History

AVAN’s roots are in the archival moving image community. Its services and functionality were developed after extensive surveys and interviews with potential users and content contributors. 

Funding to research and write a business plan for an online educational resource for moving images was received from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in July 2008, and the plan was completed in December 2008. Linda Tadic, AVAN’s Executive Director, was Principal Investigator for the business plan; the grant’s fiscal sponsor was the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA).  Interviews with over 80 stakeholders were conducted, and user and contributor surveys were distributed to gather information that could be analyzed.

It was concluded that there is no existing organization similar to AVAN, and that AVAN is strongly needed (not just “wanted”) by the archival field and researchers. There is no digital preservation service dedicated to preserving time-based files. There is no online resource that provides aggregated access to primary source audiovisual content with AVAN’s envisioned sophisticated tools and flexibility that allows archives to control how their content is accessed.

In 2009, AVAN was incorporated as a non-profit organization in California, and is designated a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization by the IRS.

Who will use AVAN?

Archives

Filmmakers

Schools and  Universities

Video and Sound Artists

Students

Researchers

Scholars

General public 

Libraries

Broadcasters

Studios

Museums

Radio

Arts Centers

Production Organizations

Everyone

Audiovisual Archive Network    *     info@archivenetwork.org    *      (c) 2012 Audiovisual Archive Network