Australian National Film and Sound Archive
Introduction
The National Film and Sound Archive or NSFA is the audiovisual archive of Australia that help to collect, preserve and share the country’s rich heritage. On July 1, 2008, the NSFA had become an independent statutory authority. It is now a national collecting institution in its own right that is committed in building the national collection and expanding public access and outreach (National Film and Sound Archive 2008).
This paper will analyze the usability and other related aspects of the NSFA website by applying the principle of PAIBOC or Purpose, Audience, Information, Benefits, Objective and Context.
Website’s Usability
It can be said that the website of NSFA is good due to different factors and reason. One of the primary good traits of the website is that its design is simple yet, professional, thus making the website easy to understand and navigate (Hoskins 2006). The said aspect is very important due to the fact that it has a direct impact or appeal to the visitors of the website. On the other hand, it can be observed that the texts or contents of the website were not justified, thus it creates a somewhat confusing and unarranged collection of text.
The main purpose of the website is to help the NSFA to spread and inform the public, not only the locals but other movie-goers in the world regarding the collection of works and materials of Australian that represents and showcase their history, technology as well as culture in terms of audiovisual media, from the origin up to the present time. The said purpose is reflected on the website, because it can help to target more possible visitors via the help of the Internet. On the other hand, the audience of the organization and website focuses on the locals, who are very interested and proud about their entertainment and art industry as well as other people from different part of the world, who are interested with the rich culture of Australia. Furthermore, the website is also targeting the educational or academic needs of students, that are searching for good movies and medias that can help them to do their projects and assignment. The website can be a very helpful place for those students, in order to save time, money and effort.
Furthermore, another good characteristic of the website is that it offers rich, clear and helpful information, not only about the company history and profile but also about the purpose of the company regarding the movies and medias that they are offering. The website had been able to apply two of four categories of marketing websites: site that offers organization information, and site that offer information online. First is that the website had been able to explain the origin, business mission and areas of activity, standards and values, job opportunities and even contact points. The website also offers rich information regarding the products that they are offering. At the same time, the website also offer access to the current and even archived past files of news, data and images (Doole & Lowe 2006, p. 116). It offers information regarding the current and past events between the organization and other partners.
In addition, the benefits of the website were slightly discussed in the first parts of the paper, where in it focuses on helping the visitors to save time, money and effort in looking for their desired media. Thus, it can also help many players in the entertainment industry, particularly movie sectors to promote their masterpiece in vast population, at the same time; it can help to endorse the culture, tradition and talents of Australian. Thus, the main objective of the website is to bring awareness and interests, from the locals as well as foreign people who are interested in movies and other entertainment medias (Kyle 2008). The said factor is important because the main benefits of the website to promote the culture and talents of Australian. Above all, the context of the website is to use the Internet as a tool or method of communication with the vast population in the world in order to spread awareness and information.
National Archives of Other Countries
In Africa, the counterpart of the NSFA, is the National Film, Video and Sound Archives or NFVSA, a subdirectorate of the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa that is located in Pretoria. Unlike NSFA, that can collect other audio-visual materials from other countries, the NFVSA focuses on the materials made in South Africa. All of the materials were all donated by film, video and other players in the sound industry as well as the private people. Just like the website of NSFA, NFVSA’s website is also simple, yet it does not have the formal or professional look. Furthermore, it also gives information regarding the information about the organization, from its origins up to its connections with other government and private organizations. However, unlike NSFA, it does not show or indicate information about the products or services, and did not include the needs of the education sector.
Another website is The New Zealand Film Archive. The said website shows a great difference compare to the website of Australia and the North Africa. Although the design of the website is simple, it is not plain and not formal. It gives a sense of informality yet, it shows an aura that will uplift the spirit of the visitors. The theme complemented the theme of the website, and that is to inform the visitors regarding the rich culture and tradition of the country by their media, especially movie. On the other hand, like Australia, the website also supports the needs and demands of the academic sector by offering education programs.
Conclusion
Based on the different characteristics and attributes that have been mentioned in the body of the paper, it can be said that the NSFA website is good. By focusing on the principles of PAIBOC, it can be observed and concluded that the website is needed and vital to all the stakeholders that are connected to the organization.
First, it is needed by the organization itself, in order to gain awareness and interests from the local people, as well as to promote their culture, traditions and talents to the world. Especially now, that entertainment industry, primarily movie industry is also one of the most important industries that is being affected by globalization, as a result, the competition in the movies had gone to the next level, where in it is already a battle of different nations’ ability to create good movies to be offered to the global population of movie spectator. Furthermore, it will also be important for the local people, in order for them to be informed regarding the rich history of their movies, and therefore help them to appreciate more the beauty of their culture and tradition. The said website also gives them the reference about the evolution of their entertainment industry.
Above all, it will be important for the academic sector, specially those local and international students who are studying subjects about entertainment and film. It will serve as a vast library of reference for them that can serve as an inspiration and references for future career.
References
Doole, I & Lowe, R 2006, Strategic Marketing Decisions, Butterworth-Heinemann.
Hoskins, T 2006, 7 Characteristics of a Great Webpage, Ezine @rticles, viewed 11 December 2008, <http://ezinearticles.com/?7-Characteristics-Of-A-Great-Webpage&id=155509 >
Kyle, B 2008, Your Web Site’s Objectives, Insider Reports, viewed 11 December 2008, <http://www.insiderreports.com/storypage.asp?StoryID=20005978>
National Archives and Records Service (NARS) 2008, viewed 11 December 2008, <http://www.national.archives.gov.za/>
National Film and Sound Archive 2008, About Us, viewed 11 December 2008, <http://www.nfsa.gov.au/about_us/>
The New Zealand Film Archive 2008, The Film Archive, viewed 11 December 2008, <http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/>
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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