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PART A - ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
PART A - ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
1.1 Name of documentary heritage
Danish Sound History Collections:
a) the Anker Kirkeby Collection
b) the Ruben Collection
c) historical sound equipment
1.2 Country: Denmark
1.3 State, province or region
1.4 Address
Universitetsparken
DK-8000 Århus C, Denmark
1.5 Name of organization or institution (if appropriate)
State and University Library
2.1 Owner (name and contact details)
State and University Library (Ministry of Culture)
Director: Niels Mark
Universitetsparken
DK-8000 Århus C
2.2 Custodian (name and contact details)
Eva Fønss-Jørgensen
Head
Media Department
above address,
Tel +45 8946 2051
fax +45 8946 2050
e-mail efj@kumsb.dk
2.3 Legal status
a) category of ownership (e.g. public, corporate or private): Public
b) Details of legal and administrative provisions for the preservation of the documentary heritage: Managed by the State and University Library
c) Accessibility
The Anker Kirkeby Collection is available on the premises. Selected recordings are available on the Web page "Dansk lydhistorie" [Danish Sound History] on http://www.sb.aau.dk/dlh/
The Ruben Collection is presently unavailable. Preservation copies and copies for use have not yet been made.
d) Copyright status
Most of the recordings are in public domain
2.4 Responsible administration
a) details should be given of the mechanism or organization already established, or to be established, to ensure the proper management of the document heritage
The Danish Sound History Collection is an integrated part of the State Media Archive and is stored under safe and stable environmental conditions. The management, including preservation, is undertaken by the State and University Library. Preservation plans (i.e. digitization of the collection) are under preparation.
3.1 Description and inventory
Voices (statements, comments, recitations) of well-known Danish men and women of earlier times. The core of the Anker Kirkeby Collection consists of app. 100 acetates from 1913 the Ruben Collection of app. 80 wax cylinders recorded in the 1890s, belonging to the oldest sound recordings of the world. The historical collection of equipment consists of phonographs, acoustic and electric gramophones, tape recorders and other playback equipment.
3.2 Bibliographic/Registration details
The Anker Kirkeby Collection is catalogued in the State and University Library's general on-line catalogue (SOL) based on the Danish adaptation of the MARC-format. There is free network access to the on-line catalogue. The Ruben Collection is registered in a printed catalogue (list). Part of the equipment collection is registered in a printed catalogue.
3.3 Visual documentation, if appropriate (for example, photographs or a video of the documentary heritage)
Enclosed:
a) Photo of phonograph. Type: Puck/Loreley, Germany, 1906
b) Photo of gramophone. Type: EMG Mark Xb. England, 1933
c) R-Dat cassette with sound recording of the proclamation speech of King Christian X, 1912. The recording is made by Anker Kirkeby in 1913. Copy of the text is enclosed.
(all documents can be made available via links to the Web page of the State and University Library)
3.4 History
The Anker Kirkeby Collection was founded in 1913 by the Danish journalist Anker Kirkeby, who recorded the voices of famous persons (artists, politicians, scientists). Later on, recordings of daily life and special events were added. The collection became the foundation of the National Record Library and was first housed by the Royal Library in Copenhagen. From 1942 to 1989 the collection was placed under the National Museum, where - since 1956 - a comprehensive retrospective acquisition programme was carried out in order to rescue the cultural heritage in terms of Danish sound recordings. In 1989 the National Record Library was moved to the State and University Library in Aarhus and became part of the State Media Archive. The Ruben Collection was privately owned until 1990, where it was purchased by the State and University Library by means of a donation from the Augustinus Foundation.
3.5 Bibliography
Hegermann-Lindencrone, Knud: Grammofonbogen. København 1942, pp. 33-40.
Hegermann-Lindencrone, Knud: Pladesamlerens bog/Grammofonbogen II, København 1942, pp. 23-26.
Fonografer & Grammofoner i Statens Mediesamling. Registrering og tilstandsvurdering. Tekst og foto ved Johannes Anker. Statsbiblioteket 1995, ISBN 87-7507-244-0.
3.6 Names, qualifications and contact details of independent people or organizations with expert knowledge about the values and provenance of the doc. heritage
- Ministry of Culture
- The Royal Library
4. Assessment against the selection criteria
4.1 Assessment of the documentary heritage against each criterion described in General Guidelines to Safeguard Documentary Heritage, Chapter 4, section 4.
Criterion 1 - Influence:
The Ruben Collection belongs to the world's oldest audio recordings and represents, together with the Anker Kirkeby Collection, a unique manifestation of social and cultural life in the Danish society around the turn of the century. Parts of the documentary heritage are of utmost significance for specialists in different research areas. The cultural significance on a national and Nordic level is unquestionable.
Criterion 2 - Time:
The history of recorded sound started at the end of the 19th century. The time span for this part of the cultural heritage is therefore only a little more than 100 years. However, the early relatively slow technological development and many years ignorance of the cultural importance of sound recordings mean that many items - especially dating from the acoustic period up till the 1920s - are rare and represent values in terms of technological history (the carriers) and in terms of culture (the content).
Criterion 3 - Place:
The collections reflect interesting points of view on the Danish society around the turn of the century, put forward by outstanding personalities of the period. Also, historical examples of artistic performances in Denmark (literary readings, singing) are documented.
Criterion 4 - People:
The audio documentation of some of the internationally famous Danish singers from the beginning of the 20th century, such as Vilhelm Herold, might be considered as a valuable contribution to the world culture in the field of music.
Criterion 5 - Subject/Theme:
The collections represent an important contribution to the field of music history and linguistic studies.
Criterion 6 - Form and style:
The documentation of the technological history represented by sound carriers and - to some extent - by examples of obsolete playback devices - is an important contribution.
Criterion 7 - Social value: - not communicated
Secondary criteria: - not communicated
4.2 Contextual assessment: Cf. above.
4.3 an evaluation of the authenticity
The authenticity of the collection is unquestionable.
4.4 an assessment of rarity (if appropriate)
The Anker Kirkeby Collection and the Ruben Collection are unique and hence irreplaceable.
The Anker Kirkeby Collection and the Ruben Collection are integrated in the State Media Archive, managed by the State and University Library in Århus. Hence, the management plan of the collections is included in the general management and preservation plans of the library.
Access policy:
On a national level, the State and University Library has a special obligation in providing access to the library's historical collections. However, the audio material has so far not been widely available: lending is not possible because the sound recordings are stored on old or obsolete carriers (e.g. cylinders or 78 rpm discs), and the equipment needed for play back is not commonly available any more. Furthermore, in many cases the recordings only exist in one or few copies. Therefore they can normally only be heard on the premises of the sound archive - if at all.
But recent developments in the fields of digital technology, data compression and telecommunications provide a welcome opportunity to improve public access to audio collections. Since the beginning of the 1990s, the State and University has initiated several projects in order to improve the access to the historical sound recordings via networks. Examples are:
Project JUKEBOX supported by the EEC Libraries Programme (see http://www.sb.aau.dk/service/jukemenu.html), and Danish Sound History - an Internet project supported by the Ministry of Culture (see http://www.sb.aau.dk/dlh/).
Preservation plan:
A large scale preservation programme for the State Media Archive is under preparation. Following the recommendations of the UNESCO Sub-Committee on Technology, digital technology will be implemented, and the programme will consider the double purpose of preservation and improving access. Important elements are: identification of vulnerable and decaying items, restoration plans, selection of storage media and fund raising to cover the costs.
At present, the preservation is ensured by careful handling of the originals. The collections are stored under stable environmental conditions, and - as far as possible - only duplicates are copied for use. Through the IT projects a small part of the collection has already been digitized and expertise among the staff in the field is gradually being built up.
6.1 Details of consultation about the nomination with the
a) Owner
State and University Library / Ministry of Culture
b) Custodian
Eva Fønss-Jørgensen
c) relevant Regional or National Memory of the World Committee (if appropriate)
7.1 Name
7.2 Relationship to documentary heritage
7.3 Contact person (if appropriate)
7.4 Contact details
PART B - SUBSIDIARY INFORMATION
Sound carriers of all kinds are extremely vulnerable to changes in the environmental conditions. Furthermore, many analogue carriers have a restricted life span because of chemical decay. Especially the Ruben Collection, recorded on wax cylinders, will require extreme care and utmost expertise to copy.
Cf. above.