PRESERVING THE PEABODY AWARDS COLLECTION

The Walter J. Brown Media Archive & Peabody Awards Collection (http://www.libs.uga.edu/media/index.html) houses over 100,000 titles in film, video, audiotape, transcription disks, and other recording formats dating from the 1920s to the present. The archives are housed in the Main Library on the north campus of the University of Georgia. The archives mission is to preserve, protect, and provide access to the moving image and sound materials that reflect the collective memory of broadcasting and the history of the state of Georgia and its people.

The Peabody Awards Collection is the flagship of the archives, and contains nearly every entry for the first major broadcast award given in the United States. Entries begin in 1940 for radio and 1948 for television, and at least 1,000 new entries are received every year - programs created by local, national, and international producers. The collection provides a cultural cross-section of television from its infancy to the present day, featuring news, documentary, entertainment, educational, and children's programming. Once judging is complete all the entries are moved to the Main Library for in-depth cataloging, access, and long term preservation.

The preservation of the collection is an on-going endeavor involving format migration. Programming in the collection exists on a variety of recordable mediums -- for sound: transcription disc, 1/4"open reel audio, cassette, DAT, DVD - for moving images: 16mm film, 2" open reel videotape, 3/4" U-matic videotape, BetacamSP, VHS, and DVD. These formats are in a constant state of deterioration, and format migration and/or digitization are planned for long term preservation and access.

The entire Peabody Awards collections - all 50,000 items - will need to be migrated to the digital environment. This process allows for digital access to the collections and is the preferred method around the world for safe-guarding the audiovisual heritage. A great deal of time and money is needed for the archive to accomplish this goal. Please consider helping (http://www.libs.uga.edu/development/index.html) to digitize, preserve, and provide access to the most unique collection in broadcasting history - The Peabody Awards Collection.

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