The British Library and the BBC are joining forces
on technology project to digitize the archives of both institutions in order to give the public access online.
Under a memorandum of understanding to be signed by the two organisations today, they will collaborate on the task of provising greater digital access to the British Library's archive of more than 150m items collected over the past 250 years, as well as nearly 1m hours of TV and radio output from the BBC, which has been broadcasting since 1922.
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"Unlocking the wealth of content in the British Library and BBC archives is a great opportunity as well as an immense challenge," said the BBC director general, Mark Thompson, who will sign the agreement with the British Library chief executive, Dame Lynne Brindley. "It is vital we partner, harnessing the power of digital technology to give the public the access they deserve."
The entities will form a joint steering committee to first work out the details about digital rights management, distribution, archiving and other technical issues. It will be wonderful cultural resource for the public, though it will be quite expensive to create and manage.
