Purdue News
Purdue News
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July 29, 1987 Purdue Establishes National C-SPAN ArchiveWest Lafayette, Ind. – Purdue University President Steven C. Beering and Brian Lamb, founder of the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, Wednesday (7/29) announced the establishment of a national educational archive to record, hold and distribute all C-SPAN programming. A non-profit cooperative funded by the cable industry, C-SPAN records daily congressional proceedings and other public-affairs activities for public viewing. "Centered at the West Lafayette campus, the Purdue University Public Affairs Video Archive will make videotapes of the public-affairs broadcasting available for use in research and in classrooms across the country," Beering said. "This new partnership adds a new dimension to Purdue's status as a communications resource." "Since television is becoming an increasingly important resource for both teaching and research in the area of public affairs, the quality and scope of the C-SPAN programs will be an invaluable and affordable resource for researchers and educators," said David Caputo, dean of the School of Humanities, Social Science, and Education, which is sponsoring the archive. Lamb, a 1963 Purdue communication graduate, said, "History is important to understanding where we should be going next -- in the past people have complained that we didn't save enough historical data, and now we have the opportunity to record and archive history-in-the-making." Lamb credited the Purdue president with recognizing the impact that the archive can have on the integration of education and technology. "It means very much to me personally that the archive be in the Midwest, centrally located to serve all parts of the country," said Lamb, who has an honorary degree from Purdue and was recently named a distinguished alumnus of the School of Humanities, Social Science, and Education. Robert Browning, Purdue associate professor of political science who was instrumental in the creation of the archive, was named its director. "We expect that researchers and journalists alike will come to the Purdue campus to use the collection," Browning said. Lamb said the creation of such an archive has drawn a great deal of interest from individuals and organizations throughout the United States. The archive will be established as an independent center within the School of Humanities, Social Science, and Education. The recording and duplication will be provided by the Purdue University Center for Instructional Services. A faculty advisory board, headed by Browning, will be established to administer the archive for the first year. Currently C-SPAN broadcasts on two 24-hour channels, including C-SPAN I AND C-SPAN II. C-SPAN I carries the House of Representatives and original programming and C-SPAN II airs the Senate and rebroadcasts of C-SPAN I. Lamb said his network will donate a telecommunications dish to Purdue for use in receiving the telecasts. Browning also hopes to involve educational foundations in supporting the archive. Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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