Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound (MIPoPS)

Moving Image PReservation of Puget Sound (MIPoPS) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit formed to help preserve audiovisual heritage in the Pacific Northwest by assisting heritage organizations with the conversion of analog video recordings to digital formats according to archival best practices. The consortium supports videotape digitization and preservation by heritage organizations with neither the resources nor expertise to address these at-risk materials. Within our model, each institution provides an individual (representative) to be trained by MIPoPS in videotape digitization, enabling each institution to preserve and provide access to their materials and furthering the broader goal of education about magnetic media preservation. This makes our work sustainable as more archivists are empowered to care for and provide access to their materials. Over the past five years, MIPoPS has worked with more than 30 local institutions to digitize 4,373 videotapes (as of February 19, 2021), containing (over 9,000 hours of content). 1,708 files are publicly available via MIPoPS Internet Archive collection. MIPoPS does not house their own archival materials, but we do retain and maintain long-term storage for preservation copies for the materials we assist in digitizing (on a needs-basis determined by each Participating Institutions’ infrastructure). We promote equitable access to the materials authorized for public viewing/use through a regular (twice a month) archival screening night series, Moving History. MIPoPS creates, maintains and contributes to open source tools and training materials for archivists that address a variety of skill levels and learning styles. MIPoPS believes that in order to truly make these materials fully accessible to the public, that the videos should include captions and transcriptions.