And Here Is The (Open) News...

The BBC has unveiled its long-awaited Open News Archive. Actually, it's made some 80 news reports available - not quite an "open news archive". But to be fair, it's a start, and potentially the beginning of something quite bold.

There are plenty of restrictions, including the fact that the content is only available to Internet users within the UK. But as the BBC itself says, this is just a pilot. Moreover, the issues that need resolving - notably those to do with "rights clearance" - are by no means trivial. Kudos to the BBC for at least trying. Like the open access book project reported below, this is yet another indication of which way the (open) wind is blowing....