KEEPING UP WITH THE TECHNICAL TIMES Prior to the development of the digital age, at Clio Associates we mastered all our work onto SVHS videotape. In order to offer our customers the highest quality technical productions, in 1999 we converted to a completely digital system for all our videography and studio editing. Continuing our tradition of excellence, we now offer you the option to transfer your original SVHS masters onto digital videotape and DVD. (Please see the accompanying article.) We urge you to take advantage of this superior preservation method for your important videotapes. To learn more about putting your tapes in the best technical format for the future, we invite you to contact us soon.

CLIO NOW PROVIDES DVD SERVICES

In response to requests from our customers, Clio Associates now burns edited video histories and video albums to DVD, as well as customized DVD authoring into chapters.

DVD is technical shorthand for "Digital Video Disc" or "Digital Versatile Disc". This latest technology is a great way to store video, film and still images on a medium that experts predict will last well over 100 years.

No more dropouts, stretched tapes and tape-eating VCR's. All DVD copies can be reproduced without significant loss of quality in subsequent generations.

Customers whose stories were recorded on the older SVHS format can also have their master tapes archived onto DVD for safeguarding. So, work that was done in the pre-digital age (Remember…just a few years ago?) can benefit, too, from this latest technology.

A few tips to help you preserve your DVD library for future enjoyment:

1) Write on the label side of your disc. Avoid touching the unlabeled disc surface.

2) Return the disc promptly to its case when not in use, in order to reduce dust and scratches.

3) Store DVD's in a consistently cool and dry place where the temperature and humidity are constant. Do not leave discs in your DVD player.

4) Make additional copies to ensure the preservation of your important personal history DVD's. Then store your copies in two or more different places.

Please call us for further information at 413.586.9220. We're always glad to help.

Clio Associates is an Official Partner in the national Veterans' History Project legislated by the U.S. Congress to record oral histories of veterans from all wars. We are now scheduling summer appointments for veterans to be videotaped about their wartime experiences. The oral histories are digitally recorded on camera in our studio and sent to the Library of Congress to be transcribed and archived there.

Holly Mott, an American Studies major in the Ada Comstock Scholars' Program and participant in the Praxis Internship Program at Smith College, has joined the staff at Clio Associates. Holly will be our Project Leader for the national Veterans' History Project which is also affiliated with the Library of Congress' American Folklife Center. For complete information about this program or to schedule an appointment please contact Holly Mott in our office at 413.586.9220.

We were pleased to be a sponsor of the Community Forum on Historical Records held at Bridgewater State College. The forum explored the many different ways to document and preserve the collective memory of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and its people.

We also enjoyed speaking at the Annual Meeting of the Friends of Hatfield (MA) Public Library, the Gillian Barre Group at the Hospital for Special Care in New Britain (CT) and the Film/Television/Video Production course at the University of Massachusetts/Amherst.

"Passing On The Heritage", a video about the Irish Cultural Center at Elms College, premiered at a June benefit to honor Dr. Thomas Moriarty, Director Emeritus of the Center, with U. S. Congressman Richard E. Neal, Democratic representative from Springfield (MA) as featured speaker giving an update on the peace process in Northern Ireland.

"Exhibit On Art-Full Aging: Exploring Senior Creativity", a video highlighting a remarkable exhibit at the Cooley Dickinson Hospital that was organized by the Northampton Council on Aging and features more than 40 artistic works by area senior citizens. The video was shown in June at a reception for the artists at Historic Northampton and will be broadcast on local public access television, channel 15, Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m.