Information resources and technologies provider ProQuest, US, has announced that libraries and universities with proprietary audio and video collections can now preserve and provide access to these information resources through a new service. ProQuest Video Preservation and Discovery Service (VPDS) is a continuum of services designed to make fully discoverable video and audio content to which the Library has rights.
VPDS is a full service offering that includes digital conversion, transcription, metadata creation, and optional hosting and streaming. VPDS creates transcriptions and indexes A/V content stored on tapes, hard drives, and other media, making high-demand content easily accessible through library discovery channels. All formats of video – even those that are obsolete - are eligible for the service.
VPDS leverages ProQuest's renowned expertise in preservation and in rich metadata development that maximises discovery. VPDS' flexible menu of options includes digitisation, hosting and streaming. For transcription ProQuest offers options for fully automated or manual correction to meet budget and time constraints. Libraries pick and choose the services they need to fill gaps in current capabilities and processes, maximizing value for their researchers. Plus, options are available to enhance A/V sharing and management through streaming, and clip development. VPDS' capabilities are scalable and can manage even massive content collections.
In developing VPDS, ProQuest worked with seven leading academic libraries in a pilot project that successfully digitised, transcribed and indexed more than 500 items. Those libraries include Dartmouth University, University of Illinois Champaign, University of Maryland, University of Minnesota, Arizona State University, Brigham Young University, and West Chester University of Pennsylvania.
