New Books in Science, Technology, and Society Jimi Jones and Marek Jancovic, "The Future of Memory: Jimi Jones and Marek Jancovic" (U of Illinois Press, 2025)
Aug 21, 2025
Jimi Jones, an experienced archivist and author, teams up with Marek Jancovic, a media studies professor, to discuss their book on audiovisual preservation. They dive into the evolution of digital video standards like JPEG 2000 and Matroska, balancing fidelity with practical needs. The duo reveals the social complexities besetting archivists and the tech industry's role in shaping these formats. Their conversation highlights the delicate interplay between innovation and the sustainability of cultural heritage, underscoring the dynamic nature of memory in our tech-driven world.
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Openness Drives Adoption In Resource-Limited Archives
- Open, free specs like Matroska and FFV1 lower barriers for smaller archives to implement lossless workflows.
- Cost, complexity, and access to standards shape long-term format adoption and sustainability.
Unusual Actors Shape Format Standards
- Developers, hardware vendors, and even piracy communities significantly influence format trajectories.
- Format economies form through interactions beyond just formal standards bodies and broadcasters.
Bricolage Is Core To Archival Practice
- Archivists practice bricolage: repurposing broadcast hardware and experimental workflows under funding constraints.
- The slow timescale of archiving contrasts with rapid media-industry change, producing friction and innovation.