Editing BBC Domesday Project (section)

== Concerns over electronic preservation ==
[[File:VCF 2010 Domesday tray open.jpg|thumb|alt=A BBC Master computer, laserdisc and player on exhibition|A Domesday system at the [[Vintage Computer Festival|VCF]]-[[Great Britain|GB]] 2010]]
In 2002, concerns emerged over the potential unreadablility of the discs as computers capable of reading the format became rare and drives capable of accessing the discs even rarer.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/mar/03/research.elearning Digital Domesday Book lasts 15 years not 1000 by Robin McKie ''The Observer'' 3 March 2002]</ref><ref name="redux">{{cite journal | url=http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue36/tna/ | title=Domesday Redux: The rescue of the BBC Domesday Project videodiscs | journal=Ariadne | issue=36 | last1=Darlington | first1=Jeffrey | last2=Finney | first2=Andy | last3=Pearce | first3=Adrian | date=30 July 2003 | access-date=30 November 2020 | archive-date=11 December 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211115620/http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue36/tna/ | url-status=dead }}</ref> Aside from the difficulty of emulating the original code, a major issue was that the still images had been stored on the laserdisc as single-frame analogue video, which were [[Genlock|overlaid]] by the computer system's graphical interface. The project had begun years before [[JPEG]] image compression and before [[24-bit color|truecolour]] computer video cards had become widely available.

In November 2023, a podcast episode by Tim Harford, "Laser Versus Parchment: Doomsday for the Disc," from the series ''[[Cautionary Tales (podcast)|Cautionary Tales]]'', described and contextualized many of the troubled issues surrounding the historical trajectory of the BBC Domesday Project's data.<ref name="harford">{{ cite web | url=https://timharford.com/2023/11/cautionary-tales-laser-versus-parchment-doomsday-for-the-disc/ | title=Cautionary Tales – Laser Versus Parchment: Doomsday for the Disc | website=Tim Harford | date=10 November 2023 | access-date=11 December 2023 }}</ref>

=== CAMiLEON (2002) ===
However, the BBC later announced that the CAMiLEON project (a partnership between the [[University of Leeds]] and [[University of Michigan]], led by [[Margaret Hedstrom]] and managed by researcher Paul Wheatley<ref name="LeedsStudent20021206">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/StudentBritNewspaper/page/n1/mode/1up | title=Doomed BBC project rescued | work=Leeds Student | date=6 December 2002 | access-date=17 December 2020 | last1=Wells | first1=Emma | pages=2 }}</ref>) had developed a system capable of accessing the discs using [[emulator|emulation]] techniques.<ref>{{cite news | first = Robin | last = McKie |author2=Thorpe, Vanessa | title = Digital Domesday Book lasts 15 years not 1000 | date = 2002-03-03 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/mar/03/research.elearning | work = [[The Guardian]] | access-date = 2011-07-18 | quote = 'That means we have to find a way to emulate this data, in other words to turn into a form that can be used no matter what is the computer format of the future. That is the real goal of this project.'}}</ref> The CAMiLEON project transferred the text and database files stored on the Domesday laserdiscs to a Linux-based computer using a SCSI connection to the player. Images, stored as still-frame video, were digitised at full resolution using video capture hardware and stored uncompressed, ultimately requiring around 70&nbsp;GB of storage per side of each laserdisc. A modified version of the Free Software emulator, BeebEm, was then used to access the archived data, with enhancements introduced to support emulation of the Turbo co-processor, SCSI communication and laserdisc player functionality.<ref name="iconbar20030115">{{ cite web | url=https://www.iconbar.com/articles/CAMiLEON_Emulation_and_BBC_Domesday/index937.html | title=CAMiLEON: Emulation and BBC Domesday | work=The Icon Bar | last1=Mellor | first1=Phil | date=15 January 2003 | access-date=15 November 2020 }}</ref>

=== Videotape Digitisation Efforts (2003) ===
Another team, working for the UK [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|National Archives]] (who hold the original Domesday Book) tracked down the original 1-inch videotape masters of the project. These were digitised and archived to [[Digital Betacam]].<ref name="finney">{{ cite web | url=http://www.atsf.co.uk/dottext/domesday.html | title=The BBC Domesday Project | last1=Finney | first1=Andy }}</ref>

=== Domesday 1986 (2004-2008) ===
A version of one of the discs was created that runs on a Windows PC. This version was reverse-engineered from an original Domesday Community disc and incorporates images from the videotape masters. It was initially available only via a terminal at the National Archives headquarters in Kew, but was published on the web as Domesday 1986 (at domesday1986.com) in July 2004.<ref name="domesday1986_20081222">{{ cite web | url=http://www.domesday1986.com/ | title=Home | website=Domesday 1986 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222194838/http://www.domesday1986.com/ | access-date=15 November 2020 | archive-date=22 December 2008 }}</ref> This version was taken off-line early in 2008 when its programmer, Adrian Pearce, suddenly died.<ref name="reloaded_story">{{cite web | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/domesday/story | title=The Story of the Domesday Project | date=2011 | access-date=15 November 2020 | archive-date=11 September 2011 | archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110911075508/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/domesday/story | url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>

=== Domesday Reloaded (2011-2018) ===
{{Main|BBC Domesday Reloaded}}

[[File:BBC Domesday machine at Interesting 2011 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|The Domesday machine in 2011]]

In 2011, a team at BBC Learning, headed by [[George Auckland]], republished much of the Community disc data in a short-lived web-based format.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://katydartford.wordpress.com/2011/03/02/domesday-project-for-bbc-london/|title= Domesday project for BBC London|first= Katy|last= Dartford|date= 2 March 2011|work= Katy Dartford's blog|publisher= [[WordPress.com]]|access-date= 12 April 2011|quote= 25 years on, in May 2011, the BBC will release around 25,000 photos of British life and landscapes and approximately 150,000 pages of accompanying text, onto the Domesday Reloaded website.}}</ref> This data comprising around 25,000 images was loaded onto the [[BBC Domesday Reloaded]] website which went online in May 2011<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.nlcaonline.org.uk/page_id__836_path__0p18p113p126p.aspx|title= BBC Domesday reloaded: Call for community contributors|first= Melita|last= Dennett|date= 5 April 2011|publisher= North Laine Community Association|location= [[Brighton]]|access-date= 12 April 2011|quote= &#91;T&#93;he data has been extracted and the BBC would like to update the information on the discs for a new website, Domesday Reloaded.|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110719011818/http://www.nlcaonline.org.uk/page_id__836_path__0p18p113p126p.aspx|archive-date= 19 July 2011|url-status= dead}}</ref> and offline in June 2018, being hosted in archived form at the National Archives thereafter.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/domesday|title=The Last Post|last=Mansfield|first=Alex|website=BBC Domesday Reloaded|access-date=9 July 2018}}</ref> The data extraction underlying the Domesday Reloaded site was carried out in 2003 and 2004 by Simon Guerrero and Eric Freeman.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pcplus.techradar.com/2011/06/01/rescuing-the-domesday-project-part-one/ |title=Rescuing the Domesday Project (part 1) |first=Eric |last=Freeman |date=1 June 2011 |work=PC Plus Article |access-date=15 April 2013 |quote=Eric Freeman's account of the BBC's Domesday Project restoration. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421063155/http://pcplus.techradar.com/2011/06/01/rescuing-the-domesday-project-part-one/ |archive-date=21 April 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://pcplus.techradar.com/2011/06/01/rescuing-the-domesday-project-part-two/ |title=Rescuing the Domesday Project (part 2) |first=Eric |last=Freeman |date=1 June 2011 |work=PC Plus Article |access-date=15 April 2013 |quote=Eric Freeman's account of the BBC's Domesday Project restoration. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421063213/http://pcplus.techradar.com/2011/06/01/rescuing-the-domesday-project-part-two/ |archive-date=21 April 2012 }}</ref>

=== Domesday86 (2020) ===
Subsequent efforts by the Domesday86 project have taken a broader approach to preservation by attempting to preserve the technologies used to access Domesday and other interactive video content, along with the content itself, focusing on the laserdiscs as preservation artefacts in their own right.<ref name="domesday_duplicator">{{ cite web | url=https://www.domesday86.com/?page_id=978 | title=Domesday Duplicator Overview | website=Domesday86.com | access-date=15 November 2020 }}</ref> The stated objective of the group is to create hardware and software to permit the use of the BBC Domesday system without the need for the rare and expensive specialist hardware employed by the original system, also providing support for the original hardware, releasing developments under free software and open hardware licences.<ref name="domesday86">{{ cite web | url=https://www.domesday86.com/?page_id=74 | title=Introduction to the Domesday86 project | website=Domesday86.com | access-date=15 November 2020 }}</ref>

=== Museum preservation initiatives (2020) ===
The [[Centre for Computing History]] in [[Cambridge]] has undertaken a similar project to preserve the data from the Domesday Project and made it available online.<ref name="cch">{{ cite web | url=http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/pages/8792/BBC-Domesday-System-Preservation/ | title=BBC Domesday Preservation Project | website=Centre for Computing History | access-date=15 November 2020 }}</ref> In 2011, with the National Disc and Community Disc processed, the museum was investigating copyright issues before releasing the URL to the general public.<ref name="cch_reloaded">{{ cite web | url=http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/news/14450/Museum-Helps-BBC-Domesday-Reloaded-Project/ | title=Museum Helps BBC Domesday Reloaded Project | website=Centre for Computing History | access-date=15 November 2020 }}</ref> An emulator has since been made available in collaboration with the Domesday86 project.<ref name="domesday_emulator">{{ cite web | url=http://domesday.computinghistory.org.uk/ | title=bbc_domesday_emulator | access-date=15 November 2020 }}</ref> The museum has a working Domesday system on display and accessible to the public. They also have possibly the largest Domesday and interactive laserdisc archive in the world.<ref name="Interactive Laserdisc Software Collection">{{ cite web | url=http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/pages/14510/Interactive-Laserdisc-Software/ | title=Interactive Laserdisc Software Collection | website=Centre for Computing History | access-date=24 September 2021 }}</ref>

[[The National Museum of Computing]] based beside [[Bletchley Park]] in [[Milton Keynes]] has a working Domesday system in its BBC Micro Classroom for visitors to use.