As archives and collection managers face growing preservation challenges, determining which materials require immediate attention has become one of the most critical issues confronting the sector today. This important discussion will be explored during the upcoming webinar, Identifying, Safeguarding & Managing Risks To Sound & Audio-Visual Archives & Collections, on Tuesday, 09 June 2026.
A major focus of the webinar will be the topic: “Prioritisation matrices: combining significance, uniqueness, and vulnerability scores.” The session will examine how archives and institutions can use structured prioritisation models to make more informed preservation decisions in environments where resources, funding, and technical capacity are often limited.
Many institutions are custodians of collections that carry immense historical, cultural, educational, and broadcast value. However, not every item faces the same level of risk, nor does every collection hold the same degree of significance or rarity. The webinar will therefore explore how prioritisation matrices can help organisations evaluate collections using measurable criteria that balance significance, uniqueness, and vulnerability.
The discussion will examine how significance scoring helps institutions identify content with exceptional cultural, historical, social, or research value, while uniqueness scoring highlights materials that cannot be easily replaced or recovered. At the same time, vulnerability assessments help determine which collections are most at risk from deterioration, technological obsolescence, environmental exposure, poor storage conditions, or format instability.
By combining these factors into practical decision-making frameworks, archives and collection managers can better identify preservation priorities, allocate resources more strategically, and reduce the risk of irreversible loss.
The webinar is also expected to explore how prioritisation matrices can strengthen institutional planning, support digitisation programmes, improve disaster preparedness strategies, and create more transparent governance processes around collection management and preservation investment.
As preservation pressures continue to intensify across the archives and broadcasting sectors, the session aims to provide participants with practical insights into building sustainable and defensible approaches to safeguarding valuable sound and audio-visual heritage for future generations.
