How about some USB turntables to play some of those wonderful old LP’s in Special Collections? They are reasonably cheap, easy to transport and very functional.
From Phil Gullion
How about some USB turntables to play some of those wonderful old LP’s in Special Collections? They are reasonably cheap, easy to transport and very functional.
From Phil Gullion
Interesting idea! We’ll forward this to Special Collections for a response.
We have discussed this issue in Special Collections since moving to the new Library in 2004. Listening/viewing stations are a major concern to us, not only because of the LP Collection, which is slated to be moved from Special Collections sometime in the near future, but because we have more than 2500 audio and video recordings in the College Archives that are inaccessible to patrons because we don’t have (a) the equipment, (b) the staffing, and (c) ths space to add listening stations. There are solutions to this challenge, but they are beyond our ability within Special Collections to resolve alone.
Thanks for your quick response, Andy! This sounds like a challenging project. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you find a solution!
The College’s LP collection was moved to Special Collections on a temporary basis to allow for assessment of the collection prior to being deaccessioned. The results of that survey have determined that something less than 10% of the collection will be retained and comprise LPs that have direct relevance to Middlebury College, or holdings unique to the college (i.e., not available elsewhere), or have been determined by Middlebury faculty to have relevance to the curriculum. After the remainder of the collection has been deaccessioned, these LPs will probably remain in Special Collections and plans are underway to set up a listening space for these rare items (as well as the College’s media archives) at that time.
As of October 2013 the LP collection is once again shelved behind the Circulation Desk with music CDs. There is a turntable in media carrel 23 near the Research Desk for listening to LPs. Special Collections also now has a listening/viewing station for researchers who are using media in the College Archives.