Vietnam: Archiving Audio Recordings

How were you received by your new colleagues in Hanoi?
My first day of work coincided with VOV's 64th anniversary, and that special day made things easier. Everyone was very friendly and kind. In fact, many of my current colleagues had been in my previous DW Akademie workshops, so I wasn't really "new" in that sense.


Your task is to finish the project to digitize VOV's old audio recordings. How is the project advancing?
The digital archive structure itself is there - the goal now is to fill it. The staff can now analyse the archive contents, digitize the traditional analog storage media, and restore damaged tapes. Some 10,000 audio files have been digitized and 80,000 descriptive files have been logged. We estimate that it will take another five years to digitize the tape material, and at least two years to restore the badly damaged tapes. Most of the staff working in the archive has not been trained in the various fields of archiving. This means they will need ongoing training so that in the medium and long-term, they will be able to manage the archive independently.


How will VOV benefit from the project?
The archiving and restoration expertise which we've established for broadcasting is unique here in Vietnam and also in Asia. Long-term, the project will improve the broadcaster's quality of programming, increase its topicality and preserve its historical value. And in the end, it supports the country’s exchange with other nations - we've begun cross-linking Asia's archives, which not only strengthens South-South cooperation but also inner-Asian dialogue.


You will be in Vietnam for a total of two years. How did the first few months proceed?
My tasks in 2009 were to establish a DW Akademie regional office, to encourage and support the people at Asian broadcasting archives, and to intensify our contacts with our Asian partner organizations. From a German perspective, the lively exchange with other development agencies has also been important. All in all, this is an exciting project with lasting results. By investing in the past we’re creating benefits for the future.


What are the plans for 2010?
This year we've started concentrating more on the multimedia archive. VOV launched a television channel in September 2008, and that means there's a lot of audio-visual material which needs to be archived. There's also an online project, where we need to think about how to store content long-term. As for audio, we'll be developing a strategy whereby audio archives and audio media from the regional stations can be digitized in accordance with the standards we have set.

In addition to the work in Vietnam, we'll also be expanding our regional consulting services. This includes continuing the archive project with Radio Nepal in Kathmandu. We'll conduct an archive analysis for Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation in Colombo to see where further consultations are needed. And we’ll also hold a regional archiving workshop in Malaysia. The need for more archiving expertise in Asia is enormous.


The engineer's posting is funded by CIM - Germany's development cooperation recruiting agency.