Ethics in archiving?

Subject: RE: Ethics in archiving?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jan 09 - 10:40 PM

I heard part of that and intended to go look for the link to listen to the entire thing. How timely, thanks for the link, Stew!

SRS

Subject: RE: Ethics in archiving?
From: GUEST,Jim Martin
Date: 22 Jan 09 - 10:51 PM

If archiving the Kennedy collection is such a big job, why don't they outsource some of it to somewhere like Sheffield University is it that does folk archive stuff?

Subject: RE: Ethics in archiving?
From: GUEST,Ralphie
Date: 22 Jan 09 - 11:33 PM

Hijack alert again. Sorry!

Jim. I could do some digging around for you. I retired two years ago, but, still have a few contacts.
Early 80's you say? Might get lucky. If you could provide as much info as possible, approx broadcast dates, network. (I'm assuming Radio here), particularly useful would be a producers name (Some producers kept safety copies of their progs, presumably not trusting the system to keep them safe!!).
By the 1980s, more care was being taken with recorded programmes.
Nowadays in a tapeless world. All programmes are stored direct to a Humungous server, that can be accessed by a producer (for editing purposes anywhere within the BBC.) God knows how many TerraBytes is stored. Talk about mindboggling!
So, get in touch mate!

And Bob. Yes you are right. It doesn't bear thinking about how much priceless stuff is lying around in peoples attics! If you think about it most people in the (western world) had some sort of personal recording device, Walkman etc from the late 60s onwards....there must be millions of hours of stuff out there!
So, In a way, more recordings are bound to survive today, than in previous generations. Not many people had wax cylinder recorders at the beginning of the 20th century did they?! Interesting topic though. Thanks for raising it
Cheers Ralph

Subject: RE: Ethics in archiving?
From: Deckman
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 12:06 AM

My brother I were talking tonight and he mentioned a WIRE recording I sent him in 1952, when he was stationed in the Philippines. He says he still has it, but I doubt I could even find a working "WIRE RECORDER" today. I think I remember mine was a "Bell and Howell." I was talking with another archivist the other day and he reminded me that the method we used to use to repair broken wires was to tie the pieces together in a square knot and then burn the knot with a cigarrete to smooth the edges! How's that for high tech. bob

Subject: RE: Ethics in archiving?
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 12:08 AM

Re. Peter Kennedy.

In answer to Jim Martin, I'm not sure who he means by 'they' (the BBC, perhaps?) but Sheffield University doesn't have the expertise or the resources to undertake digital archiving of the materials in its own possession, let alone anybody else's. As Jim Carroll has said, there are already digital copies of the Kennedy sound archive, though these were made from acetate copies rather than from the original tapes. The fate (and perhaps location) of the tapes themselves was unclear last I heard, but that was before Kennedy died.

So far as current ownership of the Kennedy materials is concerned, CAMSCO has copies of the Kennedy compilations as edited and issued by him on cassette and, later, CD, and is continuing, for the time being, to sell CDR copies of these under license. As agreed with Kennedy, these are 'as is' and have not been re-mastered. Kennedy's copies of the original recordings are now the property of Topic Records; they plan to issue a series of selections from those, suitably re-mastered, on the lines of the Voice of the People set. My understanding is that the BBC has no problem with this. The material they don't include will then be available under license to CAMSCO. This presumably applies only to the recordings made by Kennedy himself, not to those made by others as part of the BBC project, though he also had copies of those and included material from them on his own compilations. Some of the latter material (recordings made in Hampshire by Bob Copper, for example) has already featured in the Voice of the People set.

This, at least, is what I understand to be the present situation. Dick Greenhaus and Fred McCormick know a lot more about it than I do.

Subject: RE: Ethics in archiving?
From: Fred McCormick
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 06:59 AM

Malcolm,

I think you've pretty well covered it, or my understanding of it anyway. Just to add that the new CDs will likewise be called Voice of the People. Also, if I've got it correct, I think they're going to be issued as several seperate multi disc compilations, rather than, as with the original VOTPs, which of course were sold as stand alones.   

BTW., As far as I know and am pretty certain, the original tapes were wiped and reused after the recordings were transferred to shellac. Sounds atrocious I know. But that was pretty standard archiving practice in those days, the cost of tape being horrendous.

BTW also, I'm currently working my way through the pile of Folktrax cassettes which were given to me as part of Keith Summers' record collection. To describe them as pluperfect awful is to use the understatment of the century. Lousy sound, unreadable photocopied non-existant notes, and mix and match splicing like there's no tomorrow. On one cassette, a single track has been collated from 22 splices of 10 different recordings.

And of course, in most cases there's no indication as to who the collector was, and buggar all information on the people who gave him the recordings.

Also, like cheap cassettes everywhere, these things drag and skew on the slightest provocation. You can get some very startling noises when that happens. EG., a cassette of West African guitarists comes to mind. It plays fine on side 1. Turn it over and the guitar becomes intermittantly inaudible. In its place I can hear, quite distinctly, a concertina playing a morris dance tune!

Roll on the new VOTPs - and the return of sanity.

Subject: RE: Ethics in archiving?
From: GUEST,Hootenanny
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 07:50 AM

For the benefit of those folks who are unaware of some collector/archivists who had a similar problem can I refer you to another posting on this forum under Field Recorders Collective.
These guys do a great job with their material.

Hoot

Subject: RE: Ethics in archiving?
From: Deckman
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 07:51 AM

A hundred years ago, when I was younger, I used to live in the Santa Cruz mountains of California. While there I made a baby and I taught him to walk in "Cowell State Park." This was a precious place of giant redwood trees, many animals and much piece and quiet. Every weekend morning he and I explored the park and played and played and played.

I re-visted the park in 1972 (when I was a little older) and decided to walk the familiar trail my son and I enjoyed. This time I took along a tape recorder and recorded the sounds I heard. When I play the tape today, I hear the water in the creek fading away as the trail moved away from the creek bed, I hear many birdses, I hear the wind in the trees, but most of all, I hear the silence and peacefullness of that magical place.

To me, this is also part of recording, or documenting, those things that have so influenced us. bob(Deckman)Nelson

Subject: RE: Ethics in archiving?
From: GUEST,BanjoRay
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 10:16 AM

Why don't you get in touch with Ray Alden and join the Field Recorders Collective? They've been doing this for years - collecting recordings of the old musicians, at first for their own pleasure, but increasingly for the benefit of posterity. The recordings end up with the public and any profits go to surviving family members. There's currently a thread discussing and NPR recording of a program about them.
Ray

Subject: RE: Ethics in archiving?
From: Deckman
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 10:28 AM

Thanks ... I'll look into it. bob

Subject: RE: Ethics in archiving?
From: Deckman
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 10:33 AM

It seems their website is down right now ... I'll keep looking for it. Bob

Subject: RE: Ethics in archiving?
From: BanjoRay
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 08:16 PM

I can PM you Ray Alden's email address if you like, Bob
Ray

Subject: RE: Ethics in archiving?
From: Deckman
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 08:49 PM

Thanx muchly ... I'd appreciate that. bob

Subject: RE: Ethics in archiving?
From: BanjoRay
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 09:19 PM

Ray Alden's address now sent.
Ray