Archivi sonori in Toscana: un’indagine

Sound documents archives in Tuscany: a research The sound documents are part of a larger heritage that testifies the life, the culture and the history of the 20th century. But what is the quantity, the typology and the state of conservation of audio carriers? What strategies have been carried out for their preservation, administration and valorisation? To answer these questions, in 2007, a census was realized on a sample of 107 institutions in Tuscany. The research method developed into 3 phases: surveying, statistic processing and data evaluation. The results are worrying and confirm that the sound documents risk to deteriorate and to disap-pear in a short time: in fact 70% of the institutions don’t take particular measures for their conservation; 75% make the original carriers accessible; 85% don’t transfer the content on other carriers. In conclusion, a census not just on a small sample but on the whole national territory, would give us the real dimensions of the problem and how to face it.