The aim of the Asia-Europe Workshop on Radio Archives, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 16th-20th December, 2002, was thus to sensitise and train decision-makers and professionals in radio stations on the importance of radio archiving and make them familiar with the digital archive system and how to implement it.
In all of the countries selected for this project, radio plays a much larger role in educating, informing and entertaining the audience than television. Moreover radio is a key instrument to propagate and preserve local culture, be it music, languages or local traditions.
One participant stated: “As an engineer without much background on archiving, the course has provided the necessary background understanding of the procedure for archiving and the technology available to ensure that the archivists and engineers work hand-in-hand to set up a digital archive system in the next 2 to 3 years”.
The workshop, organised by Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) [www.aibd.org.my] with the help of ASEF, gathered 13 radio professionals from 8 Asian countries. Wilfried Solbar, AIBD, was the programme manager of this event and Gert Wurmbach (former Deutsche Welle Radio Training Centre trainer), the guest consultant.