American Archives Month, October 2017
UNESCO’s World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, October 27, 2017
Audiovisual documents, such as films, radio and television programs, and oral history interviews are our common heritage and contain vital primary records of the history of the 20th and 21st centuries. Unfortunately, that heritage is now endangered, because moving images and sound recordings can be irretrievably lost as a result of neglect, decay and technological obsolescence. Through initiatives such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, the work of preservation professionals is encouraged, in order to manage the range of technical, political, social and financial factors that threaten the safeguarding of our audiovisual heritage.
The General Conference of UNESCO approved the commemoration of a World Day for Audiovisual Heritage in 2005 as a mechanism to raise general awareness of the need to preserve and safeguard important audiovisual material for future generations, and for urgent measures to be taken to conserve this heritage and ensure it remains accessible to the public now, and to future generations.
The theme of 2017’s World Day for Audiovisual Heritage is “It’s Your Story – Don’t Lose It!” The Nebraska State Historical Society takes these words very seriously, and we live by them in everything we do – including caring for our impressive collection of audiovisual materials.
