Re: [ARSCLIST] Certification (was Re: [ARSCLIST] Wire recorders)

[Eric Jacobs <ericj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Karl,

> Knowing some of what experience and training you felt
> were important in helping you with your
> preservation/reformatting work, would also be of interest.

My background is mechanical engineering.  Like you, we were
required to take the usual bevy of Physics and Chemistry
courses common to any science degree.  From a conservation
point of view, the physics and chemistry provide a basic
understanding for dealing with media, whether it is
understanding PH and chemical processes, selecting and mixing
the right cleaning solutions, defining preservation
processeses, and so on.

I would put Physics and Chemistry at the top of the list for
me - most everything else is just a deeper understanding of
those two branches of science.  Because of the wide variety
of materials (in varying states of condition) that need to be
preserved, an archivist cannot just approach transcription
work with a formula.  You need to make good technical
judgments about each piece, and you need to be able to
troubleshoot.  Some call this judgment skill "art", but I
firmly believe it requires a foundation which is equal
parts "science" and "experience" to do this correctly and
consistently.

In my own experience, specific mechanical engineering classes
that I feel were important for me included:

Material science - this helps understanding material
properties for conservation, and how materials respond to
environment changes and how they respond to time.  It answers
questions of how cleaning processes might affect the
longevity of materials, or alter their mechanical or
electrical properties.

Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer - for controling environment
temperature and RH for storage.  Also useful for knowing how
to safely move materials from cool storage to room
temperature and back.

Dynamics, Kinematics - to understand the geometry of
turntable or cylinder set-up, one of the most mechanically
involved forms of playback.  To be successful with phonograph
transfers, you need to be mechanically inclined.

Vibration theory - to isolate systems from their environment
and minimize resonance and other things which can affect
sound.  Vibration and resonance is a significant factor in
how accurately a phonograph record is reproduced.

Acoustics - to better understand sound perception, as well as
the physics of the recording process.


We also took classes in:

DSP (Digital Signal Processing).  If you understand the
underlying algorithms used in audio editing programs (DSP),
as well as the technology behind the ADC/DAC process, this
allows you to make better judgments in building an optimal
process for transfering sound from the analog to the digital
domain, and making any "edits" (EQ or pitch).

Electrical engineering and control theory.  Useful for me
just to keep my six servo-controlled reel-to-reel machines
running and calibrated.


Depending upon the media to be worked with, a short course in
some or all of the above areas as it relates to audio
preservation could be valuable.

I came to audio preservation later in life, after many years
of work as an engineer and then combining these skills with a
longstanding passion for history, audio and music (playing
the piano).

However, I would not be surprised if you find a significant
number of engineers of one flavor or another working in this
field.

Eric Jacobs
The Audio Archive


---- Original message ----
>Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 16:35:35 -0500
>From: Karl Miller <lyaa071@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Certification (was Re: [ARSCLIST]
Wire recorders)
>To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>By the way, I am keeping all of the messages on this subject
and will
>provide some compliation. I am also interested in know what
sort of
>training is considered appropriate to the tasks. Speaking
for myself, I
>owe most of my formal training to my electronic/computer
music studies in
>graduate school. I also had the basic classes in the physics
of sound,
>etc. plus many years of experience making live
recordings...etc. Most of
>what I have learnt comes from the writings of people like
Steve Smolian
>and all of the wonderful articles in ARSC (been a member
since 74 or so)
>and other publications (I am still trying to track down those
>bibliographies several of you wrote about wanting copies),
etc. My
>background also includes tinkering with old recording
machines, etc. No, I
>am not trying to sell my resume, but I would wager that many
of you have
>similar backgrounds. Knowing some of what experience and
training you felt
>were important in helping you with you
preservation/reformatting work,
>would also be of interest.
>
>If you want to email me directly, that would be fine.
>
>Thanks.
>
>Karl