The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!

Subject: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Don Firth
Date: 07 Oct 12 - 03:41 PM

The Bob Nelson Collection of Folk Music is now in the possession of the University of Washington Libraries—the archive that Bob (Deckman) has been laboring so assiduously on for the past several years!

And it is on line!!

The URL:    http://guides.lib.washington.edu/content.php?pid=360075&sid=2944515

Or here it is again in a simpler link:   CLICKY.

I've spent the morning looking through it and listening to clips—and having a real nostalgia fit. But I've only just scratched the surface.

And it appears that it will be added to over time.

WELL DONE, BOB!!

Don Firth

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Oct 12 - 03:49 PM

Great job! And it looks like this is the place to put on the top of the list for my Dad's collection.

SRS

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Deckman
Date: 07 Oct 12 - 04:05 PM

Thanks a LOT Don for figuring out that "blue Clicky" for me. I can spend five years going through 700 tapes, build and organize an archive, but those little blue clicky's confound me. bob

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Rapparee
Date: 07 Oct 12 - 04:56 PM

You did it! You did it! Hurray for you!!!

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: ranger1
Date: 07 Oct 12 - 05:14 PM

Cool beans, Bob!

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: gnu
Date: 07 Oct 12 - 06:03 PM

Wow! Thanks for all that hard work. Congrats.

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Bill D
Date: 07 Oct 12 - 06:24 PM

Really nice to see all that work showing up... and how VERY nice to see the Larry Keifer songs for others to enjoy. (I had known Larry in Wichita in the 60s, and Deckman & I had discussed the amazing story of how he acquired them)

Also listening to Jean Redpath singing "Inverey"... wow...

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Deckman
Date: 07 Oct 12 - 06:28 PM

Bill D ... As I was selecting which songs to present in this first go around, I was thinking of you and your love of Larry's music. Did you notice that I captured his "Working Hands." bob

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 07 Oct 12 - 06:59 PM

Really awesome collection of work. mg

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Rapparee
Date: 07 Oct 12 - 08:13 PM

Nuts to you. Any other superman could have done the same thing.

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Bill D
Date: 07 Oct 12 - 09:31 PM

Oh... I just now listened to "Working Hands". I had stopped just short of it earlier.

You surprised me, Bob... I thought that one was lost. Sounds like it did 50 years ago... thanks again...

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Deckman
Date: 07 Oct 12 - 09:41 PM

I couldn't have done it without the work of the UW. They had the intial interest in the project and the ability to help me bring this lifelong project to completion. bob

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Bill D
Date: 07 Oct 12 - 10:12 PM

Well, those at the UW have my thanks, also! More power to institutions with vision!

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Deckman
Date: 08 Oct 12 - 06:44 AM

I think this might be an appropriate time to add some comments regarding this archive:

As you will see when you take the time to fully explore the archive, this is an immense collection. I have devoted the last five years to this necessary work. Take your time, follow the links to where they lead you.

Giving birth to this web site reminds me of the story of how elephants arrive: not much happens for nine months, and then all hell breaks loose. And indeed the last three weeks have been busy. I was writing, re-writing, e-mailing, searching for photos, driving to the UW, correcting, on and on. And thus you will find mistakes in the project. You'll find misspelled words ... poor writing ... and the obvious placing of songs to the incorrect singer.

Please tell me about these mistakes. You can do that two ways: either through the links built into the web site, or you can PM me right here on MC. Either way I welcome your suggestions.

A special note to musicans who might be featured in the first "go-around" ... we will be rotating the selected performers occasionally. If I've said anything that offends you, I do appologize. Perhaps I should say that backwards ... "if I HAVEN'T offended you, I should also appolgize?

Anyway .... I hope you enjoy the archive, learn from it, and smile. In the meantime ... I'M GOING FISHING! bob(deckman)nelson

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Deckman
Date: 08 Oct 12 - 05:35 PM

THANKS TO RAPPAREE ... Few folks know this, but it was Mike (rapparee) Doellman who was one of the first catters to encourage me with my archiving. After some discussions, he suggested that "bride Judy" and I to bring some samples to Pocatello, Idaho. Mike and Pat put us up for five very comfortable days. While there, we met with the shakers and movers of Idaho State University. That possible depository didn't work out, but Mike certainly got us going on the proper path. Thanks again Mike ... bob(deckman)nelson

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Deckman
Date: 09 Oct 12 - 01:10 PM

I'm getting some nice feedback about the archive by PM. And I DO appreciate it when folks point out misspelllings and such. Thanks muchly ... bob

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Oct 12 - 09:40 PM

Bob, this may be the kick in the pants I needed to get me moving with Dad's stuff. I've used the UW library (Pacific Northwest collection) for various things over the years, it's time to give back, isn't it?

Maggie

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Deckman
Date: 09 Oct 12 - 09:48 PM

Maggie ... I know I'm going to sound like a stuck record ... BUT .... GETGOINGGETGOINGGETGOING ... hugs, bob

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Oct 12 - 10:33 PM

You know how many songs he (John Dwyer) collected and he taped EVERYTHING. And then there were the reel-to-reel tapes I found in his storeroom that were marked to tape over - of course he didn't so I'll have those as resources also. And lots of notations and books and photocopies and . . .

Yeah. It is a big job. There is a lot of overlap between the two of you and the other artists included in your collection to build from. I agree, by the way, with your summary that his guitar playing was adequate - it was always in service of the song, he didn't play guitar in order to just play guitar. Over the years he collected a lot of other instruments (they went hither and yon with siblings after he died) but I think they were more for the having for people to use than for him to learn. He had bad arthritis so wasn't able to play guitar for many years and I wasn't in the Northwest when we was buying new instruments. Others will have to report (or I'll find evidence in his tapes) if he ever used other instruments.

The only correction I would offer is that while he lived briefly at Mission Beach and Potlatch, he spent over 25 years in the house on the beach at Priest Point, still on the Rez, but a separate community from the others.

Maggie

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Deckman
Date: 09 Oct 12 - 11:09 PM

Your father ... JOHN DWYER ... had the largest repertoire of anyone I knew. He was simply astounding. And yes ... I also still miss him. hugs to you Maggie ... bob

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Oct 12 - 11:45 PM

The good thing about handling your collection the way you did is that in the age of the Internet it is accessible to the public because you did the lion's share of the curating so they could upload it. In cases where a bunch of boxes of tapes or notes are handed over to a busy library archivist, boxes would sit on shelves until someone got around to it unless there was an endowment to hasten the work.

Maggie

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Deckman
Date: 09 Oct 12 - 11:53 PM

You got that right!

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Deckman
Date: 09 Oct 12 - 11:55 PM

Maggie ... please PM me your private e-mail ... I need to send you something ... bob

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Oct 12 - 12:15 AM

I emailed you.

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Joe Offer
Date: 10 Oct 12 - 12:27 AM

Click here for a very nice interview of Bob, with mini-concert. Good stuff!

-Joe-

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: GUEST,from Tokyo
Date: 10 Oct 12 - 04:31 AM

I saw this program at downtown tokyo.

thanks.


Kiyohide Kunizaki

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Deckman
Date: 14 Oct 12 - 08:30 AM

re-fresh

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Bill D
Date: 22 Oct 12 - 05:35 PM

refreshing because I have been listening to more Larry Kiefer... and also Charlie O'Hegarty. If I wasn't up to my clavicle in crafts season, I'd be playing them all!

It's an amazing bunch of music.

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Deckman
Date: 22 Oct 12 - 06:10 PM

Bill ... here's a tip that folks are really enjoying:

One the front page of the archive go to the article on the right side of the page labeled "How To Use the Collection." In the third para, click on the blue lettering that says: "clicking here."

This will bring you to all 141 tracks of music ... OVER SEVEN HOURS OF SONGS.

Click on the first song, and they will start playing, one after the other.

Pretty slick ... eh?   bob(deckman)nelson

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Bill D
Date: 22 Oct 12 - 07:57 PM

Bob.. I saw how that worked....I don't dare right now. I just pick a couple and paste in the address of one at a time.

After Dec. 7, I'll hit it hard... 3 craft shows facing me between now & then.

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: reggie miles
Date: 23 Oct 12 - 12:58 AM

Bob is the hardest working retired guy I know. I have no doubt that his retired years will be fraught with many more astounding accomplishments than one could easily recount. Go Bob go!

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Deckman
Date: 25 Oct 12 - 08:14 AM

I an refreshing this thread as I was just contacted by a fellow who had recorded Kai Moore back in 1969. He will be sending us what recordings he has of her.

This archive collection has only been out less than a month so it's not gotten a lot of publicity yet. But ... when I receive letters, as I did this morning, asking me for more information about someone in the collection, it makes my five years of work worthwhile. bob(deckman)nelson

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Charley Noble
Date: 25 Oct 12 - 10:03 AM

Bob-

I really love it when folks like you make the music you love accessible to the rest of us. Congratulations!

Still, I'd prefer to sit with you on your deck and swap songs. Maybe I'll get out to the Pacific Northwest again next year and we can do that!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Deckman
Date: 25 Oct 12 - 10:10 AM

Sounds like a plan Charley ... let's make it happen ... bob

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Don Firth
Date: 25 Oct 12 - 04:28 PM

I don't get out much these days, but maybe we can make it a threesome.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: The Bob Nelson Archive Now On-Line!!
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 11 Jul 14 - 02:00 PM

Collaborative archiving Out West: aspirations, frustrations, celebrations, a guest post at the LOC American Folklife Center blog by John Vallier, Head, Distributed Media at the University of Washington Libraries, includes this about Bob's collection (one of four projects briefly described) from the professional librarian/archivist's perspective:

Bob Nelson Collection

The Bob Nelson Collection contains hundreds of hours of regional folk music recordings collected by Bob Nelson, a Pacific Northwest folk music icon (and hootennanie host). Nelson was determined to digitize and describe a trove of analog reel-to-reel recordings on his own time and equipment. A community archivist to be celebrated and supported, for sure, but I had to get used to the fact that certain digitization and description standards were not going to be realized. Thankfully UW graduate student Lauren Work stepped in and worked with Nelson to assist with his Google spreadsheet, quality control his transfers, and make the recordings accessible online. Lesson learned? Collaborating with and building the capacity of community archivists is vital to the success of building rich local music collections. However, for the good of the overall project, professional archivists may from time to time need to sidestep, or at least postpone, the implementation of exacting archival standards, standards that could inadvertently kill the project as a whole.

And concludes:

Looking Back, Moving Forward

As I look back on these and other collaborative archiving ventures, I wonder what makes such projects ultimately successful. While each collaboration presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities, all projects benefit when they are grounded in mutual understanding. As librarians and archivists we need to make every effort to understand where our partners are coming from, what their expectations and capabilities are. By the same token, I believe we need to be sure that our partners understand our own expectations, capabilities, and limitations. This requires transparency, open communication, and looking beyond ourselves to our common goal: making a community's musical heritage accessible for generations to come. When we do that, frustrations fade and celebrations emerge.

~ Becky in Long Beach