BBC Monitoring

"VERDICT The archive is an exceptional source of primary documents about political, social, military, cultural events, and intelligence gathering from the start of World War II to the early 21st century. Its usability and functionality are superb, and its features are intuitive and seamless. This continues the Readex tradition of offering outstanding primary historical content in a presentation that is straightforward, comprehensive, and user-friendly.

CONTENT Founded in 1939, BBC Monitoring listened to radio broadcasts to help Britain and its allies understand global dynamics and assess emerging threats. Its efforts led to the creation of detailed reports from open-source intelligence transcripts that informed and guided military and political decision-making within and beyond the UK. This database is a compilation of 70,000 multiple-page intelligence reports from 1939 to 2001, now housed in the BBC Written Archives Centre. It is organized into four distinct chronological series and includes speeches, current affairs debates, political discussions, and social and cultural event briefs. A gamut of world affairs topics and events are covered, with a focus on World War II, the Cold War, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the Middle East (the Iranian Revolution; the Persian Gulf Crisis), and the Soviet Union/Russia.

USABILITY The home page is well laid out, with a prominent basic search bar located front and center; top navigation menus allow users to access additional features and information portals, including Home, Advanced Search, Text Explorer, Help, Other Databases, My Folder, and Share Feedback. Home returns users to the landing page wherever they are in the database. Advanced Search offers multiple search rows, sort order options, and date limiters for customized searching. Text Explorer allows a nuanced understanding of the data with term clusters, frequencies, trends, and other visual displays. Help opens a 17-page document with information on searching and document use. Other Databases links users to Readex resources to which their libraries may subscribe. There’s also a “How To Use This Database” link that’s a terrific guide with excellent screenshots and detailed instructions. My Folder stores documents for reference and referral. Share Feedback opens a survey for users to complete about the archive.

In addition to basic and advanced searches, users can search across all four series simultaneously or limit their searches to specific series. Subject searches can be narrowed with any of 18 parameters, including region, source country, language, and article type. Documents contain extensive publication details such as article date, source, report length, and language. Pages and entire documents can be cited in various formats from a dropdown citation menu. Documents can be saved in My Folder, downloaded, saved to Google Drive, sent via email, or printed.

The database uses OCR technology, making pages searchable and readable. The readability of the scans is outstanding, with options for viewing, zooming, and rotating pages. Response times are instantaneous, fluid, and highly relevant. Toggling back and forth between pages is a snap."

—Rob Tench in Library Journal e-review (November 2024)

“…this is one of the treasures of the world and a global resource deserves global recognition. Any citizen of the world can find something relevant to them in this material. This is a history of the world speaking to the world. …It's an amazing, amazing resource. It's as versatile as the person who asks it questions.”
—Nick Cull, Professor of Communication, University of Southern California

“The BBC Monitoring archive is an extraordinary, little-known collection covering most of the important events of the twentieth century. As well as offering remarkable source material for scholars and students of intelligence, espionage, warfare, international relations, diplomacy, and the media, readers will find information in the vast range of documents about social change across the world, about refugees and emigres, political upheaval, and an everyday history of a tumultuous century. …BBCM is not just a useful source for research but, in many ways, a guide to recent world history.”
—Dan Stone, Professor of Modern History, Royal Holloway, University of London

“The BBC Monitoring archives form a treasure trove of information, casting a fresh light on historical material for researchers. My work on intercepted radio broadcasts relating to India during the Second World War revealed to me what a rich and valuable collection these archives truly are. ...I also viewed the monitoring reports themselves as processes of representation, crafted by the agency of the monitors who exercised choice in what and how to transcribe.”
—Dr. Diya Gupta, Lecturer in Public History, City, University of London

“The BBC Monitoring Service Summary of World Broadcasts collection provides English-speaking researchers with unparalleled access to written translations of international radio broadcasts. The collection is a particularly valuable resource for researchers and students seeking to understand the role of radio propaganda and the use of open-source information in intelligence-gathering in World War Two.” 
—Karine Varley, Lecturer in French and Modern History, University of Strathclyde

“A wonderful resource for students and scholars working on the propaganda and news dimensions of the Cold War. The BBC’s key role in that conflict has yet to be fully explored. This resource points to the need to do that and to appreciate, in the process, how vital a part Britain played in the Cold War.”
—Tony Shaw, Professor of History, University of Hertfordshire