The AV Preservation Trust exists, in part, to build awareness of the importance of preserving Canada's recorded heritage. The Trust wants members of the film, TV, music and radio industries, and the public, to ensure cultural documents are conserved professionally so future generations can experience yesterday's Canada through Canadian eyes and ears.

One way to achieve this is for Canadians to consider donating recordings or collections to an archive or library. But how do prospective donors know if what they’ve got is of any heritage value or worthy of the time and money required to ensure it’s properly preserved? And how do you know which public or private institution might want your item or collection? A prospective donor first has to decide if the material in question is best directed to a local, provincial/territorial or national library or archives. Each organization has its own area of acquisition and selection criteria. Because AV documents must be viewed or heard in order to be identified and described, and often transferred to preservation media and then stored in controlled conditions, it costs more to care for them than for many other types of artefacts.

Have a look at the information the Trust has gathered on decision-making for various types of audio-visual donations (see: AV Trust Donor Decision Tree) and the implications for individual or company/institution income tax (see: Tax Information).

Finally, consider joining the Trust to be connected to our information network and learn more about AV preservation in Canada. Support our non-profit work in promoting the conservation of Canada’s recorded heritage on film, TV programs, radio programs and music/sound recording. Click here to go to the AV Trust Home Page.

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