Re: [ARSCLIST] Discographical files

[Matthew Snyder <msnyder@xxxxxxxx>]

Steven Barr wrote:

>Interesting...especially given our current discussion of archives and
>archiving! I wonder how they arrived at "46 linear feet"...I presume it
>took 46 feet of shelf space. I've never measured the space (most of my
>discographic works are not actuallly "shelved" in a library sense of
>that term...)?

Archivists measure collections by the linear footage of shelf space that 
the boxes that contain the collection take up. It can be a deceptive 
measurement in terms of number of containers, because if the boxes are 
stacked then the amount of linear footage taken up by the collection 
decreases accordingly. If it were up to me I'd switch the standard to 
cubic feet in order to give a sense of the true size of the collection, 
but linear footage is useful for tracking available storage space, which, 
granted, is very important.

>> Also noted that a large part of their holdings are "typed lists of..."
and I wonder if these were typed by their staff...or typed by collectors
whose "estates" they managed to obtain. 

The latter, for sure.

Matt Snyder
Music Archivist
Wilson Processing Project
The New York Public Library