{"id":51070,"date":"2021-12-06T20:12:46","date_gmt":"2021-12-07T00:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=51070"},"modified":"2021-12-06T20:12:46","modified_gmt":"2021-12-07T00:12:46","slug":"radio-preservation-task-force-announces-partnership-with-the-shortwave-radio-audio-archive-and-radio-spectrum-archive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/12\/radio-preservation-task-force-announces-partnership-with-the-shortwave-radio-audio-archive-and-radio-spectrum-archive\/","title":{"rendered":"Radio Preservation Task Force announces partnership with the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive and Radio Spectrum Archive"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I’m honored to announce that the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive<\/a> and the Radio Spectrum Archive<\/a> are now partners of the Radio Preservation Task Force<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Click here to read the official press release.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

To say that I’m enthused would be an understatement:\u00a0 the Radio Preservation Task Force has, as of today, officially partnered with the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive and Radio Spectrum Archive.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I learned that the Library of Congress\u2019s National Recording Preservation Board created the Radio Preservation Task Force (RPTF) in 2014, I became an enthusiastic contributor early on, having started a modest preservation project myself only a few years prior.\u00a0 Then, a partnership like the one created today would have been one of dreams.<\/p>\n

As many of you here know, I’m not only passionate about technologic innovations in our radio space, but also preserving our past.<\/p>\n

Shortwave Radio Audio Archive<\/h2>\n

It was in 2012, in response to a round-table discussion at the Winter SWL Fest, that I created the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive (SRAA)<\/a>. Many of us in the radio community were concerned about the number of original, made-from-home, off-air shortwave radio recordings (airchecks) that we knew were in existence, yet were simply disappearing with the passage of time. We were well aware of members of our community who had either passed away or downsized, and many of their recordings\u2013\u2013some of pivotal world events\u2013\u2013were being tossed out by well-meaning loved ones or friends who simply didn’t understand their relevance. In addition, many of these recordings were captured on magnetic tape, which becomes brittle with time; we knew these recordings were literally turning to dust.\u00a0 I felt I had to do something.\u00a0 The SRAA was that something.<\/p>\n

Fortunately for me, the SRAA’s mission has really resonated within our radio community. Today, we have thousands of off-air recordings, all freely available to everyone. The recordings can be downloaded directly from the archive, but many listeners simply subscribe to the SRAA Podcast<\/a> and receive each recording automatically, as it is published.<\/p>\n

Turns out, the archive also attracts the interest of individuals outside of our radio world including historians, musicians, and filmmakers. Indeed, the archive has even been reviewed in The Wire<\/em> Magazine<\/em><\/a> by a music critic as an audio resource for electronic musicians. At time of posting, the SRAA is the inspiration for artists in the latest Cities and Memory<\/a>\u00a0project Shortwave Transmissions<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

The archive is not, nor has ever been, monetized; it has no commercial sponsorship, and is completely funded by its contributors. It is free and open to everyone.<\/p>\n

I’m exceedingly grateful to our many contributors who continue to unearth absolutely amazing off-air recordings. Our SRAA contributors are true champions of preserving our radio heritage in a space that will long outlast us.\u00a0 We’ve taken measures to ensure that multiple archivists have full access to the site, so its existence isn’t dependent on any one individual. We also actively seek organizations and educational institutions who can house redundant copies of the Archive.<\/p>\n

And still it grows.<\/p>\n

Radio Spectrum Archive<\/h2>\n

Compared with the SRAA, the Radio Spectrum Archive (RSA)<\/a> is still in its infancy.\u00a0 But it, too, is growing, and the reason for this steady and growth is the existence of its contributors and other supporters.<\/p>\n

Of course, while audio recordings\u2013\u2013like those in the SRAA\u2013\u2013are relatively small (often between 2 – 120 MB), spectrum recordings are larger by orders of magnitude.<\/p>\n

As you might imagine–even in 2021\/2022–it is not a simple task to digitally archive and share\/move 20GB to 2 TB collections. We are incredibly fortunate in that the Internet Archive<\/a> supports the RSA and gives us valuable real estate on their servers to preserve and share recordings.<\/p>\n

With time, this collection will grow and become a resource for everyone. Our hope is that we may even be able to built a web interface (much like those used by Web SDRs) to play back recordings without having to physically download them.<\/p>\n

My wholehearted thanks…<\/h1>\n

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the many contributors from within our radio community. Thank you all so much for being a part of a movement that archives our amazing, and amazingly diverse, radio history. <\/em><\/strong>You have made this possible.<\/p>\n

Finally, I’m so grateful to the Radio Preservation Task Force<\/strong>\u2013\u2013not just for this empowering partnership and what it means to us today, but for the future potential it represents.\u00a0 It’s clear that we’ve only just begun.<\/p>\n

Thank you\u2013\u2013thank you\u2013\u2013thank you, all.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thomas Witherspoon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m honored to announce that the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive and the Radio Spectrum Archive are now partners of the Radio Preservation Task Force. Click here to read the official press release. To say that I’m enthused would be an understatement:\u00a0 the Radio Preservation Task Force has, as of today, officially partnered with the Shortwave […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,288,746,43],"tags":[6792,4803,6605,2479],"class_list":["post-51070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-radio-history","category-recordings","category-shortwave-radio","tag-library-of-congress","tag-radio-preservation-task-force","tag-radio-spectrum-archive","tag-shortwave-radio-audio-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-dhI","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28907,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/10\/shortwave-archives-spectrum-archives-and-the-radio-preservation-task-force-meeting\/","url_meta":{"origin":51070,"position":0},"title":"Shortwave Archives, Spectrum Archives and the Radio Preservation Task Force meeting","author":"Thomas","date":"October 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This week, I'm looking forward to participating in the three day Radio Preservation Task Force meeting in Washington, DC. The\u00a0Radio Preservation Task Force (RPTF), a project of the\u00a0National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress, will be held on November 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, 2017 at the Library of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mediumwave"","block_context":{"text":"Mediumwave","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/mediumwave\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/RadioSpectrumArchive.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/RadioSpectrumArchive.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/RadioSpectrumArchive.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/RadioSpectrumArchive.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":30345,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/report-from-the-2017-radio-preservation-task-force-meeting\/","url_meta":{"origin":51070,"position":1},"title":"Report from the 2017 Radio Preservation Task Force meeting","author":"Thomas","date":"January 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"SWLing Post readers might recall that, last year, I had the distinctly great honor of presenting at the 2017 Radio Preservation Task Force meeting at the Library of Congress. Several readers have asked me to share my experiences at the conference, so I'll note the conference highlights here. I attended\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Digital-Curation-Panel-e1516977503670.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Digital-Curation-Panel-e1516977503670.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Digital-Curation-Panel-e1516977503670.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Digital-Curation-Panel-e1516977503670.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":28462,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/09\/radio-world-preserving-podcasts\/","url_meta":{"origin":51070,"position":2},"title":"Radio World: Preserving Podcasts","author":"Thomas","date":"September 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: Radio World via Richard Langley) Radio World supports efforts to save our radio and audio heritage, including the work of the\u00a0Radio Preservation\u00a0Task Force,?a project of the Library of Congress. Here is one in a series of guest commentaries about the topic. Jeremy Morris is an assistant professor in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Daily-Source-Code-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":57045,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/06\/saturday-wgxc-rebroadcast-of-live-performance-from-radio-preservation-task-force\/","url_meta":{"origin":51070,"position":3},"title":"Saturday: WGXC Rebroadcast of live performance from Radio Preservation Task Force","author":"Thomas","date":"June 14, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Goren, who wites: Wave Farm is airing\/streaming a rebroadcast of a live performance from the Radio Preservation Task Force\u2026which was really great\u2026Anna Friz and Jeff Kolar performing on radios and other devices using clips from Rick Prelinger\u2019s archive of what he calls \u201cuseful\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/art-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/RPTF-Jeff-Kolar-Anna-Fritz.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/RPTF-Jeff-Kolar-Anna-Fritz.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/RPTF-Jeff-Kolar-Anna-Fritz.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/RPTF-Jeff-Kolar-Anna-Fritz.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/RPTF-Jeff-Kolar-Anna-Fritz.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17566,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/radio-preservation-task-force-conference-in-the-press\/","url_meta":{"origin":51070,"position":4},"title":"Radio Preservation Task Force conference in the press","author":"Thomas","date":"March 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, the Radio Preservation Task Force held a conference which focused on saving America's radio heritage. 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