Library of Congress seeks system for 8PB audio-visual collection

The Library of Congress wants to replace its system that manages an estimated 10 petabytes in films, images and sound recordings.

In a request for information posted on Feb. 7, the Library said its current audio-visual collection management system, the Merged Audio Visual Information System, is in its twilight years. Software support for MAVIS will end in 2022.

MAVIS is used to manage the Library's 415,000-square-foot National Audio-Visual Conservation Center (NAVCC) in Culpeper, Va. It also supports audio/visual data from the American Folklife Center, Veteran's History Project and the Library's Music Division.

Together, MAVIS and a second critical software component -- the Packard Campus Workflow Application -- leverage file metadata allowing NAVCC and the Library's Recorded Sound and Moving Image Research Centers to work with its extensive records. MAVIS and the PCWA support retrieval, listening and viewing of collections materials.

MAVIS  is designed specifically for audio and moving-image collections, providing title-, component-, and carrier-level descriptive records with detailed holdings data tailored for the needs of recorded sound and moving image collections.

Those holdings are extensive, about 10 petabytes of data from almost two million files in fiscal 2018, according to the Library.

"With the sun setting of MAVIS, it is critical that a new system be identified, procured, and implemented to ensure the continued access to and preservation of the NAVCC collections," said the RFI.

RFI responses are due March 8.