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Re: [ARSCLIST] Mass Digitization
Well, obviously a corporate owner of archival content has a fiduciary responsibility to its
shareowners to responsibly preserve anything of present or potential market value. Beyond that it
gets tougher. I think the grant marketplace can be an effective arbitor of value. If you can't get a
grant to preserve it, it's probably not worth preserving (although it also could be inept grant
applying). I certainly don't pretent to be a selector. I transfer and thus set in motion
preservation of whatever comes through my studio with US dollars behind it. Deciding what comes in
the door is up to others. Life being unfair and all, the rich guy can preserve his kids' awful piano
recitals forever but some obscure metal part of some obscure but excellent/ground-breaking mid-30's
country or blues band ends up in the landfill when the last member's last offspring dies in their
sleep and the county auctioneer doesn't know what that metal "record" in the attic is. Tis been ever
thus.
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steven Smolian" <smolians@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2007 7:05 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Mass Digitization
Not of much value to who?
That, it seems, is the underlying issue.
Steve Smolian