Re: [ARSCLIST] Discographical files

["Steven C. Barr(x)" <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Matthew Snyder" <msnyder@xxxxxxxx>
> Steven Barr wrote:
> >Interesting...especially given our current discussion of archives and
> >archiving! I wonder how they arrived at "46 linear feet"...I presume it
> >took 46 feet of shelf space. I've never measured the space (most of my
> >discographic works are not actuallly "shelved" in a library sense of
> >that term...)?
> 
> Archivists measure collections by the linear footage of shelf space that 
> the boxes that contain the collection take up. It can be a deceptive 
> measurement in terms of number of containers, because if the boxes are 
> stacked then the amount of linear footage taken up by the collection 
> decreases accordingly. If it were up to me I'd switch the standard to 
> cubic feet in order to give a sense of the true size of the collection, 
> but linear footage is useful for tracking available storage space, which, 
> granted, is very important.
> 
> >> Also noted that a large part of their holdings are "typed lists of..."
> and I wonder if these were typed by their staff...or typed by collectors
> whose "estates" they managed to obtain. 
> 
> The latter, for sure.
> 
1) I have (IIRC) 7 milk boxes full of discographic documents/volumes...
and about 320 milk boxes of 78rpm records. If we assume a 13" size for
a typical milk box (or about 1.08 feet...), that gives me 7.56 lineal
feet of discographic documentation (probably an underestimate, since
regularly used volumes are kept at hand, and record company catalogs
kept in their own set of shelves...!) and 346-2/3 lineal feet of
records...!

2) One hopes that these "typed lists" can/will be scanned and placed
on a web site...one more step toward my dream of an "ultimate 78-related
discographic database!"

Steven C. Barr