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A reference collection of playback and recording devices, including historic gramophones and record players, that chart the history of sound reproduction equipment. Photographs of some of these may be viewed online. In addition, the Sound
Archive's engineering department maintains a wide selection of
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The Sound
Archive holds an extensive reference collection of printed materials relating to recordings. The collection includes books and periodicals from around the world, a wide-ranging collection of discographies, and one of the largest collections of commercial record catalogues dating back to the
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In 2015 the library launched the 'Save Our Sounds' programme to address the urgent need to digitise unique recordings in the UK's sound archives. These recordings are at risk of being lost due to deterioration of physical recording formats and decreasing availability of playback devices. The aims of
409:, the bulletin of the British Library Sound Archive, was published free of charge from 1992 to 2010. All 44 issues are available online. A range of British Library CDs are available covering nature sounds, world music, historical speeches and recordings of famous poets, playwrights and authors.
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The Sound
Archive provides a range of services. The Sound Archive's online catalogue of over 1.5 million recordings can be viewed online, and it is updated daily. Recordings may be listened to free of charge in the British Library Reading Rooms. Copies of recordings can be purchased subject to
274:
As part of Save Our Sounds, between 2017 and 2022 'Unlocking Our Sound
Heritage', a network of ten regional centres across the UK, was set up to digitise a wide range of recordings held in local archives, including music, radio broadcasts, drama, oral history and wildlife recordings.
128:
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service provides free online access for UK higher and further education institutions to over 90,000 rare recordings of music, spoken word, and human and natural environments. 65% of these recordings are also freely accessible for public listening online.
240:, which had been split off from the British Museum, in April 1983. It was later renamed the British Library Sound Archive. The metal masters originally collected by the British Museum were transferred to the Archive in 1992.
204:(BIRS) in 1955, after realizing that material was in danger of being lost as the British Museum did not maintain a comprehensive archive. The institute was located in a property owned by the British Museum in
111:, spoken word and ambient recordings. It holds more than six million recordings, including over a million discs and 200,000 tapes. These include commercial record releases (chiefly from the
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that he founded the BIRS seven years earlier in 1948, is misleading. In 1973 Saul recalled that Hyatt King was chairman of the embryonic
Institute in 1953 (the second chairman, following
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to preserve as much as possible of the nation's rare and unique sound recordings, including items from other UK national and regional collections and from other groups and individuals
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604:. Dietrich Schüller, Albrecht Häfner, George Boston, International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives. Technical Committee (1st ed.). London. 2014.
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of audio recordings in 1906 (on the basis that records would wear out), with a number of donations being made up until 1933. These recordings included some by
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offers training workshops and events in oral history and wildlife sound recording, as well as audiovisual archiving internships.
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trust in
Birmingham. A public appeal resulted in the donation of thousands of shellac discs, which started off the collection.
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Handling and storage of audio and video carriers : Technical
Committee standards, recommended practices, and strategies
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Conservation
Manager of the National Sound Archive/British Library Sound Archive from 1986 to 2002.
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The history of the Sound
Archive can be traced back to 1905, when it was first suggested that the
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working playback tape and disc players for the purposes of digitising its sound collections.
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to invest in new technology to enable the archive to receive music in born-digital formats
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The claim made in the 1995 obituary of
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Day, T. (2001). The National Sound Archive: the first fifty years. pp 41-64 in
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678:"British Library launches sound archive to rescue half a million recordings"
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is among the largest collections of recorded sound in the world, including
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should have a collection of audio recordings of poets and statesmen.
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Playback: the bulletin of the British Library Sound Archive
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The British Library Sound and Moving Image catalogue (SAMI)
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The British Institute of Recorded Sound became part of the
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Conflicting accounts exist regarding the founding of the
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467:The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
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381:of wildlife sounds can be made to order. The
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994:Todd-Bowden Collection of Tauchnitz Editions
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734:"Radio recordings: jazz and popular music"
632:: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
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53:, London, England, NW1 2DB, United Kingdom
1375:Turner Collection of Newspaper Tax Stamps
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708:"About the British Library Sound Archive"
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186:were also donated in the period 1920–50.
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530:(A. Linehan, Ed.). The British Library.
212:), and supported by a donation from the
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803:British Library Sound Archive web pages
569:'A Note on the Institute's pre-history'
528:Aural History: Essays on Recorded Sound
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586:"British Museum Gramophone recordings"
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1567:Music archives in the United Kingdom
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778:"Playback & recording equipment"
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825:360° rotatable views of 13 machines
208:(with rent and rates guaranteed by
202:British Institute of Recorded Sound
191:British Institute of Recorded Sound
115:), radio broadcasts (many from the
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1215:H.M. Customs and Excise Collection
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119:), and privately made recordings.
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710:. British Library. Archived from
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549:"Obituary: Alexander Hyatt King"
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1421:Oral History of British Science
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1195:Foreign and Commonwealth Office
1150:Contributions Agency Collection
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32:The Archive became part of the
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1365:Treasury Excise Correspondence
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89:British Library Sound Archive
21:British Library Sound Archive
1315:R.P.S.L. Handouts Collection
1270:Landmark Trust Lundy Archive
1135:Campbell-Johnston Collection
969:Leyden Medical Dissertations
652:"Save our Sounds | Projects"
270:Unlocking Our Sound Heritage
264:Unlocking Our Sound Heritage
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903:National Reports Collection
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363:Historic playback equipment
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893:Francis Place Collection
470:(2nd ed.). London:
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1060:Stefan Zweig Collection
575:13, July 1999, p. 51-60
419:Theatre Archive Project
1426:St Mary-le-Bow Debates
1400:Wilson-Todd Collection
813:British Library Sounds
425:British Library Sounds
383:British Library Sounds
144:The Gramophone Company
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97:National Sound Archive
1305:Photograph Collection
1185:Fitzgerald Collection
1120:Bojanowicz Collection
1045:Lansdowne manuscripts
959:Harold Pinter Archive
636:) CS1 maint: others (
437:National Life Stories
176:Herbert Beerbohm Tree
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1295:Muraleetharan Papers
1160:Crown Agents Archive
1115:Blackburn Collection
472:Macmillan Publishers
421:Oral History strand.
390:Educational services
221:Alexander Hyatt King
95:; also known as the
66:6,500,000 recordings
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1466:Preservation Office
1345:Sherborn Collection
1265:Langmead Collection
1225:Harrison Collection
1190:Fletcher Collection
1180:Feldheim Collection
1145:Chinchen Collection
1076:Beudeker Collection
1030:Harleian Collection
1010:Arundel Manuscripts
989:Thomason Collection
883:Ettridge Collection
714:on 12 February 2010
656:The British Library
249:the programme are:
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1360:Tapling Collection
1340:Shelley Collection
1330:Seymour Collection
1275:McInroy Collection
1255:Kaluski Collection
1250:Johnson Collection
1205:General Collection
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1130:Burnett Collection
1040:King's manuscripts
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934:Durrell Collection
898:Jaffray Collection
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588:. British Library.
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1290:Mosely Collection
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1170:Davies Collection
1110:Bailey Collection
1092:Burney Collection
1055:Syriac Collection
1050:Stowe manuscripts
1035:Royal manuscripts
1020:Cotton Collection
954:Hannas Collection
939:Eccles Collection
929:Dexter Collection
780:. British Library
758:. British Library
736:. British Library
682:The Vinyl Factory
611:978-0-9930690-0-0
499:. British Library
497:"Save our Sounds"
481:978-1-56159-239-5
354:Printed materials
348:traditional music
184:shellac pressings
172:Ernest Shackleton
164:Francesco Tamagno
146:started donating
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