[ARSCLIST] For the NRPB study: correlations between archives, collections, and resources

[Rob Bamberger <rbamberger@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

The conference in Seattle was great. I only regret not getting to meet
and talk at length with as many people as I would have liked. (OK, I
better tell the truth; I also regret not acting fast enough to get a
Buttersnipes CD from the band...but will get one as soon as I figure out
where on my shelves to establish a Punk/Girl Band section...maybe
between Lillie Delk Christian and Ina Ray Hutton?)

You might recall from a previous post that I'm the one who's been
tapped to write the NRPB study.  One of the most difficult elements in
the study will be to meaningfully characterize the population out there
of institutional archives and the nature of their holdings. To that end,
I'd like to solicit help from those who can, and who care to comment. 
I'd like to validate or overturn an impression that I came away with
from Seattle. Please excuse if this is a crude hypothesis, a statement
of the blatantly obvious or totally off-the-beam.   

Specifically: That there is little correlation between the size of an
institution, the size of its sound recording collection, and the staff
resources and budget dedicated to the collection's care or
preservation.  I spoke with a few individuals in Seattle where there
seemed no logical proportion, and have wondered since how widespread
this may be.  If this is generally true, it's an analytical point well
worth making in the study.   

Congressional staffers phoning analysts in the Congressional Research
Service with a question are often told that they're asking the wrong
question and it gets re-framed for them so the answer will be of some
use.  So, feel free to re-frame my question and make of me a sauced
gander. I can take it...will even welcome it.  Thanks for ploughing
through this.

Rob