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Why was BBD R&D hosting the British Library and the British Film Institute for a meeting on 10 June?Ìý Aside from the fact that we share a first name, what is our common ground?

Not everyone may know:
a) that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ charter defines an obligation to maintain an archive and provide public access;
b) that public access to ´óÏó´«Ã½ TV output is provided by the , and access to ´óÏó´«Ã½ radio content is provided by the .

BFI and BL Sound Archive do far more: the BFI collects a lot of other television besides the ´óÏó´«Ã½, and is the only archive collection (the only historical record) for many commercial TV companies that have come and gone.Ìý The BL Sound Archive has enormous depth in music collections of all categories, but also has speech recordings from an equally wide range of sources -- from field ethnography (around the world) to recordings of live poetry events (around the UK).

Archives and libraries have a long history, and a well-developed and proven technology for dealing with items on shelves.Ìý IT people think they invented search-and-retrieval systems, but libraries have been working for 200 years on classification technology.Ìý Starting in the 1970's, libraries converted to digital technology:Ìý the ´óÏó´«Ã½ card catalogue (for TV holdings) went electronic in 1978.Ìý But content remained on shelves throughout the 1970's, 80's and even 90's -- and only now are audiovisual archives getting to the point where "files on mass-storage" can be said to be even beginning to take over from content on shelves.

The process of conversion to files began in the 1980's with electronic documents, and audiovisual archives have been collecting digital content (CD, DVD, DAT, digital videotape format) since about the same time.Ìý But audiovisual archives have been 'going digital' (to CD, DVD etc) as a separate stage from 'going to files'.Ìý Now digital content on physical carriers like DVD, DAT and digital videotape is becoming obsolete, and the conversion to files is moving from a trickle to a flood.

How do archives convert their practices so they can handle files with the same levels (or even higher levels) of security and integrity -- and service -- that they historically provided for shelf-based content?Ìý This is an issue that has had a large amount of development since the mid-1990's, under the name of digital library technology.Ìý Recent developments include formal -- and the considerable effort around .

The British Library is a world-class institution in the digital library and field.Ìý The British Film Institute has a range of innovations in access (from online collections to the several UK ), all based on digital technology.Ìý And the ´óÏó´«Ã½ has been one of the world leaders in audiovisual digitisation and preservation, and access (a major R&D contribution is )Ìý -- and with the project the ´óÏó´«Ã½ is now trying to link audiovisual requirements to digital library and digital preservation technology.

About 40 delegates from the BL , BFI and ´óÏó´«Ã½ -- and of the -- came together to work out, jointly, the future for preserving and accessing file-based ´óÏó´«Ã½ content.

The meeting ended on an expansive note, with , ´óÏó´«Ã½'s Controller for ArchiveÌýDevelopment -- outlining the possibility for UK public service and public sector institutions toÌýwork in collaborationÌýto create an entirelyÌý²Ô±ð·ÉÌýPublic Space,Ìýwithin whichÌýcontent and assets produced or aquired using public funding may be discovered,Ìýwithout compromising existing legal and commercial concerns. We have the size, the value and the mission to change the fundamental nature of public access. More to come!