Archival Sounds

Archival Sound Recordings in Action - Reviving the Lost Music of Bunyoro-Kitara

In 1967, the central government of Uganda abolished the historic Bantu kingdoms that had for centuries formed the regional administrations of the country.  Out went the kingdoms, out went the kings, and out with them went generations of musical and cultural lore.

In 1993, the government restored the kingdoms, and the reinstated King of Bunyoro-Kitara is now tackling the daunting task of recreating the institutions, articles and music of the regional heritage.

Samuel Kahunde, a PhD student in ethnomusicology at the University of Sheffield, began studying the royal music of Uganda through the Klaus Wachsmann collection on Archival Sound Recordings. In a fieldwork trip last June, Samuel visited the royal court to discuss the recovery of this music with the King of Bunyoro-Kitara. 

IT Sounds Right

A key aim of the ASR2 Project is to negotiate over the intellectual property rights for approximately 20,000 recordings.  This is a complex undertaking requiring detailed research, legal support and negotiation.  We need to do this so that researchers and educators in institutions of Further and Higher Education can use the ASR2 recordings in a variety of academic contexts.  Audio is a particularly complex area in intellectual property because fair-dealing provisions for recordings are almost nonexistent within the UK Copyright Act.

Last week, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) launched its report Taking Forward the Gowers Review on Intellectual Property - Proposed Changes to Copyright Exceptions.  The report makes a number of proposals relating to the use of sound recordings.  UK-IPO is seeking feedback from interested parties.  If you use sound in teaching, learning or research - or perhaps feel prohibited from doing so - this presents a great opportunity to let your views be known.

Peter Findlay. ASR Project Manager

Engaging People with digital content

The Archival Sound Recordings (ASR) team is always looking for ways to expand the ASR site – not just in terms of content but in usability.  And usability these days means a great deal more than having a clear design and easily navigated menus.  What sites like ours really want to create is a community of practice around its content: a growing and dynamic body that will interact with the material, repurpose it, and share the results as widely as possible.

This is why two members of the team attended a seminar held by the Quality Improvement Agency (QIA) earlier this month.  QIA describes itself as a champion of “excellence and innovation in the provision of learning and skills”.  The seminar itself was the start of a four-month programme to see how the content of resources such as ours can be expanded upon and interacted with in Further Education colleges; in particular, how content can be recombined into multimedia learning “journeys”.

Archival Sound Recordings in House of Lords exhibition

For the next two months, the Archival Sound Recording service will be on display in the House of Lords Library. In the first such exhibition to be held there, ASR is joined by two more of the British Library’s flagship digital projects, Turning the Pages™ and the new 19th Century Newspapers site.

The exhibition was opened on 16 November with speeches from Lord Avebury, Sir Colin Lucas, and the Lord Speaker, The Rt Hon the Baroness Hayman.  To mark the occasion, Archival Sound Recordings gave prominence to a 1971 St Mary-le-Bow debate involving Sir Peter Walker, Baron of Worcester (please click on this link to listen to the debate), who was then Secretary of State for the Environment.

The British Library’s Public Affairs Manager Victoria Carson, said:  "We are delighted to have this unique opportunity to host an exhibition in the House of Lords Library. It helps us communicate some of our key messages with regard to capturing and preserving material in the world of constantly changing technology."

The Archival Sound Recordings2 User Panel

We are currently looking for academics and researchers to join the Archival Sound Recordings 2 User Panel. Panel members will have the opportunity to help influence the direction and development of the project, and will be invited to attend a number of meetings and workshop sessions during 2007 and 2008. If you are interested in contributing but can't spare the time for the panel, we are also setting up an online group so that contributions can be made from afar.  You will need to be active in higher or further education in the United Kingdom.

Please email asr@bl.uk and we will contact you to discuss your involvement with or use of audio in teaching, learning and research and how you may be able to contribute to the project.

Peter Findlay, ASR2 Project Manager