16. Co-operation

The exchange of information between archives performing preservation work is an ethical obligation. National and international co-operation in this respect is imperative, in particular in the dissemination of information to smaller or less-specialised collections for whom carrying out all the necessary stages of digital preservation is not feasible due to lack of resources.

Comment:

The greater part of the world’s heritage of audiovisual documents reflecting the linguistic and cultural diversity of mankind is kept by comparatively small institutions, by scholars and other private individuals. Co-operation and exchange of information will better prepare these smaller collections to plan and prioritise their work, especially as regards the challenges of preservation and the actions undertaken by larger archives. In some cases, larger archives may be able to perform certain preservation activities for smaller institutions, including hosting smaller audiovisual file-based collections until digital preservation becomes more widely affordable.