The National Archives began implementing the Digitization of Government Media Assets Project under the Government Development Programme in June 2019. The project was previously implemented by the Government Information Services Ltd until its closure.
The project aims to digitize analogue broadcast media produced by various state media - Government Film Unit, Government Broadcasting Unit (GBU), Government Information Division, Trinidad and Tobago Television, AVM Television, Government Information Services Ltd – to support research, education and the development of the creative industries.
The National Archives acknowledges that audiovisual records, such as films, radio and television recordings, contain the primary records of the 20th and 21st century and have played a significant role in documenting the evolution of Trinidad and Tobago as a twin-island state since Independence in 1962. They have captured:
- The nation’s collective memory and national identity
- Its intangible cultural heritage, such as performing arts, festivals, traditions and knowledge, indigenous art forms
- Historical milestones and
- Oral history.
Safeguarding audiovisual heritage ensures that the people, places and events that have shaped the nation are accessible for telling vivid stories of our past and present for future generations.
Numerous film and analogue video and audio tapes from the 1950s to 1990s have been digitized and preserved for future generations. Like paper-based digitization, digital surrogates are created in both preservation and access formats eg. Broadcast wav is the preservation format for audio recordings while MP3 is the accessible copy.
