Between 2019 and 2026, I developed and led a programme to digitise Wellcome Collection’s at-risk audiovisual media for preservation (and access, where possible). Working with collection experts I wrote a strategic plan that secured a threefold increase in the budget for this work. By mid-2026, the team had digitally preserved over 1,000 media items, including VHS, U-matic, Betamax and Digital Betacam formats, and cinefilms experiencing degradation such as magenta colour shift.
Scaling up audiovisual digitisation presented several challenges: improving the quality of outputs, developing workflows for newly cloud-based systems and storage, strengthening process documentation, improving location and movement control, and managing operational complexity. Under my guidance, the project team addressed these challenges through the following activities:
- Auditing audiovisual holdings and identifying at-risk formats;
- Researching and recommending master and access file formats suitable for the new cloud storage environment;
- Developing cloud-based workflows to improve ingest efficiency;
- Streamlining preparation, documentation and quality assurance processes,
- Managing supplier contracts, communications and shipping;
- Prioritising and scheduling work while retaining capacity for ad hoc requests from staff and external users;
- Processing newly acquired media to support collections management such as appraisal and cataloguing,
- Testing and implementing in-house digitisation of audio cassettes, vinyl records, DAT tapes and minidisks,
- Risk-managed approach to copyright clearance on a case-by-case basis.
This programme reduced preservation risk across fragile audiovisual formats and created a more sustainable basis for future digitisation work. It combined strategic planning, supplier management, workflow design and practical preservation decision-making, while improving the organisation’s ability to respond to internal and external access needs.
Image credit: Moving image media at Wellcome Collection, by Christy Henshaw, CC0.
