Preservation Workflow Consulting
Collection assessment, accessioning strategy, metadata planning, QC policy, staffing models, and preservation deliverable design.
Media preservation systems
Scalable Media Preservation Workflows for Audiovisual Collections of Cultural Heritage
ArchiSys, Inc. helps institutions identify, organize, digitize, verify, and manage legacy media collections using scalable automated systems built for archival-scale preservation work.
The problem
At-risk collections need more than one-tape-at-a-time transfer.
Legacy magnetic audiovisual collections are aging quickly, and the specialized engineering knowledge required to preserve them is becoming harder to find. Many institutions hold thousands or tens of thousands of tapes, films, and recordings, but have limited staff, equipment, funding, and time before media degradation and technical obsolescence become irreversible.
ArchiSys provides the systems, workflows, and technical expertise needed to preserve these collections efficiently, consistently, and defensibly.
What ArchiSys does
Services, systems, and consulting for preservation at scale.
ArchiSys supports institutions that need practical, technically transparent infrastructure for audiovisual preservation.
Digitization System Design & Integration
Multichannel ingest rooms, playback equipment, routing, monitoring, automation, storage, and file-based preservation workflows.
Managed Digitization and QC Services
Project-specific operation, technical monitoring, validation, structured reporting, fixity, and delivery support.
Core services
From collection review to verified preservation files.
Large-Scale Media Digitization Workflows
ArchiSys designs and operates workflows for legacy videotape, audio, and film collections where throughput, consistency, and documentation matter as much as image and sound quality.
- Workflow design for professional and consumer legacy formats
- Capture strategies for preservation masters, mezzanine files, proxies, and access copies
- Repeatable processes for institutional-scale collections
Multichannel Ingest Systems
Simultaneous capture across multiple playback channels helps institutions process collections more efficiently than traditional one-deck workflows.
- Capture station design and integration
- Routing, monitoring, and channel management
- Storage and network planning for sustained ingest throughput
Automated Tape Library Workflows
For very large tape collections, robotic handling can reduce manual labor, increase uptime, and support unattended or semi-attended ingest operations.
- Barcode-based media handling and tracking
- Exception-focused operator workflows
- Reporting for origin, movement, capture, and return status
Preservation File Creation
ArchiSys emphasizes modern preservation-oriented deliverables, including FFV1 with PCM or FLAC audio in Matroska for video assets and RAWcooked-based workflows for film scans where appropriate.
- Preservation masters, mezzanine derivatives, proxies, and access files
- Metadata packages, checksums, manifests, and QC reports
- Recorded sound recommendations aligned with established preservation practices
Quality Control and Verification
Digitization is only useful if the results can be trusted. ArchiSys workflows emphasize validation, signal review, duration checks, checksums, fixity verification, and structured reporting.
- File-level technical validation
- Signal, duration, and metadata review
- Fixity manifests and repeatable reporting
Long-Term Preservation Storage Design
ArchiSys helps organizations plan local, nearline, cloud, and hybrid storage systems that support ongoing preservation, access, verification, and growth.
- On-premises and cloud-aware preservation storage planning
- Fixity, replication, access, and rehydration strategies
- Operational handoff documentation for internal teams
Workflow
A structured path from collection risk to preservation access.
Collection Review
We start by understanding the size, formats, condition, goals, timeline, stakeholders, and risks associated with the collection.
Workflow Design
We define the ingest strategy, preservation formats, metadata requirements, QC standards, storage layout, naming conventions, and reporting structure.
System Configuration
ArchiSys configures capture systems, playback equipment, automation, routing, monitoring, and both local and long-term storage systems.
Digitization and Monitoring
Media is captured through controlled workflows with technical monitoring, file validation, logging, and exception handling.
Who we serve
Built for organizations responsible for unique, valuable, or at-risk media.
Archives and Special Collections
Preserve unique institutional, cultural, historical, and research collections before playback equipment and media condition become limiting factors.
Universities and Libraries
Support grant-funded preservation initiatives, special collections digitization, access programs, and long-term digital preservation planning.
Broadcasters and Production Libraries
Migrate legacy broadcast tape assets into modern file-based preservation and access systems while maintaining technical consistency and metadata integrity, helping unlock archival value and monetization potential.
Museums and Cultural Heritage Organizations
Stabilize and preserve audiovisual materials connected to exhibitions, artists, oral histories, performances, and institutional records.
Government and Public Agencies
Create documented, verifiable workflows for public records, legal, educational, and historical audiovisual collections.
Private Collections and Foundations
Plan preservation pathways for unique or valuable collections that need more structure than a consumer transfer workflow can provide.
Why ArchiSys
Technical depth, repeatable systems, and preservation-minded delivery.
Built for Scale
Large collections require more than individual capture stations. ArchiSys focuses on scalable systems that increase throughput without sacrificing technical control.
Preservation-Minded
Our workflows emphasize archival formats, documentation, metadata, quality control, and fixity verification.
Automation Where It Matters
Robotics and multichannel ingest can reduce repetitive handling, improve consistency, and support high-volume projects.
Technical Transparency
We provide clear reports, structured deliverables, and workflows that can be reviewed by technical staff, preservation committees, and project stakeholders.
Flexible Engagements
ArchiSys can provide consulting, system design, integration, managed digitization support, or ongoing assistance for internal preservation teams.
Start Here
Have a collection that needs a scalable preservation workflow?
Tell us about the formats, quantity, goals, and timeline. ArchiSys can help evaluate the best path forward.