I would think it would depend on the content of the LPs. If it's the Duke Ellington/Frank Sinatra/KISS type of recording, I'd say that's Social History rather than Archival. But, if it's interviews, ethnographic recordings, etc., that do contain research material, then yes, they do properly belong in an Archives.

I would think just "paper based" is an unreasonable limitation on an Archive--what about oral histories or "archival" film footage? Photography was largely paper based through most of the 20th century, but didn't start out that way (ambrotypes, daguerreotypes, ferrotypes etc.), and has now largely gone digital--do you ignore non-paper photographic items (including film negatives and slides from the "paper photography" era)?

The distinction we use to determine what goes into our Museum collection and what goes into our Archives is based on the research value of the information contained in the object vs. it's role in documenting social history, rather than the material type.

Hope that helps; even with such a distinction in place at my institution, we still have "head-scratchers" as to whether some items are best housed with the Archives or the Museum collection (event posters, for example--or calendars with personal appointments and messages written into them!).

------------------------------------------------------------
Tim McShane, Assistant--Cultural History

Esplanade Museum
401 First Street SE
Medicine Hat, AB T1A 8W2
Tel: (403) 502-8587
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>>> Kimberly Richards <[log in to unmask]> 2/24/2010 10:44 AM >>>

I'm hoping someone might be able to help solve a problem. I am having a debate with our curator over the care of LPs, mostly which department is responsible for them. He is saying that because they might need to be accessed, the Archive/Library should store all LPs. I'm saying because they are not paper based, they need to be stored with other curatorial items. This is becomming a serious issue. Any advice would be most appreciated. Also, I'm looking for examples on policies regarding Audio/Visual Collections. Are there any sample policies available?

610.375.4375

--

Samuel Goldwyn - "I'm willing to admit that I may not always be right, but I am never wrong."

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