Mapping the Magnetic Media Landscape
A study of the state of magnetic media preservation in the United States.
Press
- “BAVC Media Launches Results of Study on Magnetic Media Preservation Efforts” – Documentary Magazine (September 2025)
- “What Filmmakers Should Know About Privacy and Copyright From BAVC Media’s Upcoming Landmark Study on Magnetic Media” – Documentary Magazine (April 2025)
About the study
The purpose of this research was to develop an expansive, data-driven understanding of the field of analog audiovisual media digitization and conservation in the United States. The resulting data will be used to identify and respond to our greatest challenges in the changing field of audiovisual preservation.
The Mapping the Magnetic Media Landscape project was developed with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities and involved four primary research methods to gather quantitative and qualitative data. These methods included:
- A survey delivered to magnetic media collecting organizations.
- A series of in-depth interviews with collections stewards whose organizations participated in the survey;
- Three in-person site visits with geographically diverse organizations of differing sizes and structures; and
- Five interviews with non-collecting organizations that work in magnetic media preservation on a national level.
Hix, Kelli Shay; Sallander, Kailen; and Ulinskas, Moriah. “Mapping the Magnetic Media Landscape: A Study of the State of Magnetic Media Preservation in the United States.” BAVC Media, September 2025.
