This section deals with BBC's policies on archiving material, including the selection and retention of radio and television programmes.

Overall BBC policy and practice is summarised in the Media Management Policy.

Introduction

The BBC currently spends over £1 billion each year creating its TV, Radio and bbc.co.uk content. To maximise the value of this content, appropriate media management standards must be applied across all Divisions, irrespective of where content is located. BBC Information and Archives sets the minimum standards for achieving this and has responsibility for reporting non-compliance with the archiving policies.

Why we keep BBC media content

• Research value - as a source of information
• Re-use value - repeats, re-versioning and re-use of extracts (including use by Worldwide)
• Legal requirement
• Business requirement (core records)
• Historical/heritage requirement
• Charter requirement

Selection criteria for long-term archiving

• All scripted fiction (drama and comedy)
• All major documentaries
• Award-winning programmes
• Events where the BBC played a unique and distinctive role in broadcasting to the nation (e.g. wars, royal weddings, state funerals, major sports events etc).
• Content covering the following areas:
• Historical. Material of events (actuality) covering all subject areas, including politics, foreign affairs etc. Includes content generated by News.
• Social Development. Material giving examples of contemporary life and attitudes, including current affairs material and drama.
• Music and Performing Arts. Examples of performance, direction, production, writing and composing, with special emphasis on works commissioned or sponsored by the BBC.
• People. Material featuring people of historical interest in all spheres.
• Natural History and the Environment. Material featuring places of geographical interest, especially related to changes in the environment and the development of natural history.
• Science and Technology. Material illustrating the development and changes in this area.
• Education. Examples of material which has been created to fulfil the BBC’s educational remit.
• Broadcasting and Editorial Policy. Examples of material showing the development of broadcasting and editorial policy; and programming developments e.g. new presentation styles, genres, new series etc.
• Technical Developments. Examples of technical developments such as Radio Data Signal (RDS), Nicam Stereo etc and material illustrating significant work in areas such as makeup, costume, set-design, editing techniques, special effects, etc.
• Staff and Contributors. Material showing the work of individuals who have made a significant contribution to the BBC.
• General Output. Examples of regular strip programming, sequence strands and magazine programmes to produce a balanced archive reflecting all output. This will typically include the first and last of any series and sample days of output on each channel/platform.

Policy Statements

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Version	Last Updated	PDF Version
02.02	24/06/2005
DQ Ref: i&a_01

Media Management Policy Ref 01_01
Components to be Retained:
- Two broadcast standard copies of all transmitted/published TV, Radio and BBCi output - one to be stored on a separate site as a master
- One browse-quality version for research purposes, to protect the broadcast material
- All supporting metadata to enable research and re-use
- A selection of original (i.e. unedited) material for re-use/re-versioning purposes
- Hardware/software/equipment to enable replay/transfer of the media

Media Management Policy Ref 01-02
A retention schedule for each set of records kept / archived must be created as defined in the Records Management Policy. Retention periods are set according to the status and value of the record.

Management Policy Ref 01-03
A risk assessment must be carried out for all data being kept/archived.

Media Management Policy Ref 01-04
All records identified within the BBC's Retention Schedule must be retained, and it is the responsibility of the area that has been identified as holder of the master copy to ensure they are stored in an appropriate storage mechanism, and for the agreed period of time.

Media Management Policy Ref 01-05
It is the responsibility of the person who thinks they are holding Core Records to add their records to the Retention Schedule.

Media Management Policy Ref 01-06
Non-Core Records that are to be retained longer than two years must be authorised, and be registered with Information and Archives as part of the Retention Schedule - see Appendix A1 of the Records Management Policy.

Media Management Policy Ref 01-07
Non-Core Records that are not authorised, and therefore not registered, must be destroyed in an appropriate manner within two years.

Media Management Policy Ref 02-01
All media content must be available for use by other BBC departments when it has been broadcast/published. The only exceptions to this will be content which has been restricted for legal or editorial reasons. All valid restrictions on use should be notified to the Sound Archivist, Television Archivist or New Media Archivist as appropriate.

Media Management Policy Ref 02-02
Wherever possible copies will be made available for loan, but original Televisions and Radio programme masters will be issued for broadcast requirements.

Media Management Policy Ref 02-03
All loans of Radio and Television archive material will be for two weeks. Renewals will be possible, but overdue items will be subject to a fine. This will improve the security of the archive and ensure access to the BBC’s prime assets - its programme content.

Media Management Policy Ref 03-01
All media and metadata must be stored securely in the correct conditions to minimise damage and degradation, following industry best practice.

Media Management Policy Ref 04-01
All transmitted/published media content will be kept for at least five years to fulfil legal requirements and to enable re-versioning and re-use.

Media Management Policy Ref 04-02
All original (unedited) media content will be kept for at least one year. A selection of material with high re-use value (e.g. stock footage/audio) will be kept for five years.

Media Management Policy Ref 04-03
An initial decision about long term archiving must be made at the point content is created. This will be reviewed after one and five years.

Media Management Policy Ref 04-04
The appropriate metadata relating to broadcast/published content must be kept for ever as a permanent record of what the BBC created.

Media Management Policy Ref 05-01
An ongoing preservation schedule will be maintained to transfer media content which is in danger of degrading or only exists on obsolete formats. Only content with high research/re-use/heritage value will be preserved.

Media Management Policy Ref 06-01
Content being preserved will also be digitised to enable access at the desktop and reuse in future media asset management systems. Material which has not been identified for preservation will be digitised on demand if it has been selected for broadcast or publication on a website.

Media Management Policy Ref 07-01
Media content which falls outside the selection criteria must be disposed of after the agreed retention period in order to maximise analogue and digital storage space. In the first instance it will be offered back to Production to store and manage. If Production have no requirement to retain it, or there is no response within one month, it will be offered to BBC Worldwide and Rights, then to the appropriate external archives (e.g. British Film Institute, National Sound Archive). If there is no taker, the material will be destroyed to prevent misuse. In some cases (e.g. stills) material may be offered for sale.

In all cases a record will be kept for ever which documents the disposal/destruction process.

Media Management Policy

Media Management Policy

If you have difficulty accessing the PDF, please right click to download, and save target on your local drive.

 

Version	Last Updated	PDF Version
02.04	24/06/2005
DQ Ref: i&a_19

This document is intended to give background and context to the Media Management Policies and Requirements. It includes all the high Level Policy Statements, and summary archive requirements. The Policy Statements and Requirements set out what must be retained, and how. Most of the sections within this document are available as separate documents, to enable different business areas to ensure that the requirements are met.

Records Management

Records Management Policy

Version	Last Updated	PDF Version
01.03	21/05/2008	If you have difficulty accessing the PDF, please right click to download, and save target on your local drive.
DQ Ref: i&a_20_01

This document incorporates Freedom of Information requirements as well as all information held in the former Core Records Policy and Records Management Standards. 

Records Management Standards
 

Version	Last Updated	PDF Version
01.02	27/10/2008	If you have difficulty accessing the PDF, please right click to download, and save target on your local drive.
DQ Ref: i&a_20_02

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Policy Documents

Acquisition of Research Materials

Version	Last Updated	PDF Version
01.00	August 2000	If you have difficulty accessing the PDF, please right click to download, and save target on your local drive
DQ Ref: i&a_13

This document outlines the BBC policy for the acquisition of printed and electronic reference and loan materials. These materials include online databases, the Internet/Intranet, books, periodicals and CD ROMs.

Acquisition of Sheet Music

 

Version	Last Updated	PDF Version
01.00	September 2000	If you have difficulty accessing the PDF, please right click to download, and save target on your local drive.
DQ Ref: i&a_11

This document defines the criteria and processes for the selection and retention of sheet music by the BBC.

Infax Technical Codes

 

Version	Last Updated	PDF Version
01.00	23/01/2007	If you have difficulty accessing the PDF, please right click to download, and save target on your local drive.
DQ Ref: i&a_22

As part of the move to High Definition TV, File based production and delivery and to support the PQ Digital Library integration with INFAX needed to identify the new Technical Codes for Digital Files

Information Management for TV & Radio

 

Version	Last Updated	PDF Version
01.00	June 2000	If you have difficulty accessing the PDF, please right click to download, and save target on your local drive.
DQ Ref: i&a_05

This document defines the different levels of cataloguing and indexing that are applicable to different genres of programmes to enable effective and efficient retrieval of television and radio programmes and extracts from those programmes.

Interactive TV

 

Version	Last Updated	PDF Version
02.00	13/05/2004	If you have difficulty accessing the PDF, please right click to download, and save target on your local drive.
DQ Ref: i&a_21

Selection & Retention of Commercial Recordings

 

Version	Last Updated	PDF Version
02.00	30/11/2006	If you have difficulty accessing the PDF, please right click to download, and save target on your local drive.
DQ Ref: i&a_03

This document defines the purpose and criteria for the selection and acquisition of commercial music and spoken word.

Technical Requirements for all Recorded Programmes

 

Version	Last Updated	PDF Version
01.00	29/09/2000	If you have difficulty accessing the PDF, please right click to download, and save target on your local drive.
DQ Ref: i&a_09

This document describes minimum technical quality standards for programmes to be archived by BBC Information & Archives. This is to ensure that the media is reusable and is of archival quality.

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World Service Archive Policy

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Version	Last Updated	PDF Version
04.00	29/09/2000	If you have difficulty accessing the PDF, please right click to download, and save target on your local drive
DQ Ref: i&a_12

This document defines the archiving policy for World Service.

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