KJHK gets new digital archive
Student Senate approves bill to preserve music library at campus radio station
Published on Fri., April 6th, 2007
Listeners of KJHK can expect improved quality of programming as early as this fall with the implementation of a new digital archive.
Student Senate approved a bill on Wednesday securing $15,000 from the Senate reserve account for the archive.
The digital achieve provides a secure storage for all of KJHK’s vinyl records and compact discs.
We get music from independent retailers and labels, and sometimes they only make 10 copies, so it will be nice to know they are secure.
-Nick Ray, program director for KJHK
Tom Johnson, general manager for KJHK, said the secure storage would cost about $32,000. Twenty-five thousand dollars will go to the actual secure storage, $4,000 wil go to equipment and $8,000 will go to paying student hourly positions for archiving.
Chris Dickinson, Derby junior and director for information services, said the archiving process should begin by the end of the month.
“We’ll start with CDs, which should be done by the end of summer,” Dickinson said. “The vinyls will take longer to ensure good sound from them.”
Nick Ray, program director for KJHK, said the new system would allow for KJHK to preserve music forever and to share it with future generations.
“We get music from independent retailers and labels, and sometimes they only make 10 copies, so it will be nice to know they are secure,” Ray said.
Some music from the ‘70s and ‘80s can’t be found anymore, Ray said.
Justin Brown, Overland Park senior and host of Alternative Flashback on KJHK, said the digital archive would benefit the station in more than one way.
“It’s great for preserving the music and more convenient for some DJs to fill requests more quickly,” Brown said.
Through time the vinyls have deteriorated from being played so many times. At times it’s difficult to find the records because they are out of place or their sleeves are hard to read, Brown said.
Danielle Basci, Houston, Texas, senior and host of Grey Radio on KJHK, said the new system will lessen the time it takes to find requests.
“We can actually find the requests instead of saying we will and not having time to look before a new song comes on,” Basci said.
The new program also lessens the chance that music will be lost or stolen.
Melissa Knudsen, Wichita senior and music director for KJHK, said in the past a problem existed when music went missing.
“If we have the music in a secure digital setting we’ll always have it in case something were to happen,” Knudsen said.
Receiving new music will also be easier for the station.
“The archive should lessen the time it takes for new music to be available for play,” Knudsen said.
Knudsen said companies sent digital packages more often now. The digital archive would allow music to automatically be put in the archive rather than having to burn a hard CD.
Johnson said the system enables for a searchable database on-line for listens to see what is available.
Kansan staff writer Ashlee Kieler can be contacted at akieler@kansan.com.
— Edited by Will McCullough
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