Preservation, conservation and phonetic study of the voices of Italian poets: A study on the seven years of the VIP archive

Poetic speech, like other oral traditions, is a fragile cultural heritage that requires proper conservation to prevent dispersal. Therefore, since the early 20th century, there has been a growing global recognition of the need to handle such oral data appropriately. This awareness has led to the establishment of both digital and analog archives dedicated to preserving poetic readings. Noteworthy is Voices of Italian Poets (VIP), a prominent project focused on conserving and studying contemporary Italian poetic speech. This paper aims to outline the value of the VIP vocal archive by providing a descriptive analysis of its data, seven years after its creation. The study presents the structure and purposes of the online platform and highlights the large number and variety of recordings and poets involved in the project. The VIP-Platform results as a crucial hub for preserving culturally significant materials and a crucial case study for nurturing a shared cultural inheritance.