Colleagues,
At the risk of being uncharitable, the CBC is perhaps not exactly known in recent years for the astuteness of its strategic planning nor the prescience of its financial decision-making. This is perhaps not so much a case of a beloved national institution undermining the profession's dictums on "digitisation is not preservation" as a case study in what happens when an institution straitened by decades of political attrition and mismanagement is forced to make increasingly poor decisions they can only hope to get away with long enough that by the time their consequences are known they are irreversible. It is at this point a sad but predictable trajectory for public institutions.
I also believe federal institutions in particular often face very difficult parameters about what materials they can deaccession into other institutions and how. It may not be unreasonable to speculate that a decision was handed down about the fate of this material with such a tight timeframe that the people responsible for implementing it couldn't accommodate any other response. I feel sympathy for them.
I am the last person to discount the value of public pressure, however - Suzanne, I think your point about the visibility of the case is sound. Perhaps the ACA advocacy committee (whose chairperson is copied on this email) might consider the matter?
-M
P.S. I append the text of Suzanne's latest message below for the benefit of arcan-l subscribers who may not have received it.
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Myron C. Groover, MA (Hons), MAS, MLIS
Archives and Rare Books Librarian
McMaster University Library
1280 Main Street W.
Hamilton, ON L8S 4L6
905-525-9140 (ext. 22790)
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Sent: Wednesday, May 9, 2018 9:30 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [Arcan-l] CBC destruction of broadcast originals --- a question to the archival community
I should also add that I am well aware that we cannot and should not keep everything; that is not my point. I do think, however, that given the significance of the CBC's holdings and the visibility of this public-funded institution there is an opportunity here for archival associations to educate the public about a host of archival issues such as archival value, preservation challenges, media obsolescence, and so on.
Best to all,
Suzanne
-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Suzanne Dubeau
Sent: Wednesday, May 9, 2018 9:28 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Cc: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [Arcan-l] CBC destruction of broadcast originals --- a question to the archival community
Dear Colleagues...
A librarian co-worker has asked me where he can find information about where archivists stand with regard to the CBC's current digitization project that includes the destruction of its broadcast original recordings post-digitization. See one story about it here:
https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2018/04/19/cbc-is-destroying-its-broadcast-archives-after-theyre-digitized.html
He said he could not find anything on archival association websites, or social media, speaking about how misguided this is.
I think he raises some good points. This action by such an important Canadian institution certainly undermines any arguments we make as a profession about why it is important to keep originals. Does anyone know if any statements have been made by archival associations in response to this action? I don't recall seeing anything myself but I may have missed it.
It is interesting that the French-language service intends to retain its master recordings after digitizing the content. We know that the extent of the holdings would be and is a major challenge and I'm sure it's safe to say that the CBC archives is no doubt seriously under-resourced as we all are, but is there no way the archival community can respond either for or against?
Suzanne
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Suzanne Dubeau, MISt
Assistant Head, Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections York University, 305 Scott Library, 4700 Keele Street Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
Tel: 416.736.5442 Fax: 416.650.8039
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