FP Archives - CAPES Grant ad hoc committee

Final Report

FP Archives – CAPES Grant Ad Hoc Committee

July 5, 2016

Introduction

As the Folk Project enters its fifth decade, many members and former members have accumulated items of archival value and some have expressed an interest in donating items to the

FP. As we age, we can expect more such requests. In the interest of preserving and documenting our history as the premier folk music organization in NJ, the FP Archives – CAPES (Caucus Archival Projects Evaluation Service) Grant Ad Hoc Committee was formed to investigate and apply for a grant from the NJ State Historical Commission and MARAC (Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference). The CAPES grant would pay for a professional archivist to evaluate our collection and make recommendations about housing and conservation. The grant stipulates that the materials must be made available to the public, which would be achieved by donating our collection to an institution such as the Morristown and Morris Township Public Library (MMTPL), Rutgers University Library, or a similar institution.

CAPES and Beyond

The Board voted to form the ad hoc committee with Lindsey Meyer as chair. Although she’d been encouraged by several archivists involved with CAPES, she discovered that the FP doesn’t qualify for a grant because we don’t have a physical location to house our dispersed collection. On the bright side, she received excellent guidance toward creating a collection and finding an appropriate institution. If we donate all or part of the collection, we would no longer own the items but they would be safely preserved and available to members, researchers, and historians who would access the collection in person.

Recommendations of the Committee

First: Create a standing committee called “Archives”, as it would be difficult to fit inside an existing committee. There would need to be Board representation due to legal and monetary

issues and because any receiving institution would expect to communicate with the Board. Lindsey is willing to chair the committee as of January, 2017. The committee members have

indicated willingness to serve on a standing committee or subcommittee.

Second: The size and scope of the collection would be determining factors in which institution might accept it so we’d need to find out what our members are willing to donate. Based on

conversations with archivist and director Chad Leinaweaver of MMTPL and Fred Pachman, CAPES Coordinator, the committee makes the following recommendations.

1. Educate: get the word out to FP members and former members about what we plan to do and what we're looking for.

2. Conduct a survey - perhaps using SurveyMonkey - to find out what people have and how much.

3. Find a secure space to collect and sort donated items.

4. Collect, sort, and remove duplicates.

5. Decide what to copy and digitize.

6. Contact Chad so he can have a look. If MMTPL can't take it, he can help us find another institution.

Submitted by Committee Members

Joanne Cronin

Nancy Kelner

Bobbi Rosengarten

Lindsey Meyer, chair