Weighty matters: materiality and digitization of the "Universidad del Aire" recordings

• In Event: Radio and Revolution in Cuba and Beyond

Abstract

Since early 2016 the UCLA Library has partnered with the Instituto de Historia de Cuba to digitize a variety of ephemeral and endangered documents in their archive. Together we prioritized the transfer of the Instituto’s collection of 16-inch transcription discs, starting with the Universidad del Aire programs broadcast by Radio CMQ from 1949 through the early 1960s. Recorded during the live broadcasts, transcription discs support grooves inscribed in a thin layer of lacquer on a substrate of aluminum, fiber or glass; they are inherently fragile and were meant to be played only rarely. To preserve such analog audiovisual content of necessity requires its transfer to digital streams. UCLA Library Preservation staff sourced, obtained, and transported equipment and supplies, researched and developed workflows, and performed onsite training with our Cuban partners to digitize the discs. The products of digitization, once packaged and published online, enable preservation, broaden access and further scholarship of information contained in rare and endangered documents. At the same time, digitized content obscures or erases knowledge derived from understanding the original production and the process of its later digital extraction. This paper seeks to expose the materiality behind the digital in order to reveal the human intervention, embodied research and accumulated expertise needed to transform and re-broadcast these unique recordings.

Author

• Dawn Aveline, University of California, Los Angeles Library (UCLA Library)