I'm not sure "Balkan Music" doesn't belong with country. Dick Spottswood has demonstrated many times how the roots of country include a few which infused middle-european dance musics. An experienced subject specialist, even if hired as a consultant, must have input to collecting mission statements. Steve Smolian ----- Original Message ----- From: "Matthew Snyder" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2007 9:12 AM Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] What to Keep and Why....was now why preserve > Don Andes wrote: > >>P.S. I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel here so if someone knows of a >>accepted method that libraries/archives are currently using please let >>me know. > > In addition to Don's list of criteria I would add that if we're talking > about a collecting research library or archive, a very important filtering > device for what to collect/save is what most fits your mission statement, > i.e. what areas your institution collects in and regards as most important > to its mission. This kind of falls under Don's "personal taste" category, > but it's more strongly-defined. So if your area of collection is American > country music of the mid twentieth century, as opposed to Balkan music or > American oral histories of the 1970s, you would err on the side of > preserving those items in your collection that most fit that bill. This is > why mission statements are so important: they make the archivist's job > that much easier and let him or her off the hook in many cases. > > Matt Snyder > Music Archivist > Wilson Processing Project > The New York Public Library > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.1/822 - Release Date: 5/28/2007 > 11:40 AM > >