archiving
David Hencke, a contributor to Tribune, on the digital archiving of the magazine’s rich history
New from old
T
ribune – which celebrates its 75th anniversary next year – is to leap into the 21st century with the launch of a new digital archive allowing anyone to search its entire content of 250,000 articles published since 1937. The left of centre magazine is the latest print publication to look at a way of generating new interest by capitalising on an illustrious past. It joins The Gramophone (all articles and reviews since 1923); Classic Rock magazine (from Led Zeppilin to Metallica) and possibly soon, depending on negotiations, Time Out (42 years old with one million potential web pages). The idea for a new searchable and potentially profitable digitalisation for such a variety of magazines comes from John Hazell, co founder
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of a company called Netcopy. The company has put up the cash for Tribune to bring to the net a lifetime of contributions from Michael Foot, George Orwell and Bertrand Russell, just to name a few. They plan to recoup an investment not far short of £100,000 with a profit-making share of the release of the archive. Tribune, famously always short of cash, has not the money to do so itself. But the idea does not just appeal to cash-strapped Lefties, and the company’s policy of not asking firms to contribute cash up front has attracted wide appeal. It has found favour among right wing capitalists such as Lord Heseltine (owner of Haymarket which publishes The Gramophone), and newspaper groups hoping to attract passionate sport fanatics, such as the Mirror which has digitalised its entire World
Cup coverage since the 1950s to the present day. Mr Hazell explains that his idea is to get ‘new value from old content’. The aim – which could benefit many print titles – means that anybody clicking onto a website can immediately get into a hugely valuable archive. It also means that anybody searching on Google for say Michael Foot or George Orwell will also find themselves directed towards the Tribune website because of the wealth of articles by both men. As a result the magazine gets a surge of new traffic, and possibly new digital or print subscriptions adding to its growth. The company has also used enhanced technology to ensure that any magazine can launch digital subscriptions for a worldwide readership, and be read on an Ipad. It would also allow magazines to compile an instant digest or book to respond to events, almost overnight. Mr Hazell says: “If a digital archive had existed when Michael Foot died, for example, Tribune could easily have produced a book of all his articles and letters since 1937.” Scanning in the new information has also produced a series of amazing gems. One is comedian Spike Milligan interviewing the Marx brothers (not the Marx traditionally associated with Tribune), which was found hidden away in the archives. There are also archives of interest to Labour members on people the party has long forgotten – like Seymour Cocks, the Labour MP for Broxtowe (yes Labour, given it is now a Tory stronghold) from 1929 to 1953. And for historians who want to look back at the birth of CND, Tribune has key documents about the issues that led to the creation of the movement. What will be interesting is whether this new idea – which seems to be spreading, with more and more newspapers digitalising their past – can revive the media, create more jobs and attract a new internet-savvy generation to look at the past as well as the future.
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Anybody searching Google for Michael Foot or George Orwell will also find themselves directed towards the Tribune website
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7/2/11 15:55:29