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From: "Karl Miller" <[log in to unmask]>
> --- On Thu, 4/15/10, Mark Durenberger <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
<snip>
> It also seems to me that we are living in a time when many ageing baby 
> boomers will begin divesting themselves of their collections. Younger 
> generations seem to have less interest in acquiring "objects." Hence, I 
> believe that potentially, libraries and archives are about to see the last 
> significant opportunity to acquire "objects."
>
>>From my perspective, unless attitudes in libraries change, a substantive 
>>portion of our cultural and intellectual history will be lost.
>
This is SUBSTANTIALLY true of us 78 collectors! I would guess (especially 
after a discussion on
78-L last year...!) that the average age of 78 collectors is somewhere in 
their 70's; the result
will be that A LOT of their collections will wind up (A) in landfill 
sites...(B) being sold via either
digital or physical auctions...or, (C) donated to institutions who may or 
may NOT want them...?!

What SHOULD be done (IMHO) is a dedicated effort to digitize all (or as 
close as possible
to "all"...?!) known 78 rpm phonorecords; the result could be either posted 
to the INTERNET,
made available on digital discs (CD/DVD)...or possibly both...?!

Steven C. Barr