As I understood the post, Mr. Weber was looking for a data archive...as it
turned out, on LP records...with the intention of copying data records on
phonorecords he (or his institution) holds, which would reduce the amount
of data entry needed to catalog the holdings. As I see it, much of the point
of collections, particularly institutional collections, is to keep an
adequate
and current catalog of the holdings; first, so that the collector
(individual
or institutional) knows exactly what they do (and don't) own, to avoid
duplicate acquisitions, and, second, because many users (in the case of
institutional collections) are looking for the information rather than the
actual sound contents of the recordings. The alternative..."oh, if we have
it it's somewhere in that stuff on those shelves over there..." seems an
illogical way to run a library (and possibly a personal collection?).