Bhaktivedanta Archives

Audio/VedaBase department The volunteers at the Bhaktivedanta Archives have been diligently engaged in implementing upgrades We continue to access and proofread audio file fragments, most of which are very poorly recorded programs. While most of the fragment recordings have yielded little new material, we have found a few previously unknown recordings. So, we will continue with this program even though it is slow and painstaking work. The ongoing proofreading (fidelity checks) has resulted in new additions or corrections to the VedaBase. There is a major push to release the 2025 version at the end of this year, which will have thousands of added foreign language translated text and corrections from this continued work. For the first time, this will allow the complete rendition of the audio files into searchable text regardless of whether Hindi or Bengali is spoken or interspersed with English. Photo Accomplishments Rescanned about 2,000 Prabhupada color slides working towards a total rescan before situation in the Photo Freeze Vault. Organized the Parampara 4x5 files again in preparation for the Photo Freeze Vault. Continued the 35mm early ISKCON BW negatives. Documents The meticulous and comprehensive work of fidelity checking our correspondence collection has commenced. This involves accurately confirming that the original letter files align with what has been scanned at high resolution, that the files metadata is accurate, and that the corresponding transcribed text is in the VedaBase. Given that we still occasionally receive original letters, it is of the utmost importance that a fidelity check be conducted every few years. This practice also assesses the condition of the originals and determines if further conservation measures are necessary.