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This section deals with BBC's policies on archiving material, including the selection and retention of radio and television programmes.
Overall BBC policy and practice is summarised in the Media Management Policy.
The BBC currently spends over £1 billion each year creating its TV, Radio and bbc.co.uk content. To maximise the value of this content, appropriate media management standards must be applied across all Divisions, irrespective of where content is located. BBC Information and Archives sets the minimum standards for achieving this and has responsibility for reporting non-compliance with the archiving policies.
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Media Management Policy Ref 01_01 Components to be Retained: - Two broadcast standard copies of all transmitted/published TV, Radio and BBCi output - one to be stored on a separate site as a master - One browse-quality version for research purposes, to protect the broadcast material - All supporting metadata to enable research and re-use - A selection of original (i.e. unedited) material for re-use/re-versioning purposes - Hardware/software/equipment to enable replay/transfer of the media
Media Management Policy Ref 01-02 A retention schedule for each set of records kept / archived must be created as defined in the Records Management Policy. Retention periods are set according to the status and value of the record.
Management Policy Ref 01-03 A risk assessment must be carried out for all data being kept/archived.
Media Management Policy Ref 01-04 All records identified within the BBC's Retention Schedule must be retained, and it is the responsibility of the area that has been identified as holder of the master copy to ensure they are stored in an appropriate storage mechanism, and for the agreed period of time.
Media Management Policy Ref 01-05 It is the responsibility of the person who thinks they are holding Core Records to add their records to the Retention Schedule.
Media Management Policy Ref 01-06 Non-Core Records that are to be retained longer than two years must be authorised, and be registered with Information and Archives as part of the Retention Schedule - see Appendix A1 of the Records Management Policy.
Media Management Policy Ref 01-07 Non-Core Records that are not authorised, and therefore not registered, must be destroyed in an appropriate manner within two years.
Media Management Policy Ref 02-01 All media content must be available for use by other BBC departments when it has been broadcast/published. The only exceptions to this will be content which has been restricted for legal or editorial reasons. All valid restrictions on use should be notified to the Sound Archivist, Television Archivist or New Media Archivist as appropriate.
Media Management Policy Ref 02-02 Wherever possible copies will be made available for loan, but original Televisions and Radio programme masters will be issued for broadcast requirements.
Media Management Policy Ref 02-03 All loans of Radio and Television archive material will be for two weeks. Renewals will be possible, but overdue items will be subject to a fine. This will improve the security of the archive and ensure access to the BBC’s prime assets - its programme content.
Media Management Policy Ref 03-01 All media and metadata must be stored securely in the correct conditions to minimise damage and degradation, following industry best practice.
Media Management Policy Ref 04-01 All transmitted/published media content will be kept for at least five years to fulfil legal requirements and to enable re-versioning and re-use.
Media Management Policy Ref 04-02 All original (unedited) media content will be kept for at least one year. A selection of material with high re-use value (e.g. stock footage/audio) will be kept for five years.
Media Management Policy Ref 04-03 An initial decision about long term archiving must be made at the point content is created. This will be reviewed after one and five years.
Media Management Policy Ref 04-04 The appropriate metadata relating to broadcast/published content must be kept for ever as a permanent record of what the BBC created.
Media Management Policy Ref 05-01 An ongoing preservation schedule will be maintained to transfer media content which is in danger of degrading or only exists on obsolete formats. Only content with high research/re-use/heritage value will be preserved.
Media Management Policy Ref 06-01 Content being preserved will also be digitised to enable access at the desktop and reuse in future media asset management systems. Material which has not been identified for preservation will be digitised on demand if it has been selected for broadcast or publication on a website.
Media Management Policy Ref 07-01 Media content which falls outside the selection criteria must be disposed of after the agreed retention period in order to maximise analogue and digital storage space. In the first instance it will be offered back to Production to store and manage. If Production have no requirement to retain it, or there is no response within one month, it will be offered to BBC Worldwide and Rights, then to the appropriate external archives (e.g. British Film Institute, National Sound Archive). If there is no taker, the material will be destroyed to prevent misuse. In some cases (e.g. stills) material may be offered for sale.
In all cases a record will be kept for ever which documents the disposal/destruction process.
This document is intended to give background and context to the Media Management Policies and Requirements. It includes all the high Level Policy Statements, and summary archive requirements. The Policy Statements and Requirements set out what must be retained, and how. Most of the sections within this document are available as separate documents, to enable different business areas to ensure that the requirements are met.
Records Management Policy
This document incorporates Freedom of Information requirements as well as all information held in the former Core Records Policy and Records Management Standards.
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This document outlines the BBC policy for the acquisition of printed and electronic reference and loan materials. These materials include online databases, the Internet/Intranet, books, periodicals and CD ROMs.
This document defines the criteria and processes for the selection and retention of sheet music by the BBC.
As part of the move to High Definition TV, File based production and delivery and to support the PQ Digital Library integration with INFAX needed to identify the new Technical Codes for Digital Files
This document defines the different levels of cataloguing and indexing that are applicable to different genres of programmes to enable effective and efficient retrieval of television and radio programmes and extracts from those programmes.
This document defines the purpose and criteria for the selection and acquisition of commercial music and spoken word.
This document describes minimum technical quality standards for programmes to be archived by BBC Information & Archives. This is to ensure that the media is reusable and is of archival quality.
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This document defines the archiving policy for World Service.
Acquisition of Research Materials Acquisition of Sheet Music Infax Technical Codes Information Management for TV & Radio Interactive TV Selection & Retention of Commercial Recordings Stills and Photographic Collections Technical Requirements World Service Archive Policy
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