All I know is what I read in my mail from the Dirctor of Collection Management Services: "We have not collected recordings, and unfortunately we do not plan to do so." Alas, I guess we have another case of "Define _____" ....... in this case "Recordings" :)) It appears from Jay's EMail, that indeed some folks in the Library of Virginia are running an extensive (rogue?) program of collecting Virginia audio media :)) Seriously, such collection is exactly what I had hoped was going on out there. The next step will be to make the information available in a data base to facilitate retrieval of the fact a recording exists, regardless of where it is. And of course the next step beyond that is to put up short excerpts as MP3 files. Having just done a couple myself, 17 seconds = about 150KB, which is acceptable even to those of us in the boonies whose only access to 21st century Internet is 22KB dial up. Randy Cabell ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gregg Kimball" <[log in to unmask]> To: "Randy Cabell" <[log in to unmask]>; <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2004 3:01 PM Subject: RE: The musical sounds of Virginia. > > Dear Randy and Va-Histers, > > Jay Gaidmore, the Library of Virginia's Private Papers Program Manager, > is not on the list but I asked him if you would respond to Randy's post > regarding our audio collections. He has been working on our WRVA > records, a project that is described below, and I thought he could shed > some light on what we collect and why. His response is appended. > > Gregg > > Gregg D. Kimball > Director of Publications > and Educational Services > Library of Virginia > 804/692-3722 > [log in to unmask] > > ______________________________________________________ > > Dear Mr. Cabell, > > I read your post with great interest. The Library of Virginia does > selectively collect audio and moving image materials, such as film and > video, especially those of a unique nature and format not available > commercially or duplicated at other institutions. The material also has > to relate to Virginia. Most of the time, these audio and moving image > materials are part of a larger collection of papers or records. If > another institution has taken the time and spent the money to preserve > the same sound recording or moving image, it is not in our best > interests to duplicate these efforts. Indeed, no one institution could > possibly collect and preserve the full range of such materials and each > has a role to play. State institutions such as the Blue Ridge Institute > and Museum at Ferrum College and regional and national collections such > as the Southern Folklife Collection at UNC Chapel Hill and the Library > of Congress have long collected Virginia material with specific goals > and collection parameters in mind. There are many others, of course. > > It is very important that not only Virginia's musical heritage is > preserved, but sound recordings in general are preserved. The voices of > past Governors, politicians, entertainers, and recordings of events are > all in danger of being lost. > > Here at the Library of Virginia we have taken one small step in > preserving the recorded sound heritage of Virginia. With a grant from > the NHPRC, we have been able to preserve sound recordings of WRVA radio > from 1929-1995. Obsolete and deteriorating recordings were converted to > CD and are know available for use at our Library. These sound > recordings include music from the Old Dominion Barn Dance, the Silver > Star Quartet, and the Sunshine Hour. We have also preserved speeches by > Governors James H. Price, William Tuck, Thomas B. Stanley, J. Lindsay > Almond, Albertis Harrison, and Mills E. Godwin, and Senators Carter > Glass, A. Willis Robertson, and Harry F. Byrd. News coverage of > tornadoes, hurricanes, elections, the General Assembly, and Massive > Resistance have also been preserved. > > To give you an idea of the breadth of the collection, we also have a > recording of interview WRVA conducted with Carson T. Overstreet in > August 1962 concerning the defection of his foster son, James Dresnock, > to North Korea. With an upcoming documentary in the works, Dresnock has > been receiving a lot of news lately. > > Each of these recordings have been cataloged individually in our > Archives and Manuscript Catalog at http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwehave/ > . A subject or author search for WRVA will return catalog records for > over 600 recordings. A complete listing of the WRVA sound recordings, > along with other records of the station, can be found at > http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaead/published/lva/vivadoc.pl?file=vi0056 > 5.xml through the Virginia Heritage Database, a union database of > finding aids of archival and manuscript collections in special > collections and archives throughout Virginia. > > One of the most important things we learned about this project is how > expensive it is to preserve sound recordings. Equipment is expensive > and slowly becoming difficult to find. Also, while technology enables > us to convert these analog recordings to digital, it is a time-consuming > and laborious process. We are setting up a small sound laboratory here > at the Library and should be able to convert small numbers of > recordings. But even this laboratory could not accommodate the number > of records WRVA donated to us. We needed a grant and an outside vendor > to help. > > Sincerely, Jay > > ______________________________ > Jay Gaidmore > Private Papers Program Manager > The Library of Virginia > 800 E. Broad St. > Richmond, Virginia 23219-8000 > [log in to unmask] > Voice (804) 692-3629 > Fax (804) 692-3603 > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Randy Cabell [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2004 7:31 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: The musical sounds of Virginia. > > > A couple of years ago when I was adding photos and sound clips to the > family genealogy file, I realized the complete lack of sound. I have a > photo from 1863 of my GGrandfather, Capt Hugh McGure, CSA, and of course > lots of photos of folks since then. But I do not even have a recording > of the voices of my Father or Mother! > > Consequently, when I read a very nice response from Edward Campbell @ > the Library of Virginia about them NOT having any recordings of Virginia > Music, it occurred what a terrible void this is. I appreciate budget > constraints, limited resources, and I am not beating on the LOF. On the > other hand, I find it disheartning that there is apparently no place I > can go and 'listen through' Virginia musicians like Patsy Cline, the > wealth of folk singers from the Bristol area, Virginia brass bands, et > al. > > Does anybody know of any Virginia instutions that have committed to > preserve the audio part of our Virginia musical heritage? > > Randy Cabell > Band of the 19th Virginia Heavy Arty Bn > > > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the > instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html