Preservation of audio-visual records at the South African Broadcasting Corporation radio in Limpopo regional offices
Ngoasheng, Cyril Patrick Maribolla
Audio-visual records produced by public broadcasters play a role in preserving the history, culture, and language of the country. The records are used by broadcasters to repeat programmes and as snippets to support programmes on the air. Audio-visual records are also used by external people such as researchers. The formats that carry these records such as tapes and compact discs (CDs) are fragile and have a short life span which of 10 to 15 years. This is compounded by evolving technologies which result with obsolete playback equipment and possibly in records not being accessible.
Broadcasters must ensure that audio-visual records are preserved for use over a long period. This qualitative study utilised the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) model to explore the preservation of audio-visual records at the South African Broadcasting Corporation radio in the Limpopo regional offices. The study triangulated interviews, document analysis and archive surveys as data collection tools. Interviews were conducted with purposively selected participants in three radio stations of the SABC in the Limpopo province, which are Munghana Lonene FM, Phalaphala FM and Thobela FM. The findings revealed that the SABC radio archive was preserving audio-visual records in obsolete formats such as long plays (LPs) and cassettes, which also lacked playback equipment. These formats were not properly arranged and were further kept in a storage area, which was not monitored for decay and security. The audio-visual records were also managed by librarians who did not have archival qualifications or skills. It was further established that the radio stations were using IONA technology for retrieval and access of records while the news divisions of the radio stations were relying on ENPS. As audio-visual materials were not catalogued, which made it difficult for users to access these records.
This study offers a framework that can help the SABC radio and other organisations to preserve audio-visual records. Implementation of the framework can also assist the radio stations to ensure continued access of audio-visual records that are becoming obsolete. This study adds value to the existing theoretical and conceptual issues that form the ongoing discourse on the preservation of and access to audio-visual records, which is often a neglected area in the developing countries. A further study on the migration of content from analogue to digital for the purpose of continuous preservation is recommended.
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