French audiovisual institute offers enormous archives online
The International Herald Tribune gives an overview of the INA's new site:
Now, with double the capacity, the site is receiving about five million visits a day - 80 times more than its usual traffic. And for good reason: The sound and visual quality are superb, the range of selections is impressive, and the packaging and navigation are generally well done.
Another reason for its instant popularity, however, is that the Institut National de l'Audiovisuel has erected no digital borders around its treasures. Outside of France, most of those accessing the site, in fact, are from the United States.
Unlike some other national video collectors - notably the BBC in Britain - the French agency believes it has a calling to spread its collection to all comers.
"INA is unique in the world right now," said Sylvie Vormus, director of communications. "For us, it is a mission to open our archives."
"To us at INA," another agency official put it in a recent document, "preserving archives would be pointless if that was to keep them only for a 'happy few.'
And here is your direct link to the archives: ina.fr
There may be a link somewhere there to switch to English language menus, but I've yet to find it. The top left nav menu is helpful for browsing the archives.
The ability to view a newscast from the day you were born is incredible.
In a clever populist offering, "Journal de Votre Naissance," you can find a TV news broadcast made on the day you were born, if you were born since 1964 - except, oddly, for 1977, 1985 and 1990.
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