1. ‘Moving Image and the Academy’
Video Active: Creating Access to European Television History by Linking Academic and Archive Practice
‘Moving Image and the Academy’
University of Leeds
15 March 2008
Dana Mustata

2. Aims of Video Active
Creating, by means of an online portal, multi-lingual access to television heritage material across Europe
Selecting items of television archival content from a comparative perspective, reflecting cultural and historical similarities and differences of television cultures across the EU
Enriching selected contents by means of metadata and research analysis
Target users:
education,
general public,
cultural heritage
creative industries

3. The Consortium ! 14 members from 10 countries
! 11 content providers/10 languages

4. Associate Members
VRT (B)
Moving Images Communications (UK)
INA (FR)

5. The Video Active Data Television Archive Content (10.000 items):
-Earliest recordings of TV on film and (filmed) TV programmes
*reflecting the cultural and historical similarities and differences of television from across the European Union
*demonstrating new technological developments in TV
*development of common TV genres
*televised historical moments that have shaped collective memory
*examining changes in everyday life and influence of media
-Other data such as clippings from TV guides and stills

6. Research Added Value Comparison is crucial and aims towards:
Exploring and showing the cultural and historical differences and similarities of television in Europe, meaning:
History of television in Europe
&
European History on Television

7. Performing Comparison:
Comparative survey of the television holdings of archive partners and of the right issues involved (based on a questionnaire)
We found: Different programmes in different genres for different periods and different right issues
Approach:
Thematic approach to content selection
Development of common metadata schema

8. Performing Comparison
Development of a grid containing a large agreed list of topics over six decades (over 30)
First explorative research on five topics, discussed at consultation conference:
Emigration/immigration
Leisure
Sexual revolution
Drugs/alcohol
National holidays

9. Illustrating Comparison
Archival contents on ‘national holidays’
BBC (UK)
Touching on leisure, consumerism on national holidays, European integration events, television rituals at holiday moments
Wider spread over genres --- weaker association of holidays to the idea of the nation
ORF (Austria)
Emphasis on national rituals and events
Concentration on factual genres – asserting the sense of the nation
Nava (Hungary)
Predominance of national historical celebrations
Nationalistic celebration rituals across different factual genres
Henaa (Greece)
Focus on traditions and the religious inscription of national events
Predominant national character regardless of the programme genre

11. Performing Comparison
Consolidation of thematic approach as content selection strategy, exploring new topics such as
Controversial Programming
Television about television
European integration
Wars/Conflicts
Education
Religion
Food/Drinks

12. Added Value: Metadata = Context
The need of consistent information on the selected content: new and extensive metadata for each item:
Abstract, audio, video
Catalogue data: who, when, where, what …
Production information (colour, outside...)
Significance (exceptional; national/European)
Classification (genre and topic)

13. Making Use of Metadata as Context
Metadata brings insights on:
Historical context
Social impact
Technological dimension
Facts: when, where and who
The Video Active platform makes it possible to:
Search: for any part of the context
Browse within a context
Find: results presented with context
Relationships between data

15. Signifying Practice
The Video Active portal is a mediated platform built upon the co-operation between TV historians and archives, which allows for comparative research into European television history by means of:
Content selection policy and metadata aimed towards
cultural and historical significance
Diversity of genres, periods
Analysis of selected content
Editorial strategy developing high quality contextual material and articles

16. Signifying Practice: Editorial Strategy
Long Articles (Key Note Articles) centered on an European Comparative Dimension:
Programmes: mediating European identities
Institutions: Negotiating European Television Spaces
Technology: Shaping European Television Infrastructures
Events: Televising Europe and the Nation
Watching: Cultures of European Television Viewing
Short Articles (Knowledge Based Articles): on any specific topic related to European television history
Intro of color TV in Austria
Portable equipment and the search for a new documentary style
The start of TVC in Spain

17. Concluding remarks:
Video Active started in September 2006 for a duration of 36 months
The first version of the portal will be fully operational in April 2008
After the formal project duration within the EC framework comes to an end, a new organisation the Video Active Association will continue the management of the portal

18. Thank you! Presenter: Dana Mustata Project Coordinator: Sonja de Leeuw
Video Active Researcher
Utrecht University, the Netherlands
Project Coordinator:
Sonja de Leeuw
Utrecht University,the Netherlands