[BC] Destroying history

[Xen Scott]

At 01:07 PM 02/22/2006 -0500, Donna Halper wrote:

>Don't get me started.  When I was doing the history for WBZ in Boston's 
>75th anniversary, I was shocked and chagrined at how little had been 
>saved-- only about 2 boxes worth.  I was told off the record that much of 
>it was tossed out because "it was taking up too much space."  Grrrr.

It may also be that stations no longer know what they have.  My experience
has been that it's often more difficult to maintain a directory list of
archival stuff than maintaining the archival stuff itself.  It's the list
of contents that seems to get lost first.  Then rather than recreate a list
of what's in the archive, so as to know it's value, it's easier to justify
getting rid of something that appears to be just used tape stock or obsolete
paperwork.

There is also the problem of the perishability of magnetic tape stock or
printed material.  At some point, it may be extremely difficult to recover
the information.  Some people may not want to expend the effort to deal
with oxide binder breakdown or faded newsprint.

Then there's format obsolescence such as documents in obscure file formats or
open reel audio tape recorded at uncommon speeds and/or track widths.  If you
loose the equipment needed to play the tape or read the file, the information
is lost.

Destroying history is easy.  Preserving it, indexing it, and copying it
to modern technology takes work.

Xen Scott