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About this Site A Vision for the Archives Online "Just watch me!" "Henderson has scored for Canada." "This afternoon in St. John's, Newfoundland, a young man named Terry Fox started running and he says that he won't stop until he reaches British Columbia." For over seven decades the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has become a prime observer, recorder and player in the country's cultural and political landscape. Welcome A Vision for the Archives Online Awards and Recognition How to use the site FAQ General FAQ The Web Site Staff Contact Us A television editor works in an editing suite. [Click photo to enlarge.] While some of CBC's recordings have become firmly planted in Canada's collective consciousness, other fascinating snapshots of the country have gone unheard and unseen since they were first broadcast. That is about to change. Thanks to the foresight of CBC radio and television archivists, funding from the federal government and a cutting edge web team, recordings which had been inaccessible to the general public are now available to anyone with a computer and an Internet connection. During the summer of 2001, the Department of Canadian Heritage approved a joint proposal from the CBC and its French counterpart, Radio-Canada, to create a Web site which would highlight selections from its radio and television archives. Using the latest technology, digital copies of selected programs would be made available online. In a few short months, technical, editorial and archival teams in Toronto and Montreal, along with assistance from CBC's regional archives across the country, were operating in high gear. Together, they auditioned thousands of hours of programming dating back to the creation of CBC's predecessor, CN Radio, in 1927 and the birth of CBC Television in 1952. With the launch of the CBC Archives Web site - and its French counterpart les Archives de Radio-Canada - you can listen and view generations of journalists, technicians, performers, politicians, artists and people from every walk of life who have left their mark on programs and broadcasts recorded somewhere among the millions of tapes, discs, films, documents and artifacts that fill the CBC/Radio-Canada archives. This is the home page of an early version of this Web site, designed for a usability study.[Click photo to enlarge.] The Web Site Project The CBC/Radio-Canada Digital Archive Web site project was founded on three principles - to inform, to enlighten and to educate Canadians about their past. Though the primary audience is educational, the site was designed and built with every Canadian in mind. Everyone who visits will enjoy its unique perspective on Canada's history. "The goal is not just to present these clips and TV and radio accounts by themselves," says Montreal-based project director François Boulet, "but to add value to this content by explaining what happened and placing these events in context." A real key is the archival content's power to take users into the moment, adds Mark Mietkiewicz, project manager at CBC headquarters in Toronto. "Take, for example, the topic in which CBC reporters during World War Two speak to regular soldiers about what life is like for them - whether it's fighting a battle, liberating a village, whatever," says Mietkiewicz. "I hope hearing those reports will really bring it down to kids that these were real people and these were the lives they lived. "Another example is the story of Terry Fox. It's one thing to read it in a book. But it's another to hear him describe it, to watch him go through his challenge." Examining colour slides on a light table with a loupe (magnifying glass.) [Click photo to enlarge.] Archivists recognized As a journalist, being able to dip into this heritage material and present it in such a modern form is a wonderful experience says Mietkiewicz. It requires a team that can continually shift back and forth between the worlds of Web writing and archival research. The process, he says, has been especially rewarding for the CBC/Radio-Canada archival staff. "For many years, archivists knew their work was important, but they didn't always get the recognition. I think they're so interested in this because we're taking their work and the work that was done 20, 30 or 40 years ago by their predecessors, and we're breathing new life into it." Over the past decade, in both Montreal and Toronto, the Corporation has placed a much greater emphasis on restoration, preservation and classification within the archives. Boulet credits those efforts for helping to make the Web site an achievable goal. "It wouldn't have been possible without them," he says. Writers and editors working in the television newsroom in Montreal. Radio-Canada has gone to a completely digital newsroom. [Click photo to enlarge.] More and more connections Just as the archival work is ongoing, so too is this site's development. Over time, its initial mix of features and content will grow dramatically. Additions will be visible from week to week, says Mietkiewicz, adding that although Canadian Heritage funds the project, the CBC and Radio-Canada have absolute editorial independence. Longer-term plans include tapping the CBC/Radio-Canada archives for new material about other Canadian stories and personalities, expanding coverage into cultural areas, and introducing greater user control and more interactive tools. "What we see at the site's launch is just the start, just the basics," says Boulet. "Along with adding a lot more content, we want to create ways for users to interact more with the content and create more connections between the topics." User feedback essential A key factor in that evolution will be feedback from users - something the teams in both Montreal and Toronto are eagerly anticipating. "That's the best way to know you're doing your job," says Boulet. Mietkiewicz says he appreciates feedback from teachers. "We've been going out of our way to make sure this material is really practical, that it really can be used in the schools. If we get that kind of feedback, that it really being used and that it makes a difference, that would be really heartening." Throughout, the editorial and archival teams in Toronto and Montreal work together to develop new features and introduce new topics. "We're also eager to hear from the public," says Mietkiewicz. "If they have a topic that they would like to see included on the site, we'll see what we can do." Direct inquiries and feedback to our .