Abstract
This paper discusses prospects for wider use of broadcast archives (audio and visual materials of past programs and news reports stored by broadcasters), taking the “NHK Reminiscence Therapy Library” (hereinafter “the Library”) as an example. The first chapter outlines reminiscence therapy, which is a type of psychological treatment for dementia patients, and the Library that houses archived television footage from the past as a tool for recalling memories. The second chapter reports how people with dementia view the videos from the Library and talk about their memories together at elderly care facilities and an example of how the Library is used in courses at a nursing faculties of universities, which shows the Library served as an instrument for raising QOL of people with dementia and an learning tool for care workers at facilities and nursing students. The third chapter tracks the development of the Library footage production and extracts key points and issues, such as “reduce narrations to make the most out of real sounds in the footage,” so that archived footage will become easier to use. The forth chapter concludes the paper by underlining the significance of human resources development and collaboration with experts from other fields than broadcasting.
