Marshall Breeding
Library Technology Officer
Vanderbilt University
The Vanderbilt Television News Archive, the world’s most extensive and comprehensive collection of U.S. national television news programming, continues a major transformation. Its progress toward a stable future is being developed on three fronts: a conversion of its operation from one based on videotape to digital technologies, a sustainable financial environment through a paid subscription service, and the pursuit of a legal framework to allow wider access to its collection. The Archive has completed a one-year grant from NSF to explore digital technologies and has received grants from a local foundation to implement its new digital video recording facility based on the results of that investigation. Digitization of the retrospective videotape collection is currently underway, made possible through a two-year NEH grant. The Archive negotiated an agreement with CNN to allow access of that network’s material through streaming video. This streaming video is a key component of the subscription service the Archive now offers. The briefing will describe the details of these developments and will invite discussion of the technical, business, and legal issues involved.
Television News Archive, Vanderbilt University: Current Status and Recent Accomplishments
(PowerPoint Presentation)