Scripting.com points the BBC’s own story on their plans to open up their archives of BBC radio and television programming on the Internet. This is fantastic. As long as the cost is reasonable, this just makes sense.
I can only hope that our own CBC will take a cue from the BBC. Does anyone in our fine readership know if there are any plans to this end?
One main question comes to mind: how current will the archive be? Will all new content be continuously added? If so, this is a great step for bridging the traditional and digital media. If implemented well, this could effectively give all radio and TV bits a permalink.
A related post from earlier in the year worth revisiting: Brester Kahle talks about Universal Access to All Human Knowledge.
The CBC has been putting their archives up for a while, now, but it’s an ongoing project – I think only a small portion has been put up from their extensive library:
http://archives.cbc.ca/
Very cool.
Wow! Very cool indeed.
There’s some fascinating stuff up there. The “TV-like machines replace secretaries” report puts in perspective just how much the “PC revolution” has changed the office environment over the last 25 years. It certainly makes my parent’s (well my mother’s anyway) discomfort with computers easier to understand. I think people of my age (27) and younger take it for granted that computers have always been a part of life.
Neil is correct the CBC does have a digital archives project, think we’re into year three now.It is being built slowly, and the addition of content is often driven by the news of today.
For instance, when the lights went out a couple of weeks ago – I was lucky enough to be working in Ottawa that week – my colleagues in New Media created an archives site on the ‘Great Northeastern Blackout’ of 1965. (http://archives.cbc.ca/300c.asp?id=1-70-874)
The Sinking and Raising of the Irving Whale can be found at http://archives.cbc.ca/300c.asp?id=1-70-525.
A page dedicated to past elections on Prince Edward Island is in the works right now to be ready in time for the anticipated fall vote.
http://archives.cbc.ca is the address for the front page of the CBC Archives site.