Today, I’m highlighting the British Library Archival Sound Recordings collection, which, though not having the catchiest of titles, is a really inspiring collection of resources, with the potential for use across many subjects.
 |
| Picture from stockXchange |
What’s in it?
Almost 50,000 recordings including spoken word, environmental, music (classical, jazz, world music), arts, literature and performance. The spoken word content includes fascinating interviews with scientists and historical figures – which could form an interesting component to a history or science lesson. The works of artists and sculptors can be brought to life, when you hear from the artists directly and English Language students may enjoy comparing examples of different dialects from across the UK.
Recorded sounds like these can often bring to life an otherwise dry lesson. The “soundscapes” can take you to a far off location, such as a rainforest at sunrise or a far off sea-shore. What is the dawn chorus? No need to explain – find a recording of this in the collection and simply download and play. Here's a couple of examples:
The JISC Collections record for the archive explains more about the resource and here's an interesting YouTube video about how the collection was put together.
How can they be used?
Over 23,000 of the recordings can be used by everyone, the rest of the collection is accessible through a free license by FE and HE organisations, covering use for teaching, learning and research. The recordings can be streamed from the site, or downloaded and if you wish, divided into smaller segments.
How do I subscribe?
The British Library license can be obtained by emailing: asr@bl.uk
Finding more resources
- The JISC Collections Catalogue is the first port of call for JISC-funded resources
- The JISC Digitisation Programme has funded many resources, including the British Library Sound Archive.
0 comments:
Post a Comment