--- On Tue, 5/18/10, Hooyenga, Susan Marie <[log in to unmask]> wrote:


From: Hooyenga, Susan Marie <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Glass Records
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 10:19 AM


Yes, MLS means Master of Library Science.  And it's true that very few library/archival programs provide extensive training in audio preservation.  They focus on text, and rightly so, because that's what the vast majority of librarians and archivists work with.  Very few of us are lucky enough to work with sound recordings.

I think it is informative to read David Seubert's well-considered  statement in the ARSC newsletter. He points out, as I have for years, at the lack of interest in audio on the part of libraries. Central to all of this is the lack of any regularized funding for audio preservation. Grants are not the answer.
 
Also, here at the University of Texas, our Preservation School was dissolved, and while a few classes in preservation remain, whatever specialization there was in preservation has been abandoned. In some ways the lack of serious training in preservation makes sense...if libraries are not interested in preservation, why train students in that discipline? As I pointed out in one of my articles, about 3% of the total budgets of the member libraries of the Association of Research Libraries is spent on preservation, with the bulk of that going to things like the binding of serials...assuming libraries are still getting paper copies...not even considering the implications of just getting access to publications electronically=not owning your own copy. Similarly, it is likely that many music libraries will cease buying CDs in the not too distant future.
 
Further, as I would assume all of us would agree, you can't teach audio preservation in two 3-hour courses, which is what I tried to do for several years. You can probably teach audio preservation "appreciation" in that length of time.
 
As all of us on this list know, depending on the nature of what needs to be preserved, audio preservation can require a broad range of knowledge; an understanding of the digital and analog technologies, acoustics, chemistry, etc. to knowledge of discography and, in the case of music recordings, music training. Interestingly, considering the incredible experience many on this list have, I would be amazed if many libraries would consider hiring any of you who are practitioners. Perhaps Library of Congress being the one exception to that perspective.
 
As I review the course offerings at our library school, the emphasis is on text that is "born digital."
 
 
Karl (who thinks that much of the future of libraries can be found in the past)