In St. Petersburg, the robot processed archival records from phonograph records during the blockade

2023

Application of software robot for processing digital copies of archived audio recordings

The St. Petersburg Information and Analytical Center, together with the Central State Archive of Film and Photo Documents of St. Petersburg (TsGAKFFD SPb), has introduced a software robot for processing digital copies of archival audio recordings. The project is being conducted within the framework of the Effective Region program.

The TsGAKFFD St. Petersburg, subordinate to the Archival Committee of St. Petersburg, stores audio and visual materials of various enterprises and organizations of the city. The funds also include phonograph records from different years of the 20th century, in particular, the period of the blockade of Leningrad. Records from them were processed using RPA technology.

The archive needed to process 16 thousand audio files of recordings from phonograph records. The robot completed the task in 21 working days, while it would take 165 days for people to do so.

Earlier, in September 2023, another project was implemented in the archive using a software robot. The robot created compressed versions of digital copies of sound documents, working with an electronic fund of use and a software and hardware complex that converts sound files into transcripts.

"The introduction of software robots allows archive employees to perform numerous but routine tasks automatically. In September, the first stage of the project was completed, during which the robot significantly accelerated the work related to the maintenance of the State Information System ″ Archives of St. Petersburg. ″ In October, employees of the St. Petersburg Information and Analytical Center modified the robot for other tasks, which it was also able to successfully cope with in a short time, "said Stanislav Kazarin, Vice Governor of St. Petersburg.

Using a software robot to create compressed versions of digital copies of phonocuments

Employees of the subordinate institution of the Archival Committee of St. Petersburg resorted to the help of a software robot capable of working with documents 24 hours a day. The robot performed tasks related to the processing of tens of thousands of digital copies of phonodocuments of the Central State Archive of Film and Photographic Documents (TsGAKFFD SPb). This was announced on September 21, 2023 by the press secretary of the vice-governor of St. Petersburg S.V. Kazarina.

The archive of TsGAKFD St. Petersburg contains materials that appeared in the process of activities of enterprises and organizations of St. Petersburg and the region, as well as state, political, public figures, creative workers and scientists. Thus, the history of pre-revolutionary Russia is represented by pictures of factories and factories, banks, shops. Audio documents are represented by record recordings, tape recordings and audio discs on glass.

In 2023, a number of tasks were set for the archive staff, the implementation of which would require significant costs of working time. Since the processes within these tasks succumbed to automation, the employees of TsGAKFD St. Petersburg appealed to the Archival Committee of St. Petersburg with a request to consider such a possibility.

At the initiative of the Chairman of the Archival Committee Pyotr Tishchenko, a meeting was held with representatives of the State Unitary Enterprise "St. Petersburg Information and Analytical Center," implementing the introduction of software robots in the executive authorities of the city.

As a result, a software robot was installed on several computers of the archive, the task of which was to speed up the work related to the maintenance of the State Information System "Archives of St. Petersburg."

In particular, the tasks of the robot included the creation of compressed versions of digital copies of phonographic documents, work with an electronic fund for use and a software and hardware complex that converts sound files into transcripts.

Instead of 260 working days that would be required for these works by employees of TsGAKFD St. Petersburg, the software robot completed the necessary tasks in 44 days. 44,000 digital copies of sound documents were processed, while the work was carried out in automatic mode. The time directly spent by employees to help debug and maintain the robot, as well as control over its work, came down to 6 working days.