DENTON (UNT), Texas — The Texas Historical Records Advisory Board has chosen the University of North Texas Libraries for its 2018 Archival Award of Excellence for efforts to preserve, digitize and make publicly available archival footage from the oldest television news station in Texas, NBC 5/KXAS (formerly WBAP).
The recognition was announced as part of the advisory board’s Texas Archives Month celebration.
“UNT Libraries is thrilled to receive this award, especially as we work in conjunction with NBC 5/KXAS-TV to celebrate their 70th anniversary this year,” said Morgan Davis Gieringer, university archivist and head of special collections. “We hope this award will bring greater attention to this collection and will help us as we continue to work towards our goal of raising the funds necessary to complete our digitization and preservation efforts.”
The Archival Award of Excellence was established to honor a Texas institution for its projects and/or ongoing programs that build collections, enhance access to archives, develop effective digitization programs, or implement preservation strategies.
The UNT Libraries was selected for its extensive work in digitizing more than 20,000 individual news segments dating from 1951 to 2014, as well as its success in raising more than $600,000 to support its continuing digitization efforts. These are significant achievements in safeguarding and promoting Texas’ rich documentary heritage.
“The NBC 5/KXAS Television News Archive is a unique resource. It contains the earliest television news footage recorded in Texas and the Southwest,” said Gieringer. “As a cultural and historical resource, it is essential that we preserve this collection and make it widely, digitally accessible. Archival audio and visual material is at high risk for permanent loss due to the difficulties and costs of preservation, making our work on this collection even more important.”
UNT faculty and staff involved with the project include Diane Bruxvoort, dean of UNT Libraries; associate deans Sue Parks and Mark Phillips; Hannah Tarver, supervisor of digital projects; Myrshem George, senior director of development; and Special Libraries staff members Morgan Gieringer, Julie Judkins, Greg Pierce, Ana Nino, and Laura Treat. Their team will be awarded during the DFW Archives Bazaar at 2 p.m. October 14 at Dallas Heritage Village.