Sound archives accessibility

The paper analyses the conflicting issues that arise when dealing with Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) held in audio digital archives, when the demand for open access conflicts with ownership rights and ethical issues. It describes two case studies in order to evaluate the procedures used for doing research on oral materials while respecting the rights of others. The first refers to the activities carried on at the Phonothèque de la Maison méditerranéenne des sciences de l’homme, a French sound archive; the second refers to the solutions envisaged by an Italian research project, Grammo-foni. Le soffitte della voce (Gra.fo), jointly carried out by Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa and the University of Siena.