I am thrilled to announce that “The Catford Tapes: Professor Catford’s Life in Linguistics” are now available to the world. This is a very happy day for me.

The Catford Tapes are a series of eight one-hour lectures given by Ian Catford in early 1985, on the occasion of his retirement from the University of Michigan Linguistics Department. For anyone with an interest in linguistics, from theoretical to applied, from English to Kabardian, from grammar to phonetics, from Henry Sweet to … well, to Ian Catford, these lectures make clear just how fascinating and remarkably broad Professor Catford’s life in linguistics has been. You can read the background and history of the Catford Tapes below.

You can find videos of the lectures at Deep Blue, the University of Michigan’s service providing access to work in research and teaching:

Lecture 1, February 7, 1985:
http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/57765
Lecture 2, February 14, 1985:
http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/57766
Lecture 3, February 21, 1985:
http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/57767
Lecture 4, March 7, 1985:
http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/57768
Lecture 5, March 14, 1985:
http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/57769
Lecture 6, March 28, 1985:
http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/57770
Lecture 7, April 4, 1985:
http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/57771
Lecture 8, April 18, 1985:
http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/57772

or simply go to Deep Blue’s home page ( http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/ ) and search for “catford”

By the way, as I understand it, this is the first instance of Bentley material being hosted by Deep Blue.

————–
My deepest thanks go to all the following for freely giving their time, advice and effort to promote the project of preserving this treasure and making it freely accessible.

• Ian Catford, Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, University of Michigan
• John Swales, Professor Emeritus of Linguistics and Director Emeritus, English Language Institute
• Fran Blouin, Director, Bentley Historical Library, Professor of Information and Professor of History
• Jim Otaviani, Coordinator Deep Blue
• Tom Bray, Managing Producer Media Resources, Digital Media Commons and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Art, School of Art and Design
• Greg Kinney and Brian Williams, Associate Archivists, Bentley Historical Library
• Nancy Deromedi, Assistant Archivist, Bentley Historical Library
• David Erdody, Media Development/Services, English Language Institute

————–
Background / History

In 2002, the Catford Tapes had been stored for nearly 20 years at the University of Michigan but it was unclear exactly where and whether anyone was actually benefiting from the fascinating content and story-telling therein. Making sure that the lectures were not lost to obscurity or to failing media or to technology change was important, and so the mission was to have the tapes archived somewhere, somehow, and made available to a larger audience.

The original eight VHS tapes were not, as one might have expected, at the Linguistics Department, but rather at the English Language Institute Library. They were finally found in a cardboard box at the old, about-to-be-demolished NUBS building the very week that the ELI was in upheaval, getting ready to move to its new location. I was given permission to take the original tapes with the intent to more properly archive them. I contacted Greg Kinney at the Bentley Historical Library of the University and Tom Bray for technical advice and help.

The VHS tapes had not been viewed in 17 years but fortunately transfered to digital tapes easily. These masters then became the basis for other derivatives: other digital tape formats, tapes edited with introductory titles, eventually mpeg files and DVDs. Masters, DVDs and the original accompanying handouts, obtained from Professor Catford himself, were accessioned by the Bentley. All along I was supported by John Swales and the folks from the Bentley.

Two missions are better than one. The next step was to see who might host web-accessible versions of the videos. Jim Ottaviani helped coordinate with the Bentley and the ELI to arrange rights sign offs and got downloadable and streaming versions of the lectures into Deep Blue. And here we are today. Follow the links above.

Peter Brantley at Berkeley sent an email titled “an exchange on Google” to the members of the Digital Library Federation:

I was permitted to reproduce an incredibly penetrating and insightful exchange on the merits of Google book search by paul duguid and patrick leary.

here -

http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/08/the_google_exch.html

yours -

I immediately had to email my old colleagues at the University of Michigan’s Digital Library:

This exchange is “incredibly penetrating and insightful”? And, as it says on the web page, “seminal”?

Sounds like all the conversations we had for months and months on the 3rd floor [of the Hatcher Library, home of UMDL]. Breadth vs depth, quantity and access vs quality. I get it. I mean, I got that a long time ago.

Am I missing something?

At least he mentions Perry Willett and his colleagues. You go, guys and girls.