IASA 2015 Special Recognition Award to Kevin Bradley

Congratulations to Kevin Bradley on receiving the 2015 IASA Special Recognition Award, announced last week by IASA President, Ilse Assmann, at the annual conference in Paris.

The following tribute was given by Lars Gaustad, chair of the IASA Technical Committee:


photo: Judith Gray

This years recipient of the IASA special recognition award has been a IASA member since the mid-nineties, and right from the start an eager contributor to the discussion, he still entertains a habit, by his sheer speed, to stress our ability to comprehend, this goes for even our native English language members. His willingness to share his experience and his curiosity to solve challenges facing our community is without limits.

He was also soon to take on a leading role in the organisation, as well as giving interesting papers at our conference on topics like Archiving the web, Linking sheet and recorded music on the web, and Audio delivery and Enhanced Online Access at his institution.

This year recipient has also long been acting as a valuable trainer throughout most of the world, training AV archivists in doing the right thing when it comes to collecting, preserving and disseminating the memory of people and communities, always stressing the importance of respecting cultural integrity.

K Bradley. Photo: R RanftHe, yes it is a he, has also taken on responsibilities in other organisations connected to our community, UNESCO's Memory of the World subcommittee on technology, the Audio Engineering Society as well as the record collection society in his country.

Active in producing IASA documents where he still holds key positions in the further advancement of our publishing agenda, but also in other organizations with responsibilities to preserve the world heritage. Best known outside our community is possibly his UNESCO published document on Risks Associated with the Use of Recordable CDs and DVDs as Reliable Storage Media in Archival Collections - Strategies and Alternatives - a real mouthful of a title, but a document which helped in placing recordable optical media on the scrapyard as a reliable storage alternative. But his most rewarding contribution is likely to be as editor of TC-04 Production and Preservation of Digital Audio Objects.

He joined his institution way back in the last century, having studied electrical engineering, and he has since been taking on growing responsibilities within his organization where he now is in charge of all things interesting at the National Library of Australia.

He also finds time to play his fiddle, and may be heard at the King O’Malleys Pub in Canberra every Sunday afternoon (unless he is travelling), jamming Irish folk tunes and sharing pints of Guinness with a nice bunch of fiddlers, drummers and flute players.

This year's recipient of the IASA Special Recognition Award for outstanding service to our organization, for services to the advancement of preservation of the audio and video heritage, and leadership in the advancement and recognition of IASA, goes to Kevin Bradley.

SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING SERVICE TO IASA

Awarded by the IASA Executive Board in recognition of valuable contributions in promoting and furthering IASA.

Presented in 2015 to KEVIN BRADLEY
For services to the advancement of preservation of the audio and video heritage, and leadership in the advancement and recognition of IASA,