Thursday, September 29, 2011

World Day for Audiovisual Heritage - 27/10/2011


In building up towards the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage which is celebrated on the 27th of October, we will host an exhibition from the International Library of African Music (ILAM) in the SABC foyer from next week, 5 October until 28 October 2011.  Please make time to visit the exhibition.

The exhibition celebrates the work of Hugh Tracey who was a former SABC employee. Hugh Tracey founded ILAM in 1954, and his  collection of sound recordings and photographs of the sub-continent, captured from 1928 through the early 1970s during 19 field excursions that took him as far north as the then Belgian Congo will be represented in this exhibition. ILAM is situated in Grahamstown at the University of Rhodes.

The travelling exhibition, “For Future Generations – Hugh Tracey and the International Library of African Music” displays a selection numerous features on Tracey’s field research, publications, films and audio recordings. Video stations offer footage of South African mine dancing, Chopi xylophone orchestras, Shona music and story-telling, and on ILAM’s history and current projects.

On the 27th of October, The Pops Mohamed Duo has agreed to do a lunch hour concert for the SABC staff. He will demonstrate some of the instruments that Hugh Tracey had collected during his travels. The concert promises to be a highlight for us.

We hope to see you there.

Ilse Assmann, Manager: SABC Media Libraries

#Followalibrary Day 1st October 2011

#Followalibrary poster
On Saturday October 1st it will again be Follow a Library Day.
Wilma van den Brink introduces the Twitter initiative for 2011 in a blog post:
#Followalibrary Day 1st October 2011

See FollowaLibrary blog for all the details.

The added subject this year is  "My favourite book".
Use the hashtag #myfavoritebook when tweeting.
Remember to include the hashtag #followalibrary

The SABC Media Libraries and SABC Information Libraries will be taking part.
You will find us here on Twitter:
@SABCMediaLib
@SABCInfoLib

Please follow us!

Tell us what is your favourite book of all times!
What would happen if everybody on Twitter could tell us what is their favourite library on Saturday?


Blog post by Karen du Toit @karentoittoit


Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Passion is born

It is confirmed, I am passionate about my work...  how I know...?  Easy!  When an archivist runs down the corridor with the reel of a well-known Springbok Radio Commercial and gets a kick out of the fact that is was recorded on his/her birthdate, you know it is passion!  I found the reel of the 1975 Chevrolet (Braaivleis, Rugby, Sunny Skies and Chevrolet...), and yes, it was recorded on my birthday!  I feel honored!



Retha Buys, SABC Radio Archives

LibCafe summarized via Summarizr

We had our Knowledge Café called LibCafe at the end of last month, and here is a summary of the event on Twitter through Summarizr.
LibCafe

Summarizr is a 
... service [that] will create a brief summary of a TwapperKeeper tweet archive. It works for #hashtag archives, keyword archives and @person archives. Just enter a hashtag, keyword, Twitter account name or archive URL ...
Summarizr LibCafe
Summarizr LibCafe twitterers
Summarizr LibCafe Top 10 @reply recipients and/or mentions
Summarizr Top 10 conversations and hashtags
More statistics can be found here: Summarizr LibCafe


Blog post by Karen du Toit, SABC Radio Archives.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Library 2.011 Worldwide Virtual Conference in November

Library 2.011 WorldWide Virtual Conference
#Lib2011
The Library 2.011 conference is upcoming on 2 & 3 November 2011. 
The conference will be online and available across multiple time zones. It is a free attend.

All we need to do to be updated about the latest news and conference updates is to sign up at the Library 2.0 network.

The Library 2.011 conference is a unique chance to participate in a global conversation on the current and future state of libraries. Subject strands include the changing roles of libraries and librarians, the increasing impact of digital media and the e-book revolution, open educational resources, digital literacy, shifts from information consumption to production (Web 2.0), multimedia and gaming spaces, libraries as community centers, the growth of individualized and self-paced learning, the library as the center of new learning models, understanding users in the digital age, assessing service delivery, and defining leadership and information professional careers in a networked and changing world. - Library 2.011 Conference

Steve Hargadon, the Co-Chair of Library 2.011 sent out an email to remind participants to spread the word as far and wide as possible for a globally inclusive conference. They have sign-ups from 135 countries so far!

The hashtag for the conference is #LIB2011
It is great to be able to connect with our peers globally in the virtual domain.

Library 2.0 - "The future of libraries in the digital age!"


Blog post by Karen du Toit, Archivist in the SABC Radio Archives

Monday, September 19, 2011

Dusty Tales


Blowing the dust of an old tape and discovering a Springbok Radio label is always a chocolate-moment for me, needless to say that I am a choc-o-holic, but also a Springbok Radio-o-holic, if something like that exists.  I started the dirty task of sorting through some old tapes donated to us by a production house today, and, although I am sneezing my way though the tapes, I am also finding interesting material, like the audition tape of Burg Burger, not a Springbok Radio program, but nevertheless a gem in the Old Time Radio collection.  There are a couple of tapes with the Springbok Radio label, and I can't wait to listen to the contents.
That is indeed one challenge when working with old material - information about the recording is sometimes scarce, and you have to research and research and search some more to find the details!  But, like a true archivist, I won't give up!  See you at the other side of the dust-heap!

Friday, September 16, 2011

The daily challenges of a sound archivist

Each job has its own intrinsic frustrations that comes as a given. The sound archivist in a broadcasting environment also has a fare share of daily frustrations. I will call it daily challenges.

Daily challenges of a sound archivist

  • Having to unlock a sound carrier without any information. There is no extra data on the cover, or inside. There is no information on the sound carrier itself. 

The cover of a reel-to-reel-tape (no indication of what is inside)

Inside: a reel-to-reel tape with a cryptic note: "Patrick Mynhardt reads  Herman Charles Bosman" Tape 1
But the sound differs from the note...

  • The sound carriers are degrading, and some we can't recover. The mini-disc carriers are some of the fastest degrading carriers, and we are unable to digitize it as it degrades.
mini-disc carrier
  • The sound recording and sound playback devices are going obsolete, and we are unable to get it serviced properly as well as get parts for broken items.
Reel-to-reel-tape Studer tape recorder
CD, MD and tape cassette machines stacked on top of each other
  • The journalists, programme producers and programme managers do not alert us to new programmes or special broadcasts or a change in the daily schedule. (Although we have asked to be kept in the loop.)
  • The journalists, programme producers and programme managers do not attach meta data or information about a programme on the sound being made available or on broadcast.
  • The public and journalists / producers expect us to be on top of a 24/7 broadcast feed, and to have it catalogued as well! It is impossible!
  • The digital world brings it own challenges. It is wonderful to have the audio available on the computer, but it does not help at all when the meta data was not added correctly. It is sometimes even more trickier to find out the origins of a piece of audio when it is only marked with temporary titles.
Dalet 5.1 Digital Audio System
  • Going to the shelve, and finding it empty. It has been removed for request purposes (hopefully) or else it means that it is lost. 
  • The request archivists deal with journalists who runs in at the last moment, and expect to find a sound clip to use asap. 
It is only some of the challenges that we face on a daily basis in the SABC Radio Archives. 
Can you add to this list?

Post by Karen du Toit, Afrikaans Archivist in the SABC Radio Archives.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

The Moshito 2011 experience


Moshito 2011: SABC Media Libraries exhibition
Patrick Jack from SABC Record Library

Moshito 2011, the yearly music conference and exhibition, took place 31 August to 2 September last week. The SABC Media Libraries and the SABC News Archives had an exhibition in Newtown as well.

Obakeng Phiri, the intern in the SABC Radio Archives, gives us some of his impressions:
Obakeng Phiri on the far right, explaining the SABC Media Libraries' exhibition

The conference was aimed at developing and stimulating the domestic music industry. 
The event featured over 30 sessions of panel discussions, information sessions and workshops. Music industry and related specialists from all over the world also took part in the conference.
I was asked to join my colleagues on Friday at the music conference to showcase the SABC Media Libraries, by telling people who we are and what we do.

We had two laptops set up for people who came to visit our area, which gave them a broader understanding on what the SABC Media Libraries is all about. We also had a DVD playing out for people who passed our stall, which mainly highlighted our cultural diversity, and on what makes them so unique - in terms of clothing, music and dances.
Wandile Goba of the SABC New Archives on the right
 On a personal note the conference gave me a broader understanding about SAMRO and on how it affects the SABC. They are interdependent. It is very critical for me due to the fact that I work with archive material.
Some more photos:
Nonhlanhla Mazibuko (SABC Record Library), Florence Moshatana (SABC Radio Archives),
Nokuthula Mzelemu (SABC Radio Archives)
Nokuthula Mzelemu (SABC Radio Archives)
Moshito 2011 was held at Sci-Bono Discovery Centre in Newtown

Blog post by Obakeng Phiri and Karen du Toit, photos by Obakeng Phiri and Nokuthula Mzelemu, interns in the SABC Radio Archives.


Monday, September 5, 2011

LibCafé curated - SABC Media Libraries Knowledge Café

LibCafé WordItOut word cloud
The SABC Media Libraries had a very interesting and successful Knowledge Café #LibCafe last week.

We are still busy  looking at some of the results that were generated through the tools used in the LibCafé. Even the scribbles done by the participants are a valuable way in finding our way through the maze of social media.

The question that was asked: "What do you need to start using social media?"


We have curated our tweets identified by the hashtag #LibCafe in Twapperkeeper:
http://twapperkeeper.com/LibCafe

Also in Twubs:
http://twubs.com/LibCafe

We have found a strange phenomenon which happened with regards Twitter. Our main Twitter account @SABCMediaLib was not picked up by any of the curation options that we used. The account is not blocked, nor is it private. It is only the tweets that were retweeted, or that came from the other sources, such as the @SABCRadioArc account, that were curated.

If anybody has an idea about the reason, please let us know?

The story of the day is compiled in Storify, which include tweets, blog posts, links, photos and related information about Knowledge Café's as well as specifically our LibCafé.
http://storify.com/sabcmedialib/libcafe

The Prezi, the presentation tool that was used, is also available online:
http://prezi.com/nxg-6mv1cemx/libcafe/

The TwitterFountain can be seen her:
http://thefounta.in/i5nC7


Related post:
What do we need to start using social media in the SABC Media Libraries?

Blog post by Karen du Toit, and WordItOut word cloud by Obakeng Phiri (intern) (SABC Radio Archives).

Thursday, September 1, 2011

What do we need to start using social media in the SABC Media Libraries?

Prezi of #LibCafe
LibCafé, our first Knowledge Café, wanted to create an environment for conversation about the use of social media in the SABC Media Libraries.

The question: What do you need to start using social media?
We used the Knowledge Café as a facilitation tool towards a better understanding and learning environment about the uptake of social media in the SABC Media Libraries.

The SABC Media Libraries have a website and a blog which feed into the Facebook fan pages of the different departments, as well as the Twitter accounts. (See below for the different accounts.) We are two people who manage these accounts for the SABC Media Libraries. Representation of all the departments are slow in uptake, not necessarily because of disinterest, but because of heavy workloads and under staffing. The issues of workload and under staffing are global phenomenons, and not only problems unique to us.

The hope is that we could get a better understanding of what is needed to get more people involved, and to see where we can address some of the issues that make it difficult for people to use social media in their daily work activities.

We are very grateful towards Manti Grobler who facilitated our LibCafé, with her experience in the method of Knowledge Cafés. She believes that it is imperative to get a measurable result out of the process, and that it does not stop with the conversation only. David Gurteen, The Knowledge Management expert, and worldwide facilitator of Knowledge Cafés, believes that conversation is the most important, and that you don't have to get a result for it to be successful. We used his theory and videos about Knowledge Cafés extensively in our preparation as well as presentation.

The collective discussion in our LibCafé came to the following conclusion of what we need to focus on in taking social media forward in the SABC Media Libraries:

What did we discover?
(See #LibCafé Prezi snippet above)


We need:
1. Skills    It includes know-how about the applications, social media etiquette, language and we need to know the pitfalls.
2. Access    Tools such as the Internet, smart phones, etc.
    Unlimited time (when; duration)
    Permission
3. Audience
4. Interest (blending social media into your daily activities)
5. Finding your own voice    Desire, motivation, passion


Where to from here?
"A social media inFundi has more eyes on the World"


We have already announced a social media empowerment plan for the SABC Media Libraries to take the issues of Skills and Interest forward.
We identify inFundi's who social buddy the next inFundi's.

The inFundi status is measurable by the following criteria:

  • Open a Twitter account;
  • 30 Tweets; 
  • Follow 50 Twitter users;
  • Need to get 20 followers;
  • Facebook - make 10 Facebook fan page updates on the relevant department's fan page.
The new inFundi's social buddy the next set of inFundi's. The first set of inFundi's will be awarded surprise packets, courtesy of Manti Grobler.

The issue of access need to be taken up by the management and social media committee of the SABC Media Libraries. 


Blog post by Karen du Toit, SABC Radio Archives


The Facebook fan pages:

Twitter accounts: