I want to ask about the resources that the corporation for public broadcasting have for archiving important show on PBS. I have a film degree and a history minor. Many shows, such as Nova, were part of my upbringing. My father supported PBS when I was a child in the 60s and 70s. I fear that many of the documentaries and informational shows will be lost to future generations because there seems to be no effort to restore and archive them. I wanted to get a copy of Nova's Flood!, The documentary on the Great Flood of 1993. However, It was not available. I believe that we have a duty to future generations to archive, upscale, and make these and other videos available to preserve history. I do hope there is some sort of archive that is being kept. The issue is video sources like tape and DVDs can degrade. So, they become inaccessible over time. Thank you for your attention J**n G****n
Documentaries and other videos on PBS
Received:
Illinois
Workbench Page Type:
Email:
Month and Year:
November, 2023
Comment:
Thank you for contacting us with your concern about archiving public media content. CPB welcomes all comments about public media’s content and services, and we appreciate hearing your father’s and your support for public media.
In August 2013, the Library of Congress and WGBH, which happen to produce NOVA, received a grant from CPB to engage in the first phase of a long-term project to preserve public media. The American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB), as it has come to be, continues to be an on-going project to digitize and give public access to historic public radio and television programs. As of October 2023, AAPB has reached 100,000 historic programs and original materials available to stream for free.
At the moment, NOVA’s Flood! has yet to be digitized into the AAPB system, but I encourage you to explore their website and check out other NOVA episodes and historic public media programs. https://americanarchive.org/