Beyond the current issues, I have to say that the subject of Archives has
come up in a number of forums, not just this one. Archival space is at a
premium, and as I said in one of my posts, most libraries and museums will
not accept archives without a stipend that will be used to maintain that
archive. They will also not accept any conditions. The latter is true of
the Colorado Railroad Museum (as one example). If you donate something,
you can not say: I want this article to be used for "X" - they decide, and
if they decide they don't think that article deserves to be in "X" (or if
they already have that article) they will put it in the auction or
otherwise sell it as they see fit. This is true of most libraries and
museums today.
Once you *do* find archival space, the means of access is by no means
assumptive - you can not assume that you will have access to your own
archives. Staffing is just not available for such things. It may require
a reservation system.
This has been discussed at some length by the RL&HS and other organizations
and is a continued hot topic. On the one hand, the typical
railroad-dedicated HS is bound to attempt to preserve the legacy of the
railroad, and that comes in the form of paper and hardware. On the other
hand, that requires storage, and often that means members will need access
for research. It isn't an easy thing to achieve. Just as an example, look
at the Illinois Railway Museum. They have a large collection of Pullman
records, that is not easily viewable or researched. Look at the Colorado
Railroad Museum - they have "stuff" in their box cars that they really
don't know WHAT it is. Look at the ICC documents in Denver that have sat
in containers for years, because there is no space and no manpower to store
and sort and catalog them. And this is not criticism of these
institutions, it is simply a hard reality. Archives are hard work,
expensive to maintain and expensive to allow access to.
The best bet for the BRHS is to have some one (s) volunteer to start
looking at grant applications. The problem is multi-fold. You MIGHT find a
nice building that used to be a former BRHS station. But do you have the
people to staff it? Do you have the equipment to make it archival
safe? Do you have the equipment to make archival copies and then safe
off-site storage facility for either the impossible to replace originals or
the copies? Do you have the people to make those copies? Do you have the
money to make the over-sized and/or color copies? Do you have to money to
make photographic, video, sound and film archival copies? The people to do
so? Archives of any sort if a terrific undertaking, it is not just storing
stuff i someone's basement - or on shelves in the local depot that's not
seen a train in 40 years.
At 03:36 PM 12/8/2004, you wrote:
>
>My understanding from the meet I attend last year in Minneapolis they are
>trying to find a central place for the BRHS Archives.
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