The BUFVC in numbers
Membership 2010/11
Total number of members: 241
Members from HE/FE: 202
94% of members linked to education
85% of UK HEIs hold BUFVC membership
Enquiries
The BUFVC connects teachers, learners and researchers with moving image and sound content. This goes far beyond finding a particular piece of footage or audio; enquiries can relate to copyright, technology, context, etc. BUFVC staff strive to resolve all enquiries on the same day whenever possible, no matter how complex.
‘A reliable service, with knowledgeable and helpful staff.’ Paul Jenkins, Senior Library Assistant, Birkbeck, University of London
The BUFVC receives over 3,700 enquiries annually
Databases
To assist members in finding the content and information they need a series of databases are available. The databases help in finding any programme broadcast in the UK, an educational DVD from a niche distributor, to mainstream websites and a film from the most comprehensive database of newsreels in existence. In total more than 14 million records are available to be searched.
Users search our 14 million records 80,000 times per month
Television and Radio Programmes: off-air recordings
The BUFVC specialises in providing educational establishments convenient access to television and radio programmes post-transmission. This activity takes place under the ERA licence which the vast majority of schools, colleges and universities hold.
Two services are available:
● Bob National is an online streaming service that lets staff or students schedule TV and radio recordings. The archive is shared by all institutions and once a programme is recorded it gets made available to all the users. Programmes do not come with an expiry date and may be turned into clips, grouped into playlists, embedded onto VLEs and shared with other users. In the last 12 months around 1 million programmes were viewed. Access to BoB National is only available to holders of an ERA+ licence.
● The off-air recording backup service records and keeps the output of 10 channels – 73,000 hours of television and radio per year. The library goes back to 1998 and has around 500,000 hours of television and radio. If you have missed a programme you may ask for it and receive one of the 4,000 copies we send to licensed members every year.
‘We benefit daily (if not hourly) from BUFVC, especially through TRILT and its backup of off-air broadcasts, now available in digital and streamed forms.’ Susanne Greenhalgh, Director, Centre for Research in Renaissance Studies, Roehampton University London
In 12 months around 1 million programmes were viewed using BoB National
Publications
The BUFVC publishes the educational quarterly magazine Viewfinder, available exclusively to its members. The magazine includes feature articles, interviews, reviews on new books, DVDs and CDs, as well as details of the latest equipment, websites, videos and publications.
Viewfinder Online was launched in November 2011 and provides an online version of the quarterly magazine. It offers up-to-date articles and reviews for academic staff, students, researchers and information professionals, as well as web based versions of items published in the printed magazine.
Over 16,800 copies of Viewfinder are distributed annually
Funding and Governance
The Council receives a core grant from HEFCE/JISC with whom the BUFVC works in partnership. This core grant currently amounts to around 65% of its regular income. The BUFVC Executive Committee is constituted by at least 10 representatives from ordinary members (UK HEIs and FEIs) who are democratically elected and up to 4 appointees (one of whom from HEFCE). These trustees meet 4 times per year (including our Annual General Meeting) and are chaired by Professor John Ellis (Royal Holloway University of London).
‘The BUFVC is invaluable. Pure and simple. No one else does, or could do, what they do.’ Dr Simon Brown, Director of Studies for Film and Television, Kingston University
