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The British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) is in the works of developing, what it claims will be the largest ever archive of films, photographs and personal accounts from every human group on the planet—and put it all online.

Currently, the BBC is asking universities, anthropologists and social historians to contribute material to its ”Dictionary of Man,” which it says will put forth the most complete picture of humankind ever assembled.

The dictionary’s entries would consist of articles, photographs and film on the histories, philosophies and languages of people worldwide. In addition, it would also be equipped with a social networking function making it possible for individuals to trace their national or tribal identities across the globe.

Bob Geldof, whose production company Ten Alps PLC will offer administrative help with the initiative, said he was encouraged to act after being told that 300 African languages had already vanished

”Even though I never heard those languages, I already miss them,” Geldof said. ”In these ways the lights of human genius wink out.”

Announcing plans for the website at a conference in Cannes, Geldof said: “This will be an A to Z of mankind which will catalogue the world we live in now, the people who share this planet, the way we live and the way we adapt to face common and different challenges.”

He continued, “Ultimately I suppose in some ways we’re also building the world’s family photo album.”

He said the dictionary would save the cultures for posterity—and that the photos would help people reconnect with remote members of their family or group.

According to the BBC, the dictionary would develop as new information was revealed and new entries would be added as new groups formed.

Material from the website would be imprinted on to an encyclopedic volume of DVDs featuring hundreds of hours of programming—and included in books, magazines and exhibitions.

Planning for the dictionary—which is not expected to go live until 2010—was still in its early stages, and the BBC said no decisions had been made as to how exactly the dictionary would be laid out, or whether it would be accessible free of charge. A spokesman said no budgeting decisions had yet been made.