Coming soon: new guidelines on audiovisual citation

Audiovisual Citation: Guidelines for referencing sound and moving image resources

Despite the exponential increase in the use of audiovisual material in teaching, learning and research in higher and further education, existing guidelines for the referencing of sound and moving image are insufficient as they are based on standards developed for the written word. This has the effect of discouraging the citing of sound and moving image, as well as creating barriers in its discovery, use and re-use.

In 2011, the British Universities Film & Video Council (BUFVC) established a citation working group comprised of academics, researchers, journal editors, archivists and representatives from the British Library to address this key issue. Since 2012 this ground-breaking work has been incorporated into the BUFVC Shared Services Project, funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

The guidelines will cover: film, television programmes, radio programmes, audio recordings, DVD extras including interviews and commentaries, clips, trailers, adverts, idents, stings, non-broadcast material (catalogued and not catalogued), podcasts, vodcasts and DVD study materials.

The guidelines have been shaped by the diversity of sound and moving image materials requiring citation and will be open to future updates to ensure they effectively respond to advances in technology, development of new media platforms and the needs of the user.

The citation standards will be robustly tested prior to publication and will be applicable to a wide range of different users across all disciplines.  

Timescale
The citation guidelines for sound and moving image will be published in March 2013 and reviewed periodically.

Contact
For more information please see the BUFVC website: http://bufvc.ac.uk/projects-research/avcitation
Email: avcitation@bufvc.ac.uk
Join the discussion on Twitter @bufvc #AVcitation

Additional information:

Expert quote
". . . there is not yet a uniform set of citation standards in education for quoting and referencing either moving images or recorded sound. For academics to gain greater confidence in the use of moving image and sound content in research and publication, they will require the standardisation of citation and the assurance that collections will hold material and sustain collections on the same basis as print material."

Gerhardt, Paul and Peter B. Kaufman, Film and Sound in Higher and Further Education: A Progress Report With Ten Strategic Recommendations (HEFCE, 2011). http://filmandsoundthinktank.jisc.ac.uk/ch4-strategic-recommendations