Unlocking Our Sound Heritage, London Metropolitan Archives
“Sound collections are under threat, both from physical degradation, and as the means of playing such sounds disappear from production. Professional consensus internationally is that we have approximately 15 years in which to save many of our sound collections through digitisation, before they become unreadable and are effectively lost.” - Will Prentice, British Library
London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) is one of ten regional hubs across the UK to join the British Library’s Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). Other regional hubs include National Museums Northern Ireland, Archives+ in Manchester, Norfolk Record Office, National Library of Scotland, University of Leicester, The Keep in Brighton, Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums, National Library of Wales and Bristol Culture.
This ambitious project is part of the wider Save Our Sounds programme, which aims to:
- Digitally preserve almost half a million rare and at-risk sound recordings
- Establish a network of audio preservation centres across the UK
- Engage more people with the value of sound recordings
Between 2018 and 2021 LMA aims to digitise and catalogue 5,000 sound recordings, from our audio collections as well as those held at local archives, universities, museums and galleries across the Greater London area. These cover everything from oral histories to world music, academic lectures to urban soundscapes.
Over the coming months we’ll be posting updates on the project via LMA social media channels and our blog, London’s Sound Heritage.