In association with the annual conference, the Association of Moving Image
Archivists will host its first ever hack day on November 6, 2013 in
Richmond, VA<http://wiki.curatecamp.org/index.php/Association_of_Moving_Image_Archivists_%26_Digital_Library_Federation_Hack_Day_2013>.
The event will be a unique opportunity for practitioners and managers of
digital audiovisual collections to join with developers and engineers for
an intense day of collaboration to develop solutions for digital
audiovisual preservation and access. It will be fun and practical…and there
will be prizes!

This year’s hack day is a partnership between AMIA and the Digital Library
Federation. A robust and diverse community of practitioners who advance
research, teaching and learning through the application of digital library
research, technology and services, DLF brings years of experience creating
and hosting events designed to foster collaboration and develop shared
solutions for common challenges.

*What is a hack day?
*
A hack day or hackathon is an event that brings together computer
technologists and practitioners for an intense period of problem solving
through computer programming. Within digital preservation and curation
communities, hack days provide an opportunity for archivists, collection
managers, and others to work together with technologists to develop
software solutions for digital collections management needs. Hack days have
been held independently by groups such as the Open Planets Foundation, as
well as in association with preservation and access oriented conferences
including Open Repositories and Museums and the Web.

The manifesto of a recent event at the Open Repositories conference framed
the benefits this way: “Transparent, fun, open collaboration in diversely
constituted teams…The creation of new professional networks over the
ossification of old ones. Effective engagement of non-developers
(researchers, repository managers) in development…Work done at the
conference over presentation of something prepared earlier.”

*What if I’m not a developer/technologist/engineer?
*
Content managers and preservation practitioners will be as central to the
success of the event as keen developers. YOU will be responsible for
setting the agenda and the outcomes. The goal is to foster collaboration
between audiovisual preservation specialists and technologists, to solve
problems together and share expertise.

*Why an AMIA hack day?
*
An audiovisual preservation-themed CURATEcamp was held in April 2013,
drawing over 120 registrants from at least 3 continents for a day of great
conversations and lightning talks. CURATEcamp is a series of
unconference-style events focused on connecting practitioners and
technologists interested in digital curation. The event generated a lot of
documentation and articulated many shared concerns. Topics covered included
digitization of video, film scanning, digital storage strategies,
proprietary digital video files in collections, and technical metadata for
preservation. The participants of the event agreed that more work needed to
be done and action taken, so the idea for an AMIA hack day was born.

Discussions between managers of audiovisual collections and solutions
developers provided a fruitful starting point for a hack day project ideas,
including:

-Simple fixity tools to use when transferring files from one storage medium
to another
-Technical metadata extraction and making use of these reports (MediaInfo,
ffprobe)
-Simple cataloging tools for AV, with eye towards contemporary frameworks/
schema
-Discovery tools/UX for audiovisual collections, access at scale

*What will be the format of the event?
*
In advance of the hack day, project ideas will be collected through the
registration form and the event wiki. On the morning of the event,
participants will review and discuss submitted project ideas. We’ll then
break into groups consisting of technologists and practitioners, selecting
an idea to work on together for the day and (if desired) throughout the
duration of the AMIA conference in the developers lounge.

Projects will be presented during the conference closing plenary, Saturday
November 9 at 8:30am. Projects will be judged by a panel as well as by
conference attendees.

*How can I participate?
*
Sign up! As this will be a highly participatory event, registration is
limited to those willing to get their hands dirty, so no onlookers please.

If you are unsure whether you can or want to participate in the hack day
itself, you can still see the results by attending the AMIA closing
plenary, where hack day projects will be presented, and the audience will
have an opportunity to vote on their favorites.

*Ready to sign up and join the fun?
*
REGISTER HERE<https://docs.google.com/a/bavc.org/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dENkeXlLY3JCX3pNYldGMEV5ZHRucWc6MA#gid=0>.
It’s free.

*Questions?
*
Want more information? Interested in sponsoring by supporting the space or
providing prizes? Interested in being a judge? Contact the organizers:

Lauren Sorensen: laurens [at] bavc [dot] org
Steven Villereal: villereal [at] gmail [dot] com
Kara Van Malssen: kara [at] avpreserve [dot] com

*About AMIA
*
The Association of Moving Image Archivists is a non-profit professional
association established to advance the field of moving image archiving by
fostering cooperation among individuals and organizations concerned with
the acquisition, description, preservation, exhibition and use of moving
image materials.