Poster Session #2
Presentation Type
Poster
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Dr. Cynthia R. Auge
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Anthropology
Abstract / Artist's Statement
Since 1959, the University of Montana Anthropological Collection Facility (UMACF) has housed an extensive ethnomusicology collection, donated by cultural anthropologist Alan P. Merriam (1923-1980). My Senior Honors Research Project was to inventory the collection of 2,300 78 RPM records, as well as conduct historical background research. My project was also for the purpose of writing grants which would be used to purchase materials that would aid in the preservation, digitization, and cataloging of the collection. The inventory was conducted through examining each item and recording the pertinent information from each disk into an Excel spreadsheet. This information allows the correlation of the collection by various types of information, e.g., language, recording company, instruments. The importance of this work is to preserve the collection, and to organize it in a usable form. It would be a significant loss to the discipline of anthropology were these recordings to be allowed to deteriorate beyond the point of preservation. It would also be disrespectful to the magnanimity of a foremost scholar in the field of ethnomusicology if his donation was not preserved and properly curated for the use of the students and faculty of the University.
Category
Social Sciences
Ethnomusicology Collection at the University of Montana’s Anthropological Collections Facility (UMACF)
UC South Ballroom
Since 1959, the University of Montana Anthropological Collection Facility (UMACF) has housed an extensive ethnomusicology collection, donated by cultural anthropologist Alan P. Merriam (1923-1980). My Senior Honors Research Project was to inventory the collection of 2,300 78 RPM records, as well as conduct historical background research. My project was also for the purpose of writing grants which would be used to purchase materials that would aid in the preservation, digitization, and cataloging of the collection. The inventory was conducted through examining each item and recording the pertinent information from each disk into an Excel spreadsheet. This information allows the correlation of the collection by various types of information, e.g., language, recording company, instruments. The importance of this work is to preserve the collection, and to organize it in a usable form. It would be a significant loss to the discipline of anthropology were these recordings to be allowed to deteriorate beyond the point of preservation. It would also be disrespectful to the magnanimity of a foremost scholar in the field of ethnomusicology if his donation was not preserved and properly curated for the use of the students and faculty of the University.