The Swiss National Sound Archives are to sound recordings what the Swiss National Library is to printed documents. This is where collections of sound recordings are held and preserved for posterity. The Swiss National Sound Archives, based in Lugano, have been archiving the cultural heritage of Switzerland as expressed in sound for over 20 years and making it available to all interested parties.

The collection now contains over 260,000 sound recordings. These are:

• The products of the Swiss music industry, such as the CDs of Stefan Eicher
• Recordings of radio programmes, such as the voice of Denis de Rougemont in the series ‘Les écrivains suisses et la musique'
• Recordings made as part of scientific research, for example a series of field recordings made in the 1960s by the folk music collector Hanny Christen,
• Recordings made by composers of yesteryear and interpretations of works such as those of Bruno Amaducci, conductor of the Ticino Orchestra.

• Audio extracts from new Swiss productions are available for listening to at every Internet work-station in the public rooms of the National Library; these extracts are taken from the website of the National Sound Archives.
• In a purpose-built retrieval terminal in the information room, direct access is also available to the National Sound Archives' network. Here visitors can listen to all the audio documents which have already been digitised.
• With immediate effect, the National Sound Archives will also digitise recordings at your request - free of charge, and within one week.