Instant Library Exclusively For News Broadcasters

Cambridge Imaging Systems has created an on-line reference library of historical TV images for AP Archive, the stock footage business of Associated Press.
Instant Library is a historical moving image source exclusively for news broadcasters. It contains over 60 hours of the most important events and figures of the last 75 years, the first clip having been filmed in 1929. Totalling some 3,000 individual clips, the library is a rich archive of pre-licensed file material for use in news bulletins.
Instant Library is a stand-alone product and AP Archive is separately in the process of digitising its entire footage collection which amounts to more than 100,000 hours of material.
Using its range of flexible modular software, Cambridge Imaging Systems has encoded the material from Beta SP tapes to digital file formats. A specially created web site allows users to search for the clips they require simply by entering key words. Search results are displayed as a list of clips, showing a key frame and information (metadata) for each clip. Clips can then be selected and viewed either as a storyboard of thumbnail images, or played in a video player.
For example, a quick search of famous names reveals 45 clips under ‘Kennedy’, 13 under ‘Diana’ and 19 under ‘Blair’.
The selection is updated four times each year with material generated by AP Television News through its global network of more than 85 bureaux.
Alwyn Lindsey of AP Archive said: "For news broadcasters, 'Instant Library' is like having their own historical archive that they can use whenever they like, all for one fixed annual fee. There’s everything from the major stories and key personalities, through to lighter stories and showbusiness. The new web site makes it very easy to search and access."
Paul McConkey of Cambridge Imaging Systems said: "Our proven modules have enabled us to create a flexible system which not only provides easy access to authorised users but has also made it much easier to search for exactly the right clip."
The website at www.instantlibrary.com is available on a subscription basis to news broadcasters.
(DS/SP)