Saving Fading Heritage: the Coordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations

摘要

This paper attempts to set out the role of the Coordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations. It recounts how, over the past one hundred years and more, an ever-increasing amount of information – both for documentation and entertainment – has been produced in a wide range of audiovisual and electronic formats. It proposes that audiovisual media are a vital part of our cultural heritage, carrying a huge amount of information that needs to be preserved for future use. It describes how CCAAA was formed to help enable this, and the range of activities it is involved with. In par-ticular, it introduces the World Day that CCAAA now coordinates on behalf of UNESCO to increase awareness of both the compelling nature of this audiovisual heritage and its unique fragility. Finally, it emphasizes the unique contribution that libraries can make to the work of the CCAAA in preserving the audiovisual heritage and in particular in providing access to it.