Audio-visual archives () refers to the historical records formed by social organizations and individuals engaged in political, military, economic, scientific, technical, cultural, religious and other activities with photos (including negatives, reverse films), films (positive films, negatives), records, tapes, videos and other different materials as the carrier, mainly audio-visual and supplemented by text descriptions. Audio-visual archives mainly records historical records directly formed in political, economic, scientific, technical and cultural activities with magnetic or photosensitive materials as the carrier and audio-visual images as the main reflection mode, including photos, audio tapes, video tapes, movies and other special carriers with preservation value. It is an important part of fonds archives.