If you have ever worked with a collection of recordings produced by a music school, you may know about the problem of repetitive additions. School records faculty performance, gives copy to faculty and copy to library, faculty retires, donates copy to library, library has two copies. Rinse and Repeat.

Flash forward 30 years, when at least 30% of the library’s copies still aren’t cataloged. And there aren’t any identifying marks on the faculty copy that give you a clue where to look in the un-cataloged collection. What a twist!

I’m working through about 10 collections just like that. Now, add in all of the copies of other materials that the library made for the faculty (or they made for themselves) of commercial content. And the access copies made by libraries to protect their pristine items. And then add in the recordings made illicitly by recorders who would sit in the audience of a performance strapped like spies. And the recorders that made copies of their illicit recordings. And the members of recording clubs that made copies of commercial recordings to share with each other.

Have I said yet that most of these were made by people with very poor handwriting? Who thought their shorthand clearly explained exactly what was recorded?

So what to do when you don’t know what you have in the collection, but you know you don’t want to keep all of it, and your digital library staff needs it ASAP for the Big Project?

I don’t know, do you? No, seriously, I’m asking.

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No words or images reflect the opinions or viewpoints of my current, former, or future employers and educational institutions. They are from my own viewpoint.