I did an oral history training last week. One of the members, a retired
lady, commented on the recorded letters she and friends around the world
had regularly been sharing for some years. She's moved to digital, but
at home had letters on audiocassette and reel to reel. I recently copied
audiocassette letters from my father-in-law to my mother-in-law recorded
while he was in the Shah's Iran, and there are dictation tape letters in
the Archive here from 1968, "written" in California just before and then
just after Bobby Kennedy's assassination in Los Angeles, from which the
after letter was written.
Given the mention of "old papers" and "old photos" in the Letter in the
Attic description, I wondered how actively we are engaged in
recognising, collecting and preserving the audio letters and diaries
which are out there, as a national and local resource. And given the
rapid obsolescence of reel to reel, and the disappearing audiocassette,
how critical the time frame is.
Craig
--
Dr. Craig Fees, RMSA
Archivist
Planned Environment Therapy Trust Archive and Study Centre
Hon. Director, Institute for the History and Work of Therapeutic Environments (a research and study centre of the University of Birmingham)
Church Lane
Toddington near Cheltenham
Glos. GL54 5DQ
United Kingdom
01242 620125
http://www.pettarchiv.org.uk
Keep up to date with Archive News, Events and Recent Accessions: The Archive and study Centre blog at http://news.pettarchiv.org.uk/
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