The BBC have created a blog to accompany the launch of the new prototype Programme Catalogue. The first post by Tom Loosemore,  Project Director, BBC 2.0  provides an excellent introduction to the Archives and the history of the Catalogue project (including a link to an excellent blog post from last year about Windmill Road, home of the Archives). Some questions Tom considers:-

‘What programmes were on the BBC on the day I was born? Had anyone I knew ever appeared on TV? (My father had, to my surprise…) When did Margaret Thatcher first appear on the BBC? Which was the last band
to appear in session for John Peel? What’s more, the programme
catalogue was being updated constantly by those wonderful archivists.
Not only was this a cultural goldmine, but it was getting richer day by
day.’

The next post gives details of the first tool built on top of the Programme Catalogue. The BBC is keen to encourage these kind of mashups by external contributors. You can let the BBC know if you have any thoughts about how this prototype could be improved. If you spot an error in the data then please use this form to tell the BBC about it.

The blog should continue to provide information on new developments with the Catalogue and related tools.

Iain