Interest Group “Sound and Audiovisual Documentation”

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• Professionals dedicated to the preservation of memory are required to have specific training to properly manage, retrieve, and preserve sound and audiovisual information.

• There are also other formats that deserve proper attention, such as radio production, soundscapes, podcasts, or user-generated content (UGC) for social media, as well as field recordings, oral memory, or musical demos, without forgetting artistic creation such as video art or sound art.

• The aim of this group is to provide analysis and proposals in this field based on the experience of professionals who work daily with these materials and content.

• The intention is to become a visible hub for consulting activities in the sound and audiovisual domain.

The cultural industries linked to the sound and audiovisual field have reached such a high level of production, with such a strong impact on society, that they require professionals dedicated to memory preservation to have specific training for the proper management, retrieval, and preservation of sound and audiovisual information—training that understands their specific characteristics and can propose future innovations.

Based on this premise, the Interest Group “Sound and Audiovisual Documentation” has been established within SEDIC, with the aim of analyzing the current situation in Spain, identifying areas that lack sufficient attention, and proposing measures to address these shortcomings. Sound and audiovisual documentation is not limited to musical, film, or television recordings; there are also other products, in both analog and digital formats, that deserve due attention, such as radio production, soundscapes, podcasts, or user-generated content (UGC) for social media; as well as field recordings, oral memory, or musical demos, without forgetting artistic creation such as video art or sound art. All of these are forms of expression that may not have received sufficient attention and deserve greater dedication.

This group also aims to become a reference point for the community, but from a different perspective: the professional one. Until now, the approach to sound and audiovisual documentation has been carried out mainly within academia, through subjects included in degree programs in Information and Documentation, or in other branches of Information Sciences; or more specifically, in postgraduate programs in music documentation or audiovisual heritage. The aim of this group is to offer analysis and proposals based on the experience of professionals who work daily with these materials and content. Although the contributions made will include a degree of reflection and theoretical approach, practical knowledge will guide their argumentative and methodological foundation. For this reason, the group will be made up of professionals involved in the production and dissemination of information, such as companies or media groups, as well as those engaged in conservation and preservation tasks within heritage memory institutions such as archives, libraries, or other GLAM organizations.

For these reasons, the group is particularly interested in receiving inquiries from professionals who find themselves in complex situations or scenarios where it is not easy to find and/or adapt solutions that meet their specific needs. The aim is to become a visible hub for consulting activities in the sound and audiovisual field.

Finally, the group is still open to the incorporation of professionals working as documentalists in private television networks, or those with experience as audiovisual curators in the field of artistic creation.