Vinyl junkies unite! Casual curators and the preservation of vinyl culture

[Jazzman Gerald]

Mate of mine is giving a talk here next week: http://conference.rgs.org/AC2014/296

Scroll to the bottom for the vinyl event.

I assume only the more intellectually-minded will be interested, I'll be the one stood in the corner wearing a pointy hat with a 'D' on it.

[Tom B]

Shouldn't that be "the recently closed vinyl lending library in London"?

[babycart]

"Where've you been all morning, babes?"

"I´m a cultural gatekeeper investigating the processes and spatial dynamics of curation in a specialised milieu, so I went to the Jumbo boot sale to evaluate and ascribe value to specific products and experiences."

"Oh Christ not more fucking records."

[Rich Hero]

Shouldn't that be "the recently closed vinyl lending library in London"?

Now, now Tom. It's 'in search of its next place to roost'.

[Tom B]

Now, now Tom. It's 'in search of its next place to roost'.

I stand corrected. £10 a month membership seems a bit steep for an itinerant library though - and how do you avoid the fine for late returns if you don't know where the library is?

[Dr Victor X Storm]

"I discuss how vinyl junkies can be seen as casual curators, and explore how their resulting collections can be seen as examples of pre-digital, crowdsourced, cultural preservation efforts. I will also draw on contemporary examples of more formal record preservation efforts, such as Cornell’s work with Afrika Bambaataa’s collection and the recently opened vinyl lending library in London, to consider important contemporary issues and theories of cultural curation."

What nonsense

[Expiry2011]

I still think they should hook up with the guy buying all the records in the world and start the biggest library in the world

[Shere Khan]

Whilst I agree with some of what's written I'm also tempted to say 'cultural curation my arse'. I'm pretty sure listening to records is a superior experience to sitting around talking about them. When I hear the words 'curated by' I reach for my stylus.

[Dr Victor X Storm]

Whilst I agree with some of what's written I'm also tempted to say 'cultural curation my arse'. I'm pretty sure listening to records is a superior experience to sitting around talking about them. When I hear the words 'curated by' I reach for my stylus.

The idea of being a 'cultural curator' must seem more appealing to some rather than 'dude with some money who buys records' but I fail to see the distinction. It ascribes an importance to record collecting that simply doesn't exist - even more so when 99% of the recorded music in the world that's actually worth listening to is available digitally.

As for the 'vinyl library'….a noble but fundamentally terrible idea

[moecurlythanu]

- and how do you avoid the fine for late returns if you don't know where the library is?

Indeed. It's hard to hit a moving target. Just ask Ted Nugent.

[Plainstone]

Paging Eine ... report to this thread immediately!

[eine]

My report:

Paper is about something many of us would find interesting: pre-internet collecting, post-internet collecting, and the 'preservation' impulse in general.

There's not much more here than an American career academic talking about his obsession (which we all share), who's wangled a trip to London to speak about it

I'm not keen on how he's written his abstract, it's not easy to understand, maybe he's one of those academics who falls over their own words. Still, it's only an abstract for a conference, he's not ramming it down anyone's throat.