PLEASE HELP the Campaign for free access to the British Newspaper Archive

Devon doesn't yet have free access to its newspaper archives, so please fire off a few polite emails to change this. 
Now is the time for budgeting, so it's a good time to flag the British Newspaper Archive to Devon library authority.

The archives of every British newspaper are online, which means that anyone can do historical research. This is particularly exciting for the Villages in Action project Unearth; which aims to discover the histories of 8 Devon communities; including Starcross.

But Devon County libraries authority have not yet subscribed to this amazing resource. When they do, everyone in a library with a Devon library card will have free access.

The British NewspaperArchive is a partnership between the British Library and findmypast to digitise up to 40 million newspaper pages from the British Library's vast collection over the next 10 years. Access to the archive is free across 61 areas of the UK because 61 library authorities have paid a subscription. - anyone in those areas, who has a local authority library card, has free, unlimited access whenever they visit their local authority library.

THIS DOES NOT YET INCLUDE ANY LIBRARIES IN DEVON

The subscriptions are managed by JCS online resources 

 Offering online access to millions of pages of British and Irish newspapers from 1708-1956, the British Newspaper Archive is a fantastic resource for everyone interested in history, and for family and local historians in particular.

Every single word of every issue has been made searchable, and thousands of extra pages are added every week.
"I’m actually addicted to The British Newspaper Archive. I wake up in the middle of the night wondering… did the Victorians ever roller skate? What did people think about Nelson’s column when it was first unveiled? Has anyone ever attempted a tightrope walk over the Thames?
A quick search, and I get my answers. Except then I can’t possibly go back to sleep because one search leads to another. If you’re curious about the past, then The British Newspaper Archive is your best friend for life.” Matt Brown, Editor-at-Large of Londonist

UK Sound Directory

The date for the end of the survey for the UK Sound Directory has been put back from the end of March to the end of May 2015.

The British Library is attempting to catalogue the whereabouts of all the sound recordings in the UK. If you have any information which could help them with their ambitious mission, please get in touch. The details are all on this link

The problem is twofold: that old sound recordings deteriorate, and that the equipment to play them becomes obsolete. For example, recordings on old wax cylinders are very fragile, and not every modern household has either a record player or a tape deck.

It's not just the old stuff that's in peril. Vint Cerf, the vice-president of Google, is worried that the constant advancement of technology  could mean that today's vast, online digital archives may not be accessible tomorrow. On this link, Vint Cerf warns of The Forgotten Century.

So when the British Library eventually do publish their UK Sound Directory online, will that itself be safe?... just a thought.

If you have any information about recordings which relate to Starcross and surrounds, please also contact Starcross History; either comment here, or email starcross.history@gmail.com

Thankyou