>Is anyone else wrestling with 20th century collecting, more
>specifically, collecting three dimensional and archival materials from
>the past twenty five years.  How do any of you decide what to collect on
>a county or local level without dramatically increasing the size of your
>collections?

I don't wrestle with it, I just do it.  We have 20th c. collections, and I
am actively collecting things which have a significant relationship to
social, economic, and political life of my geographic collection area, as
detailed in my statement of collecting parameters.  They are objects from
well known and not so well known personalities.  For instance, Lubbock has
had a semi-pro baseball team for three years.  Back then I jumped in and
began collecting memorabilia from the team, both souvenirs and team
equipment.  Documenting the development of a local sports team with
collections, whether school or professional, is a good place to start.
Significance must be defined by the individual institution, *always* based
on its mission and collecting policy.

HBC

*****************************************
Henry B. Crawford        Curator of History
[log in to unmask]     Museum of Texas Tech University
806/742-2442           Box 43191
FAX 742-1136             Lubbock, TX  79409-3191
               WEBSITE: http://www.ttu.edu/~museum
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