Internet2: C-SPAN Library
Posted by nicole on October 14th, 2008
The second presentation in the general session is on the C-SPAN Library - again, apologies for being off-topic today.
The C-SPAN Library Archive plans to create an online, Indexed, accessible, digital video collection of all C-SPAN Programming from 1987 - present, including 150,000 hours of programming. C-SPAN captures important political recordings as a public service, and the archive seeks to make this resource a permanent record.
I’m using NewsFilmOnline as an example of a federated resource in the UK in a session later today and it is interesting to look at the comparison with C-SPAN. The sustainability question that is being closely examined by the Strategic Content Alliance is also of interest - C-SPAN receives no government funding but is funded by fees paid by cable and satellite affiliates who carry C-SPAN programming.
The service has a lot of advanced searching capability, including the ability to track usage of certain words within congress. This is interesting for organisations such as Internet2 and JISC as hot-topics can be tracked across debates, speeches and other recorded events.