National Jazz Museum in Harlem

The National Jazz Museum in Harlem will catalog, reformat, and create metadata for its Harlem Speaks oral history videos, making them available for viewing to a worldwide audience. The professionally recorded videos include historic conversations with legendary figures in jazz. Working with a team of staff members and a graduate-level college intern, a moving image archivist will help the museum develop proper workflow, formatting, indexing, metadata standards, and long-term storage and maintenance guidelines. The team will convert 208 unedited videos to a non-proprietary, lossless digital format, and make them accessible through the museum's website and interactive touchscreens at its Visitors Center. A noted videographer will lend expertise to edit approximately 25 of the Harlem Speaks videos, prioritizing those in the worst condition and oldest formats, followed by those expected to attract the most public interest. The project will enable people of all ages and backgrounds to develop a deeper understanding of the musical and cultural impact of jazz.