Re: [ARSCLIST] Einstürzende Neubauten

[Dave Lewis <dlewis@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bill,

Thanks for the update; the last time we discussed it -- admittedly a long time ago -- I recall that much of the collection was inaccessible as it was discovered that "the records are hurting the building." Also I recall that at one point you were on a higher floor, but I may be mis-remembering. Sorry for renaming your facility, though from the revamped BGSU website it does appear that there has been some subtle redistribution of designations I wasn't aware of -- makes me wonder if the citation of BGSU in my Rodeheaver ARSC article is correct.

Of course, in order to access the 78 collection I guess I'd have to make arrangements to meet with you, or with a staffer, in Perrysburg; closer to me ironically, but not as convenient for you.

Some more details about the Cologne archive are coming to light; the building may have been undermined by the digging of a tunnel nearby, and two of the three victims found were people who lived in adjoining buildings that were taken down by the impact of the collapse. 

Poured concrete was very popular in the 1970s for university buildings because they looked modern, and were cheap. There are problems, though, in that they are very heavy and sometimes the ground on which they are built is not strong enough to hold the building up -- that's the problem with the tower at the University of Cincinnati. Likewise the internal mesh of rebar and reinforcement has proven faulty in some cases; we saw that in the failure of part of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in 1989. With all the problems recorded sound archivists have right now, it may seem a minor issue that the buildings that some of us are in might ultimately destroy our collections, and even kill us. But I'm suggesting that it should not be regarded as a minor concern, and that's why I brought it up here.

I chose the title Einstürzende Neubauten for the thread given the irony of its meaning and the fact that the Cologne Archive was in Germany. And yes, I do have a unique recording of them -- a 1986 or '87 tape of a very irritated Blixa Bargeld doing an ID for my "Art Damage" radio program on WAIF-FM. He never did get the copy right, so we didn't use it. I have owned, and in some cases still own, many of the records mentioned in this thread.

Uncle Dave Lewis
Ann Arbor, MI   

-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List [mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bill Schurk
Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 6:26 PM
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Einstürzende Neubauten

Contrary to what Dave Lewis says, the Music Library and Sound Recordings Archives, located in the William T. Jerome Library, in Bowling Green Ohio, still is located on the third floor of that building and has since its inception in 1967. I have been the Sound Recordings Archivist there for all of those years.    The Center for Popular Music is located at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn. but it is in no way associated with us here at BGSU.  We have our main collection on the third floor, the uncataloged LP's, all of the 45's, and our huge biography and portrait files  located on the first floor, and the 78-rpm collection, the tape archives, and transcription discs are located in our remote storage building ( the Northwest Ohio Regional Book Depository) about 15 miles north of campus in Perrysburg. The depository which we use is one of a number that are operated in the state of Ohio and we share ours with University of Toledo
 and the Medical College of Ohio.

Till the vinyl is finyl.





Bill Schurk, Professor

Sound Recordings Archivist 

William T. Jerome Library

Music Library and Sound Recordings Archives

Bowling Green
 State University

Bowling Green,
 OH   43403-0170

USA

 

Phone  419.372.2308

Fax      419.372.2499

 

Email: 
wschurk@xxxxxxxx



--- On Tue, 3/3/09, Dave Lewis <dlewis@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: Dave Lewis <dlewis@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Einstürzende Neubauten
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tuesday, March 3, 2009, 2:23 PM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090303/ap_on_re_eu/eu_germany_building_collapse

The sub-standard building practices of the 1970s are coming back to haunt us,
and unfortunately a fair number of such structures are used to house archival
materials, as this one was. 

While I'm not Bill Schurk, and apologize for sticking my neck out in
speaking out about what is not my problem, a few years ago the Center for
Popular Music at BGSU was moved out of its 1970s poured concrete building --
where the materials were organized and well cared for -- and placed in deep
storage elsewhere on campus. Last I heard it was inaccessible. There is another
poured concrete structure at the University of Cincinnati -- thankfully one that
does not hold an archive -- that will need to be torn down at some point, as it
is both sinking and tipping over.

Of course, none of us in the 1970s knew that the poured concrete fad would
primarily result in buildings that would turn out to be non-functional in the
long term. As this story unfolds, the effect on archives of all kinds --
including sound recordings -- will be better known. If your archive is in a
1970s university building, you might need to develop a good "Plan B"
in order to avoid the fate of the Center for Popular Music. And if that facility
has reopened, I sure would like to know about it.

Uncle Dave Lewis
Ann Arbor, MI