World Television Day
The invention of the television was revolutionary. It is largely credited to Scottish inventor John Logie Baird who rolled out commercial usage in the 1920s. But the term television is believed to have been created by Russian scientist Constantin Perskyi, tele is ancient Greek for far while visio is Latin for sight. The usage of the name TV dates to 1948, but when we in Britain started using the word telly, I can’t say. Since its invention, the television has changed the world and impacted our lives in ways that the inventors never imagined. On the 21st of November, we recognise that impact.
History
World Television Day was announced by the United Nations in 1996 following the first World Television Forum in the previous November. Since then, World Television Day has become an annual recognised day. The World Television forum was not simply to celebrate but to recognise the impact that television has on ‘public opinion and world decision making’. Television was the starting point of communication and transparency in the world.
Library Resources
However, the most obvious way to mark this day is of course to watch television. And at the library, we have access to the humble yet mighty Box of Broadcasts, also known as BOB. Since 1948. BOB has led ‘the discovery, citation and responsible use of audio-visual material in education and research’. You will be able to find BOB on LibrarySearch, make sure you are signed in to have complete access. BOB has access to over 75 ‘free to air channels’, access to 10 foreign language channels and over 3 million broadcasts on its database. Not only that but you can create your own playlist, watch on the device, embed links, and use them for academic referencing. We can’t shout the praises of BOB enough; it is truly a marvellous database that we can’t recommend enough.
By Maya Green
Image source: Photo by Stephen Monterroso on Unsplash
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