LBC/IRN

LBC/IRN

London Broadcasting Company / Independent Radio News [LBC/IRN]

This project was funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). JISC supports UK further & higher education and research by providing leadership in the use of Information and Communications Technology in support of learning, teaching, research and administration. JISC receives funding from all the UK further and higher education funding councils.

About this project

John Perkins, Managing Director of Independent Radio News [IRN] had a number of discussions over a long period of time with Professor Sean Street relating to the possible loss of this archive, and talked about a contingency plan to avert this, should the parent company be taken over by an organisation which might wish to dispose of the archive. It was agreed with the then owners (Chrysalis) that the Archive (7000 reel-to-reel tapes) should find a home at Bournemouth University, and that the Centre for Broadcasting History Research [CBHR] would seek funding to digitise the tapes.

CBHR was successful in bidding for JSC funding in partnership with BUFVC. The project presented a number of challenges, in particular moving the archive to a purpose built facility at Dorset County Record Office, to make room for another major donation. The project has also benefited significantly from the advice and support of Charlie Rose who created the original Archive.

The project has had to impose limits on the tapes selected for digitisation, using criteria developed by subject experts, 4000 tapes have been digitised. Broadly categories were: all tapes from the 1970s, all news and current affairs; documentaries and examples of genre for example phone-ins.

Credits

In alphabetical order:

Aude Battistella - Bournemouth University
Luis Carrasqueiro - BUFVC
Dr Hugh Chignell - Bournemouth University
Kelly Deacon-Smith - Bournemouth University
James Fryer - Independent Consultant
Matt Holland - Bournemouth University
Hervé L'Hours - Essex University
Chris Lowrie - London Broadcasting Company
Julia McCain - Bournemouth University
Paola Marchionni - JISC
Madeleine Midgley - Bournemouth University
John Perkins - Independent Radio News
Stanley Peters and team - Bournemouth University
Charlie Rose - Independent Radio News
David Walker - Bournemouth University
Murray Weston - BUFVC
Fiona Wilson - Bournemouth University

Principal Investigator:

Sean Street
Professor of Radio
Director of The Centre for Broadcasting History Research
The Media School
Bournemouth University

About the JISC

JISC supports UK further & higher education and research by providing leadership in the use of Information and Communications Technology in support of learning, teaching, research and administration. JISC receives funding from all the UK further and higher education funding councils.

Further information

Frequently asked questions
LBC/IRN Archive Teaching and Learning Case Study
Bournemouth University project page
Project blog