Thursday 9 April 2015

UK Sound Directory

The date for the end of the survey for the UK Sound Directory has been put back from the end of March to the end of May 2015.

The British Library is attempting to catalogue the whereabouts of all the sound recordings in the UK. If you have any information which could help them with their ambitious mission, please get in touch. The details are all on this link

The problem is twofold: that old sound recordings deteriorate, and that the equipment to play them becomes obsolete. For example, recordings on old wax cylinders are very fragile, and not every modern household has either a record player or a tape deck.

It's not just the old stuff that's in peril. Vint Cerf, the vice-president of Google, is worried that the constant advancement of technology  could mean that today's vast, online digital archives may not be accessible tomorrow. On this link, Vint Cerf warns of The Forgotten Century.

So when the British Library eventually do publish their UK Sound Directory online, will that itself be safe?... just a thought.

If you have any information about recordings which relate to Starcross and surrounds, please also contact Starcross History; either comment here, or email starcross.history@gmail.com

Thankyou


No comments:

Post a Comment

Hooray! You're posting a comment. Many thanks.