Doing Television History Outside the Box: Unexplored Territories on the European Agenda - Dana Mustata (Utrecht University, NL)

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Funded by the European Commission within the eContentplus programme www.euscreen.eu

Doing Television History Outside the BoxUnexplored Territories on the European Agenda

Dr. Dana MustataUtrecht University/Groningen University

Stockholm, 16 September 2011

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The Power of Television: Including the Historicizing of the Live Romanian Revolution

(Mustata, 2011)

Television is a network of different forces working together.

Television is a localized medium

Television is a figurative medium

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An integrative understanding of television

Television programmes as historical and medial markers.

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Written: 94.3%Audiovisual: 91.4 %Sound: 25.7%Still: 22.9%Other: oral interviews, audience metrics, program guides.

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Expectations of metadata & contextual information for online audiovisual content

where a copy is stored in an archive/archival number; written sources on programming and production; links to related materials and information; keywords; examples of teaching assignments; biographical information & full credits; background information on programmes and channels; running time; original vs. adaptation; funding; info on scheduling and audiences; rating information; press & other reviews; publicity material; channel of transmission; info on circulation (who else bought/aired a programme); stills; relation of one programme to other programmes; information on TV history in European countries; original broadcasting time

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Limitations experienced/expected of online AV materials

IPR issues; incomplete programmes; exclusion of advertisements, trails, teasers; few contextualization elements; language barriers; no full runs of broadcasting magazines online; not enough complete material for longer periods; no coverage of multichannel viewing environments; not much analytical information; poorer quality than in an archives; no programme context; impossibility to download for offline storage

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‘Metadata is generally 1) too thin and 2) to historically bound, reflecting the interests of its moment of genesis. Most of my work comes from looking outside the box…’

An ETHN researcher

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How can EUscreen be used in television history research?

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In April - May 2011, Utrecht University conducted field trials of a research scenario in the context of EUscreen.

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Research Scenario Field Trial Results:

• Researchers would primarily explore the EUscreen content for illustrative purposes

• They indicated a lot of their research would be done outside the EUscreen platform

• They were interested in securing links of cooperation with other researchers working on similar research topics

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How can EUscreen be used as a platform that supports the practice of doing television history research?

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The Research Journey of the Television Historian

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Obtaining Access

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Preliminary Preparation

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Overview and selection of audiovisual material

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Viewing and Analysis of Audiovisual Material

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Acquiring Specialized and In-depth Knowledge

…through further pursuits on prior research results assessed as being relevant:

- Production documentation, etc.- Behind the scenes information- Oral sources on programme making, etc

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The traditional journey of the television historian

Field assessment

Access

Preliminary preparation

Overview & Selection of clips

Viewing and Analysis of clips Specialized and in-depth knowledge

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The EUscreen journey of the television historian

Clip• Searching• Assessing result

hits

Clip• Analyzing

metadata• Analyzing the

image

Clip• Saving search

results• Bookmarking,

etc.• Using for

illustrative purposes

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EUscreen within the practice of television history research

Access+

Selection-

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The EUscreen research user profile

- Specialist user (knows what he wants, has specific interests)

- Curious user (explores to see what he can find to match other potential interests)

Danger: - The predominant use of EUscreen material for illustrative

purposes- The lack of an innovative use of EUscreen material in

research

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Building upon one and the same practice

Increasing understanding of the specific clip:

- contextualization

- intertextuality

- constructing a critical platform and a network of experts around the EUscreen

(e.g. E-journal)

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EUscreen as a database of sources?

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EUscreen as gateway to a different TV historiography!

In itself, EUscreen is a practice that needs to be accounted for, understood, analyzed.

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Innovations of EUscreenCollaborative Research Practices

• Bridging academics and archivists together who are forced to find common languages

• Bringing professionals across different countries together, challenged by coming to terms with history

• Building upon networks (user communities, academic networks)

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EUscreen as practice of (re)mediated history

Mediation: different actors interacting to one another, recreating an original input.

Latour, 2005

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We are the nodes of this (re)mediation:

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We make our traces visible

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Transparency is the key

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EUscreen TV history as a ‘sociotechnical construction’ (Latour, 1986)

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Towards enhancing an integrative understanding of TV history…

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Thank You!

Education

Doing Television History Outside the Box: Unexplored Territories on the European Agenda - Dana Mustata (Utrecht University, NL)