Friday, June 28, 2013

In Memoriam: Peter Merrill - a man of firsts (2013/06/18)


It is with sadness that we pay tribute to yet another great spirit of Springbok Radio, Peter Merrill, who passed away on 18 June 2013.  Peter's was the voice that closed broadcast on the very first day of Springbok Radio on 1 May 1950.  He was involved in numerous programmes, either as actor, director or presenter, and will be fondly remembered by many.  Some of the programmes that carried the Peter Merrill stamp in one way or the other was Dance Time, the programme that closed the first day's broadcast on Springbok Radio,  as presenter,  the Sarie '74 awards which he presented with Elwyn Morris, Pick-A-Box as producer, and he also acted in the very first children's serial on Springbok Radio, namely Jungle Boy.  Peter also joined Esmé Euvrard as presenter of the very popular Springbok Rendezvous, and co-presented The Castle Lager Sportz Quiz.

In 1952 Peter started the first production house, Herrick Merrill Production Studios, with Dean Herrick, and they were involved in the production of the first locally produced soap operas, dramas etc.  The first women's serial Linda's First Love was produced by them from scripts received from Canada.  From their studios the popular programme No Place to Hide also originated, a serial which, according to Peter in an interview with Bea Reed in 1985, "changed the entire supper habits of South Africa."

From the SABC he headed on to Namibia, heading the English Service of the SWABC.

Our condolences to Linda, Peter's wife, and his children, grandchildren, family and friends.  My the memories he created bring you peace.

Retha Buys, Archivist: Springbok RadioSABC Radio Archives

Monday, June 24, 2013

SABC Media Library's best 5 tweets this month

Twitter Ads are compiling interesting Analytics with regards Timeline Activity, and this is our "Best" tweets this past month.

Best Tweets of SABCMediaLib

1. Our Video Biography via Vizify got marked as a favourite:

2. Our daily newspaper about Knowledge Management and Knowledge Café got marked as favourite
    The Daily Knowledge Café:


3.  The blog post about The Use of Vine in Libraries and Archives also got marked as a favourite:

4. Another The Daily Knowledge Café got 2 Retweets.

5. The daily SABCMediaLib.li about libraries and archives got marked as favourite:


To get to these analytics, it is necessary to sign in at Twitter Ads, and to set the account to Advanced under Billing History.

It is not necessary to set up any campaigns to get the Analytics.


Blog post by Karen du Toit, Afrikaans Archivist in the SABC Radio Archives.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

SABC Media Libraries Twitter Bio video via Vizify

A very easy to get a great animation of our Twitter activity, is through the Vizify application.

Anyone who is ons Twitter, can get a quick and easy video which can be customized and updated as required!

Please let us know when you have made yours!

The Vizify Twitter video can be made here: https://www.vizify.com/twitter-video 

 We will check it out!

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

The use of Vine in libraries and archives

Vine is a mobile app that is available on iOS and Android.
It records 6 minute videos that can be shared immediately on Twitter, or be embedded in websites.

I was alerted to it through the ANZ 23 Mobile Things course.

It is very easy to use, and very easy to share.

The following Vines are good examples of how we can use it in our library or archive settings:

From the Appleby Library:



As well as this one:



I made one for the Radio Archives as well:



How can we use Vine for the libraries and archives?

Blog post by Karen du Toit, Archivist in the SABC Radio Archives.

Monday, June 10, 2013

International Archives Day 2013 on Storify #IAD13 #savearchives

International Archives 2013 was celebrated this year on 9 June on a Sunday.

Although the promotion for a Googledoodle did not make it onto Google's search engine, the Save Archives campaign highlighted the plight of archives worldwide.

The following hashtags on Twitter give a good overview:

        - #IAD13

        - #savearchives

A Storify was also compiled of some of the interaction on social media about International Archives Day 2013


Storify and blog post by Karen du Toit, Afrikaans Archivist in the SABC Radio Archives.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Save archives on International Archives Day 2013 - 9 June #savearchives


Archives are struggling for survival; to keep on demonstrating their worth in today's tight economy.
Not all archives are surviving and thriving, and they need support to keep on preserving the world's heritage records. 

International Archives Day is coming up on 9 June with an initiative to promote a Googledoodle for that day.
The Askarchivists and Followanarchive initiatives are spearheading the Googledoodle campaign, but are also concentrating on focusing on archives that need saving.

The City Archives of Cologne in Germany is being used as an example of archives that are in dire need of support after the building collapsed in March 2009.

Read more:
International Archives Day will be dedicated to archives in need


They are asking that we promote archives on 9 June with the hashtag #savearchives


Hopefully our attention and support can help #savearchives!


Blog post by Karen du Toit (karentoittoit), Archivist at the SABC Radio Archives (SABCRadioArc).

Monday, June 3, 2013

International Archives Day on June 9 2013 - celebrated with a Googledoodle?

The SABC Media Libraries have been taking part in International Archives Day since its inception in 2010 with a #followanarchive day on Twitter.
Last year we showed of our archival collections with #archday12 (Storify here).

#followanarchive has come up with a great idea this year! They want Google to create a special Googledoodle for International Archives Day, and they have suggested the following image:

Googledoodle for International Archives Day 2013?

It will still be in conjunction with using the #askarchivists and #followanarchive hashtags on Twitter.

They want your support in helping to promote the idea to Google.


READ MORE



Blog post by Karen du Toit (karentoittoit), Afrikaans Archivist in the SABC Radio Archives (SABCRadioArc)