Re: [ARSCLIST] National Recording Preservation Board (NRPB) Study

[Tom Fine <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Probably because a lot of your 78s are very obscure or of no commercial value and/or little academic 
value? Or because the ones of commercial value have already been re-issued in a new format with good 
transfers made from metal parts? Have you approached any record companies with offers to share from 
your collection, with the interest being to get the disks of interest transferred and preserved (and 
maybe even make a little money)? Have you sought any grant money? Have you offered to donate the 
collection to a library or national archive in exchange for seed money to start transferring it? Do 
you publish and speak widely? I don't know of very many people for whom the world beats a path to 
their door over an obscure thing like a giant pile of 78's (there are exceptions but note that those 
guys have a ton of rare/non-available-elsewhere content vs a large pile of stuff that's elsewhere --  
and those guys tend to be pretty good self-promoters, with no negative connotation on my part 
because I think it's very good business sense). No offense, but marketing attracts attention and 
otherwise, talk is cheap.

Also, just because something was once recorded and once released commercially doesn't mean it has 
any lasting value (or is likely of any interest to all but a handful of collectors or fans of the 
obscure). I can think of piles of useless no-hit wonder garbage singles that used to be tossed into 
large boxes at the college radio station, free for the picking but never picked over and the boxes 
were tossed in the dumpster when they started to overflow. Last time I went back to visit, in the 
mid-90's, it had evolved into a box of no-hit wonder CD's. Then there's the lesson of "antiques 
roadshow" -- just cause something's old doesn't mean it has a cent of value. Sorry to be harsh but 
reality is reality.

-- Tom Fine


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "steven c" <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 4:53 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] National Recording Preservation Board (NRPB) Study


> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Tom Fine" <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > The uncommon, expensive and prized part of the equation is that rare
> > individual who is expert in the content, has the patience to wade through
> all the source material
> > and is organized and with clear enough communication skills to catalog and
> describe the archive so
> > it is accessible. Even more valuable is that person with a wide and deep
> historic knowledge so they
> > can not only list/catalog but provide context. I am not confident that
> there are enough such
> > individuals to keep track of the vast majority of recorded sounds, and
> very valuable/important
> > material will and does fall through the cracks.
> So...here I am! I have 40,000 (give/take) shellac 78's, dating from 1895
> to 1960...I'm expert enough in their content to be the creator of a
> standard reference work in the field...and the necessary knowledge in
> the area of digital database technology to "keep track" of my half-vast
> accumulation (lacking only the time required for by-hand entry of the
> data...?!).
>
> If I'm so furshugginer valuable...why isn't the world, or that part
> of it that dwells on the north shore of Lake Ontario, besieging my
> door with ever-increasing offers?! Then I could afford to fix the
> dommed cracks before I, my discs, Ecru (the cat) and/or all of the
> above fell through them!
> FEH!!
>
> Steven C. Barr
> (don't have a degree in Library Science, though...)