The BBC Archive Trial (also sometimes called the Open Archive Project) has recently launched. The BBC will put approximately 1000 hours of selected content online as part of the full trial.

The first stage of the trial provides access to a wide range of programmes about the anniversary of independence for India and Pakistan. Many of these programmes will be of interest to our collaborators at Columbia University.

The site also contains some very interesting talking head video interviews:-

- Contributor rights - Simon Hayward-Tapp outlines why re-showing programmes is so complex.
- Why we’ve included difficult programmes - Natalie Christian explains why we have included programmes in the trial that are challenging to watch.
- The BBC television archive - Adam Lee talks about the the BBC’s changing attitude towards programme preservation.
- The BBC sound archive - Hear the “reel” story of radio with Simon Rooks

I suggest that we all at Spoken Word sign up for the trial so we are kept informed of new programmes as they go online.