On Wednesday 22 November at 16:00 CET we will organize an online book launch of “Share That Knowledge! A Road Map for Sharing Knowledge across Generations of Audiovisual Archivists”, to which we warmly invite everyone interested in improving knowledge sharing within audiovisual archives (and beyond).

You can register for the online event HERE.

The book is the result of a four-year research project into the methods and strategies of sharing knowledge within audiovisual archives, which was initiated by the Austrian Film Museum and the Slovenian Cinematheque, joined by colleagues from 11 other audiovisual archives, and supported by the Austrian government and FIAF. The goal of Share that Knowledge! was to find better strategies for sharing knowledge within our profession of audiovisual preservation.

The final publication, a “road map”, focuses on finding the right methods for transferring knowledge and skills that are at risk of being lost (organizational, technical, preservation, and collection knowledge), the situations and scenarios that need our attention when it comes to knowledge transfer (starting a job, leaving a job, during daily work, and when knowledge has left), as well as successful practices that we found in the examples of the colleagues we interviewed. The book will be available both as a free PDF and in a print version.

The online presentation will give an overview of the research that has been done, present the findings and the book, and give ideas about how you can use this book within your organization. Colleagues from the BFI, NFA and the Austrian Film Museum will tell about their experience with knowledge sharing practices. There will be plenty of time for discussion and questions afterwards.  

On the 29th and 30th of March 2023, we organized a workshop in Vienna, attended by 12 colleagues representing the majority of the affiliated institutions within our working group.

The workshop was a chance to finally meet in person after a few years of online meetings. The goal of the two-day workshop was to discuss the findings gathered from the qualitative research on knowledge sharing within audiovisual archives and collaboratively discuss possible methods.

On the first day, we divided ourselves into four groups and discussed challenges, real-life examples, and possible methods for sharing four different areas of knowledge: 1) organizational knowledge, 2) knowledge about preservation activities, 3) collection knowledge, and 4) technological knowledge and skills.

During the second day, we did the same but discussed knowledge sharing in relation to four scenarios instead: 1) when starting employment, 2) when leaving employment, 3) during day-to-day activities, and 4) when knowledge has left.

It was interesting and inspiring to hear the differences and similarities in experience from so many different perspectives, as we had colleagues joining from all over the world who are working in different types of institutions. Some work at an archive where they are solely responsible for the collections, some within large national organizations that employ 400 people alone within the archiving section.

The following colleagues joined the workshop (in the order of the photo from left to right): Florian Haag from the Austrian Film Museum, Ivan Velisavljevic from the Academic Film Center and Alternative Film Archive in Serbia, Nienke van Schaverbeke from the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision, Janneke van Dalen from the Austrian Film Museum, Marie Barešová from the Národní filmový archiv in the Czech Republic, Rosie Taylor from the BFI National Archive in the UK, Sarah Vandegeerde (formerly from BFI) from INA: Institut national de l’audiovisuel in France, Nicolas Sylvestre from the Library and Archives Canada, Tzutzumatzin Soto previously from the Cineteca Nacional de México, Judith Opoku-Boateng from the J.H. Kwabena Nketia Archives University of Ghana, Nadja Šičarov previously Austrian Film Museum and Slovenska kinoteka, and Selina- Emma Okle from the J.H. Kwabena Nketia Archives.

In preparation for the workshop, Nadja Šičarov and Janneke van Dalen prepared the findings related to each of the aforementioned categories of knowledge areas and scenarios, and grouped them into the strongest themes that appeared throughout all of the 90 interviews that have been conducted over the past years. The findings of this research will be presented in a handbook or guidebook for knowledge sharing within audiovisual archives, which will be published with the help of FIAF later this year. Also planned is an online workshop open to colleagues from all over the world that is meant to give ideas and instruct colleagues on how to use the guidebook and how to approach knowledge transfer within their organizations.

A detailed report of what was discussed during the workshop can be found here.

During the ACE Meeting in Bologna on the 28th of June 2022, we joined one of the panels virtually to give an overview and insight into our research project and where we are at now. The entire day was dedicated to knowledge preservation, mainly about knowledge and skills connected to changing technologies, and about finding practical solutions. We are glad this topic is addressed and curious to hear about the outcomes of this day.

In the latest Journal of Film Preservation (November 2021), we contributed with a report on some of the findings of the research so far. The article describes three knowledge sharing examples from different audiovisual archives, in different types of situations. Throughout the interviews we are doing with archivists from around the world, it becomes more and more clear that every situation in which knowledge sharing becomes a necessity, needs its own approach. The methods for knowledge sharing need to be adjusted to the type of knowledge at stake and the people involved. The entire Journal of Film Preservation is accessible online. Our article “How-to: Sharing Knowledge Among Generations of Archivists” can be found on page 13 to 22.

This document presents our initial insights into the methods and challenges of knowledge sharing, the different types of knowledge that need to be shared and five main themes that emerged from the survey results.

Between April and May 2020, we distributed an online survey for the wider audiovisual archiving community. The intention of this survey was to get a global idea of the concerns and methods of knowledge sharing within audiovisual archives. The questions attempted to identify the existing knowledge sharing methods, concerns and challenges of knowledge transfer, and techniques of how to improve knowledge sharing within audiovisual archives. The final stage of this research project will be in 2022. In this stage, the survey’s data will be combined with qualitative research conducted in the field to write a conclusive report on the expert knowledge that needs to be transferred, the challenges related to passing on this knowledge, and the methods that archivists can use to share knowledge within their organizations.

Survey deadline is extended until the 22nd of May!

Dear colleagues!

As part of the project Share that Knowledge! we would like to get a global overview of the existing concerns and methods related to knowledge transfer within the field of audiovisual preservation. With this survey we want to gather data about how knowledge is shared within different types of institutions holding audiovisual collections. We are looking at the practices of knowledge sharing in institutions all around the world, so regardless of which type of archive you work in, if you are a manager or directly working with the audiovisual collections, for how long have you been working there and how much you think you know about knowledge sharing, please take 15-20 minutes to fill out the survey. The professional input from each individual will be relevant for this research.

We will be collecting data until the 10th of May. If you cannot fill it out in due time, please contact us via n.sicarov@filmmuseum.at, j.vandalen@filmmuseum.at and we will extend its availability. Please share the survey with your colleagues. Thank you!