Hannah Brana-Martin - BBC Media Manager/Archive Consultant
Hannah Brana-Martin works as a Media Manager at Radio 1; she is currently on a six-month placement as an Archive Consultant.
What does your job involve?
My job at Radio 1 involves setting up new processes to ensure that all content of archival value has a route to the archive. These processes depend on what the content is, and can be CDs, tapes or digital sound files from a broadcast or interactive content from the Radio 1 website. I therefore work closely with the Operations Team to set up practical systems for the management and archiving of material generated by the network.
Radio 1 use a playout system called VCS to upload, edit and playout audio. It's also used to generate music reports. I set up metadata conventions for this system that aid production staff with searching and retrieving their content. The long term aim is for this content to flow into a digital archive alongside its associated metadata. The metadata conventions have to be simple for production teams to follow, compatible with operational processes and fulfil statutory requirements such as music reporting - i.e. every song played is reported so that the artists are paid. Music reporting is carried out on a daily basis by an assistant producer or a unit assistant from the programme production team. My job therefore also involves training production staff in how to use the system properly to make sure the conventions and guidelines are adhered to.
Radio 1's content is archived according to selection criteria, which includes complete broadcast programmes plus component parts of programmes such as live sessions and interviews. Unedited sessions and interviews are sometimes of more value for re-use but this is dependent on rights considerations. Content is catalogued by my colleague, detailing track titles and interview discussion points.
I'm also involved with setting up new processes to archive online content such as videos and photos from live events. It can be difficult to archive the complete online user experience as its constantly updated, so I've concentrated on processes which capture selected collections of content. I agreed selection criteria and set up an appropriate folder structure and naming conventions for images created by Radio 1's interactive team. I also encouraged the team to use a programme called Adobe Bridge to add more detailed metadata to their images. This meant that the images could also be batched under titles like Radio 1's Big Weekend or Glastonbury. Images which fit the archive selection criteria are flagged for the main BBC archive using Adobe Bridge and are transferred on a monthly basis, making them available to the whole BBC.
I'm also involved with ensuring Radio 1 material is preserved appropriately - the live sessions stored on dat tape are currently being transferred so they also exist as wav files.
To read the full interview with Hannah, you can download the PDF here:
Hannah Brana-Martin Archive Case Study 2009
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