in Tirana.

Workshops for audiovisual archivists of the region

A first workshop covering long-term preservation of audiovisual carriers was held in Tirana in late 2007. A second workshop of this kind took place in December 2009, followed by a workshop on technical and methodological aspects of audiovisual fieldwork. Workshops were attended by 5 archivists from Kosovo and Macedonia and by around 15 archivists from Albania.

Reorganisation of Albanian research structures in the course of the project, and new location

In 2007/2008, the Albanian research structures were completely reorganised. The former Institute of Folk Culture of the Albanian Academy of Sciences was renamed Institute of Cultural Anthropology and housed in the newly established Centre for Albanological Studies under its director Prof. Dr. Ardian Marashi. Part of this Centre is the Institute of Linguistics, formerly also attached to the Academy of Sciences, which holds an important collection of linguistic recordings. This reorganisation also leads to the establishment of a central archive and laboratory for all audiovisual holdings of the Centre in a newly adapted building, expected to open in autumn 2010. All equipment purchased in the course of the project will be transferred to the new premises, specifically the recently acquired digital archive with a net capacity of 10 TeraBytes, sufficiently dimensioned to provide a technically up-to-date basis for the professional continuation of work for several years to come.

Results of digital preservation of holdings and parallel safety copies in Vienna

Apart from a smaller number of problematic tapes, the holdings of the former Institute of Folk Culture, comprising around 1700 hours, have been transferred and digitally preserved. Moreover, the transfer of the holdings of the Institute of Linguistics, originally not part of the project, has been started. For additional safety, a set of digital copies will be preserved in Vienna, albeit with restricted access rights.

Conclusion and outlook

The project has achieved more than the mere safeguarding of a greater part of the audiovisual research heritage of Albania: this first digital repository in the region matching international standards serves as a demonstrator installation in the Western Balkans and is expected to trigger similar projects.

Project partners and their teams

Vienna

Phonogrammarchiv, Austrian Academy of Sciences

Dietrich Schüller, project leader and director of the archive until September 2008
Prof. Rudolf M. Brandl, director of the archive from October 2008 and chief tutor of the workshop on field recording 2009
Nadja Wallaszkovits, chief technician, audio
Michael Risnyovszky, IT and digital archive
Li Huang, administration
External expert: Andreas Matzke, Berlin, database and intranet

Tirana

Austrian Development Agency, Coordination Office Tirana

Christopher Opancar, director until 2008
Astrid Wein, director from 2009
Florenc Qosja, project administration

Albanian Academy of Sciences (until 2007)

Prof. Eduard Sulstarova, secretary general
Prof. Afërdita Onuzi, director, Institute of Folk Culture

Centre for Albanological Studies (from 2008)

Prof. Ardian Marashi, director
Prof.. Miaser Dibra, director, Institute for Cultural Anthropology

Digitisation team

Bledar Kondi, coordinator
Klodian Qafoku, archivist
Armand Zaçeliçi, archivist
Robert Çollaku, consultant
Prof. Marenglen Bukli, IT (until 2008)
Hydai Myftiu, IT (from 2009)