In a message dated 6/21/04 4:38:51 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes:
All of the tapes were made by and for the museum.
Maybe its because most of my experience has been as an archivist, but it sure sounds like the institution's archival material to me.
I know there are may oral historians who privately do research and these interviews are the private property of the historian. But If these were made with the museum's staff time and the museum's resources, then they are the museum's property, generated as a result of its own programming or whatever. They could not be a donation unless someone donated or sold them to the museum, something not possible if the tapes are already the museum's property.
Archival records are those documents - in whatever format - generated by an institution in the course of its own business or activity. What often confused people is that many consider historical manuscripts "archival" material because they often carry similar restrictions on use and handling. The materials were generated/created under different circustances and therein lies the distinction.
Hope this helps some,
and again, this is just an archivist's perspective,
Holly Mills
Amherst, Virginia
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