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1. Most literature on archival appraisal does not adequately address sound recordings and moving images.
   
   
2. Sound recordings and moving images are usually appraised at the item level.
   
   
3. There is often a lack of relationships between an audiovisual item and other audiovisual items. Notable exceptions include, but are not limited to:
   
   
   1. Oral Audio tapes that form a series (e.g., tapes from oral history projects or radio programs)
   2. Master sound recordings from a session in a recording studio
   3. Camera negatives from a film production
   4. Video tapes from a video production
      
      
4. Sound recordings and moving images can have significant informational and historical value, but they do not typically have significant evidential fiscal value. 
   Like photographs, age should
   
   
5. Age of the work should be considered during the archival appraisal of sound recordings and moving images. The earliest works created on a given format or medium should be acquired as the earliest examples of how a new format or distribution method (e.g., broadcast television) was used.
   
   
6. Aesthetics should be considered, even though it is extremely subjective and can be difficult to appraise the aesthetics of a sound recording or moving image.
   
   
7. The archival value of camera negatives/tapes from fiction films depend on the significance of the production. Normally, camera negatives/tapes should not be selected if material such as storyboards, shooting scripts, shot lists, and editing logs are available.
   
   
8. Camera negatives/tapes from documentary films typically include interviews and live footage that should be selected for permanent retention. 
   
   
9. High-fidelity digital video files are unusually large and can easily overwhelm a repository. See Appendix C of the Digital Collections Handbook for information on disk space requirements for digital video files.
   
   
10. The preservation format and storage requirements must be considered. High-fidelity uncompressed video formats are required for material that has potential to be remastered or exhibited, especially for works of art or recordings of performances. Video recordings of routine events such as meetings can be compressed without compromising the information. Video recordings of some events, such as lectures, may or may not require high-fidelity uncompressed formats depending on the significance and circumstances of the event.
    
    
11. Lossy compression should be avoided for all sound recordings. High-fidelity uncompressed sound recordings are not unusually large and can be preserved, shared, and managed in most repository environments.

Film

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1. General goal in the archival appraisal of film is Always keep the masters.
   
   
2. Attempt to keep the masters and the elements needed to remaster the complete work, especially for works of significant interest at the time of the appraisal.
   
   
3. If certain elements are missing, then other elements become more important.
   
   
4. Selection of film elements require a basic understanding of the film making process. Use the follow table as a guide:

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