Television in education - find over five million broadcasts and use them

Television has the power to mould the thinking of a nation. It has long
been acknowledged, perhaps tacitly, that the medium can be immensely
effective not only in enhancing the education experience, but also in
leading it. Because television covers such a broad range of subjects, there
is something for everyone. Whether you are teaching ‘A’ Level biology or
undertaking doctoral study in economics, there will be a programme of
relevance to you. Students, teachers, university administrators, even
Vice-Chancellors, can all use such content to enrich the learning
experience.
How, though, can you tap into these resources, when the programme you need
may have been shown many years ago? How can you find out what relevant
programmes have been shown, let alone locate a copy? The best place to
start is the Television and Radio Index for Learning and Teaching (TRILT),
one of the unique database services of the British Universities Film & Video
Council (BUFVC). Users of the full TRILT service (who must be
from BUFVC member institutions – see more information)
are able to search across records of five million broadcasts from more than
330 radio and television channels received in the UK, going back more than
ten years. Not only that, but the BUFVC operates an Off Air Recording Back
Up Service which can supply copies of missed programmes to its members,
providing they hold an ERA licence. The Service records up to 44,000 hours
per annum of programmes from seven UK television channels. The two
services are now linked and users of TRILT can instantly see what
programmes are available from BUFVC while they are searching the database.