Abstract / topic summary
Since 2011, the Austrian Mediathek has digitized video collections using the workflow management system DVA‑Profession, which was developed in 2010. Recently, we undertook a complete migration to a Linux-based environment to improve transparency, maintainability, and alignment with open standards.
This transition led us to developing vrecordX: a Linux-focused friendly-fork of vrecord, with minor changes, adapted to our workflow and production environment, addressing Linux-specific requirements and reducing external dependencies (like homebrew of MacOS).
We share lessons learned from long-term practice: integrating tools, managing change in live workflows, and why fully open, Linux-based solutions are a viable and future-proof approach for audiovisual archives.
Speaker summary
Marion Jaks
Marion Jaks is a digital archivist at the Österreichische Mediathek (Austrian Mediathek) in Vienna, Austria. She holds a degree in History and completed professional library training at the Austrian National Library. Her work at the Mediathek spans both analogue and digital collections, with an initial focus on the preservation and digitization of analogue video. She is currently responsible for long-term digital preservation and the implementation of workflows for born-digital audiovisual materials. Callie Holmes is the Assistant Director and Digitization Unit Head of the Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, where she manages the digitization and digital preservation of a wide range of audiovisual collections. She likes Columbo, super 8 home movies, and sitting on porches.
Peter Bubestinger-Steindl
Peter studied Media Computer Science at the Technical University in Vienna. He has worked as a project leader and developer in the field of digital archives since 2002, set up and developed solutions for national heritage-, television- and radio-archives as well as service-providers. From 2010 to 2015, he managed the video digitization development at the Österreichische Mediathek (Austria's national A/V archive) and was instrumental in discovering and improving the lossless video codec FFV1 for long-term preservation. Since 2014, he has specialized in coordinating and deploying paid Open Source solutions for high-quality, demanding use cases and has been invited as a consultant, trainer, speaker and lecturer by memory institutions, universities and companies around the globe.
