From the British Library's UK Sound Directory project (http://www.bl.uk/projects/uk-sound-directory) - please forward to colleagues as appropriate:

"You may have heard that in January of this year, the British Library launched a new programme titled Save our Sounds. You can read more about the program here:

http://www.bl.uk/projects/save-our-sounds

One of the major aims of this initiative is to preserve as many of the nation's rare and unique sound recordings as possible: not just those in our collections, but also key items from collections across the UK.

As physical formats degrade and as the means of playing them disappear from production, sound collections are becoming increasingly threatened. Archival consensus internationally is that we have approximately 15 years in which to save our sounds by digitising them before they become unreadable and are effectively lost.

To help us understand the breadth of the nation’s recorded heritage and the risks it faces, we are conducting a National Audit of UK Sound Collections in order to create a Directory of UK Sound Collections. By gathering information about sound collections in the UK, we can understand more about the risks they face, and this will help us plan for their preservation, for future generations. You can read more about the Directory of UK Sound Collections here:

http://www.bl.uk/projects/uk-sound-directory

We would  be very interested to hear about the current status of any and all sound collections and archives you currently hold across all formats both analogue and digital. There are two methods of delivering collection data to us:

1) The first is via a swift and easy to complete online Google Form which can be completed here: 

http://bit.ly/1wZnNU1

2) The second method is via an Excel spreadsheet (attached***) which we have designed to allow larger archives with multiple collections to break down their holdings on an individual collection level. This allows greater insight into how collections are organised and the subject matter, format extent, condition and resultant preservation risks facing archives as whole at a collection level.

I have also attached*** a completed spreadsheet response from Heritage Quay. If you have a quick look at that it should hopefully act as a handy visual aid to completion of the spreadsheet if you decide to go that route.

If you have any further questions or queries or if I can be of any assistance in aiding completion of your response then please do not hesitate to get in touch. All of my contact details are in my signature below. The deadline for submissions is May 31st  and we hope to hear from you before then.

All the best,

James Knight

Research Support Officer, National Audit of UK Sound Collections

e-Mail: James.Knight@bl.uk

Telephone: 0207 412 7345"

*** Please email James if you would like to see these documents.