An expert’s must-see guide to the half-a-million amazing historical videos AP just put online

[mahatmakanejeeves]

An expert’s must-see guide to the half-a-million amazing historical videos AP just put online

The Intersect

By Caitlin Dewey July 23 at 11:52 AM
@caitlindewey

You’ve probably read about events like, say, the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Certainly you studied them in high-school history class. But until Wednesday, you couldn’t see news footage of the bombing of Pearl Harbor as it was shown at the time — because that’s when, for the very first time, the Associated Press put footage of that incident and half a million others online.

There’s footage of the Titanic pulling out of an Irish port. A vintage newscast about the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby. Video of Martin Luther King, Jr. under arrest in Selma.

All told, AP and a partner, the newsreel archive British Movietone, published 550,000 video stories spanning more than 1 million minutes and 120 years to its new YouTube channel.

It’s the biggest dump of historical news the site has ever seen. It’s also a huge and exciting step in an industry-wide push to digitize and democratize information that’s typically been locked up in archives and museums: In the past year, for instance, huge troves of photos, artworks and other historical artifacts have been digitized at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Natural History, and the Smithsonian.

{Smithsonian goes global by showcasing collections online}

[SamKnause]

1. Thanks for posting.

Bookmarked for hours of viewing and learning.

[enlightenment]

2. A wonderful resource and a

tremendous effort on the part of the partners to digitize and make readily (fingertips) available to the public.

I don't care for the phrase the author of the piece uses - "locked up in archives and museums", as it implies that the material has not been accessible until now.

People complain about not being able to call up anything and everything at the click of a button without realizing the tremendous amount of time, effort, and funding that goes into digitizing physical collections. Citizen-scientist/historian/archivist programs are helping speed this up and bring the cost down, but even that doesn't make it happen overnight. It also doesn't mean that the material has been hidden or kept from the public eye, just because it isn't on the internet and available for free.

[shraby]

3. The part about "locking up" is referring to the copyright laws put in

place from the Sonny Bono fingers in the copyright pie.
At one time, the restriction was lifted after 75 years went by, but after Bono, the copyrights last almost forever, effectively locking up information from the public unless they are able to physically go to where it's stored.
I for one reject the law and think it should be put back where it was.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. Major good news...off to greatest page so all can see this marvelous resource! n/t

rec