CBC Dismantles Vast Sound Archive

Subject: RE: CBC Dismantles Vast Sound Archive
From: JohnB
Date: 16 Mar 12 - 12:04 AM

I signed, JohnB.

Subject: CBC's music archive to be purged
From: KathyW
Date: 15 Mar 12 - 12:34 AM

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is planning to purge its archive of LPs and CDs by the end of the month. Some of it will be digitized, but not all, and some folks are concerned that liner notes will be lost for the digitized items, that digitized files aren't as long-lasting as physical media, and that the purge will take place too quickly.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/planning+record/6135746/story.html

http://cbcradiotwoandme.blogspot.com/2012/01/coming-to-garage-sale-near-you-cbcs

http://boingboing.net/2012/03/14/petition-to-preserve-the-cbc.html

There's a petition about it:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-cbc-music-archives/

Subject: RE: CBC Dismantles Vast Sound Archive
From: maeve
Date: 26 Jan 12 - 07:20 PM

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/music/cbc-dismantling-lp-cd-archives/article2311677/comments/

There are some interesting comments regarding the article, at CJB's link.

Subject: CBC Dismantles Vast Sound Archive
From: ChrisJBrady
Date: 26 Jan 12 - 07:05 PM

The CBC is quietly dismantling its archives of LPs and CDs across Canada – a cultural treasure trove built over decades – even as it prepares to launch a major new music service online.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/music/cbc-dismantling-lp-cd-archives/article2311677/

Some CBC archivists see irony in the fact that they are being asked to dismantle regional record collections just as producers will be coming to them for music. Many old LPs won't be digitized, they say, and producers and announcers won't be able to hold the physical albums and see liner notes and information that can't be fully captured in a database.

"We believe that they are jumping the gun quite a bit by doing this," said archivist John MacMillan, who has spent much of his career looking after CBC Vancouver's music library. "We understand that at some point the hard-copy collection would not be needed any more, and the usage of the CDs has gone down. But the content in this virtual music library – as it's known – is still far below the needs of the users."

There is also a risk, some fear, of losing some valuable recordings when such large collections – some with tens of thousands of titles – are broken up. As one archivist said, not for attribution, it's a question of whether CBC management sees the collections as a valuable archive for Canadians or simply as a resource for CBC producers.