International Association of Libraries and Museums of the Performing Arts
Société Internationale des Bibliothèques et des Musées des Arts du Spectacle
The Ohio State University Theatre
Collection
Statement of Operation and Acquisition Procedures for Processing
Microfilm
John H. MacDowell
Direclor of the Ohio State University Theatre Collection (Colombus,
U.S.A.)
Résultats de l'enquête internationale sur les fonds d'archives des photographes de théâtre
Section internationale des Bibliothèques-Musées des Arts du Spectacle de la Fédération internationale des associations de bibliothécaires
Actes du Vème Congrès International des Bibliothèques-Musées des Arts du Spectacle
Paris, 23, 24, 25 juin 1961
Paris 1962. 112 p.
Operation and acquisition for the Ohio State University Theatre Collection are designed to promote a research center in theatre in the mid-west of the United States.
A research collection has facilities which are designed to train students in research both at graduate and undergraduate levels. lt is similar to a scientific laboratory where students work with research materials by trial and experiment in order to learn procedures for identification, evaluation. and classification. The Ohio State University Theatre Collection is designed to train and to discipline competent researchers in the techniques and in the resources of theatrical research. The OSU Theatre Collection does more than house theatrical items. The purpose is not to collect just to collect. Acquisitions are used to train researchers. Acquisitions are also pursued in connection with specific research endeavors. The Collection, as explained in the Handbook, makes materials readily available to all researchers at all levels of experience through detailed files and crose indices. The aim of the Collecticn is to train researchers.I - Acquisitions are strictly limited and planned to facilitate individual research activities, and to promote new areas for research. Several examples will illustrate the acquisition-for-research activities:
a)
pantomines and toy theatres
The
OSU Theatre Collection has an extensive listing of English pantomines
principally from the Huntington Library, the Harvard Theatre
Collection, and the British Museum. These scripts have permitted
studies on what took place in these shows. Many technical devices and
magic tricks were not known to us. Toy theatre sheets and juvenile
drama scripts obtained from Pollock of London and the Victoria and
Albert Museum have revealed many techniques in connection with
pantomine tricks and transformation scenes. Juvenile drama scripts from
the Victoria and Albert have permitted researchers to work out the
staging of the scripts. Of particular interest have been toy theatre
productions of The Killer and his Men
and Black Eyed Susan.
These productions have added much to our knowledge of
nineteenth-century scenery and staging techniques. We are now in
process of acquiring a substantial number of toy theatre sheets on film
from the Enthoven Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
b)
prompt books:
Researchers
in the OSU Theatre Collection have done extensive study with prompt
books. The Research Production File, which is explained in detail in
the Handbook, is a coding and
filing plan for channeling research findings into related groupings.
Prompt books, on the whole, are secured on the basis of individual
research. Several examples will suffice:
We
have numerous Samuel Phelps' prompt books from the Folger Shakespeare
Library and from the Shakespeare Memorial Library. These scripts have
been examined in seminars and by individual researchers and some have
been reported in the OSUTC Bulletin.
To permit a researcher to continue with a study of Phelps at Sadler's
Wells, the OSUTC has secured interesting materials from the Finsbury
Public Library in London.
Another
researcher is engaged in reconstructing a Corsican trap and for that
project he has consulted many prompt scripts of the notorious
melodrama, The Corsican Brothers.
Aspects of this project should be reported briefly in the forthcoming Bulletin.
Scripts
annotated by the prompter, John Moore, are unusually rich in theatrical
materiale. Several studies have been undertaken with the Moore scripts,
and, obviously, further acquisition of Moore scripts is an important
order of business.
With
a large group of Edmond's prompt books for Charles Kean's productions
of spectacular Shakespearean shows, researchers have been permitted to
reconstruct several of these shows with precise detail.
A
script of Don Juan
(Comédie-Française, 1847) has been of inestimable value
in
determining rigging aspects in the development of the box set.
These
examples, selected from many, indicate how the OSU Theatre Collection
carefully selects items for particular research problems. From this
activity, it is obvious that the OSUTC is interested in securing
certain prompt books from French, German, Austrian, Swedish. Dutch, and
Italian libraries. The aim is to extend the boundaries of research so
that the findings may be shared on an international basis with
theatrical scholars everywhere.
c)
scene and costume designs:
OSU
Theatre Seminars have done some research in scene and costume designs.
During the forthcoming academic year, seminars will devote time to
scene design in the English, Continental, and American theatres.
Several researchers have done considerable study in Restoration and
Eighteenth-century English scenic requirements with substantial
contributions. Several researchers are interested in Continental
design. Here the Collection will be of aid because of the rich holdings
from Donald Oenslager's private collection and from Cooper Union in New
York City. The Norbert Bittner designs from the New York Public Library
will be useful also. From London we have selected designs from the
Victoria and Albert and the British Museums. Dr. Hadamowsky of the
Nationalbibliothek in Vienna has sent us designs for Ferdinand
Raimund's plays and we hope for others for Johann Nestroy's plays.
These designs are for a researcher who has translated two of Raimund's
scripts for a dissertation study. The Collection is in contact with
museums in Munich and Stockholm with the hope of selected acquisitions.
Obviously, it is our hope that Parisian libraries will be substantially
represented in our research endeavors in scenic and costume designs.
Positive plans are already in progress.
d)
architectural and technical studies:
Many
researchers have been engaged in architectural and technical studies.
Several will be mentioned: one study on London theatres was based on an
extensive group of selected prints from the Harvard Theatre Collection.
Technical studies are of interest to researchers. A study of the
Corsican trap, the panorama, the box set, lighting instruments, scene
changing techniques, etc. will indicate only several areas of interest
and activity. Obviously, again, the Collection is interested in
enriching selected holdings to permit young, energetic researchers to
push the border lines of study far beyond the present limits.
Acquisition was also indicated in connection with pursuing new areas of research. To illustrate this development, one topic will be mentioned:
a)
festival books, fêtes,
tournaments, triumphal entries, fireworks displays.
The
OSU Theatre Collection has a few festival books obtained from the
Newberry Library, Chicago, the Archives Nationales in Paris, and the
Cabinet des Manuscrits of the Bibliothèque Nationale. From the
Piot Collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum a selection of
festival books has been made and are in process of acquisition. Many
additional festival books should be sought, for this area is of great
interest to researchers.
II - Inquiry is often made concerning what we do with microfilm with particular attention to how we protect rare documents from illicit use or from commercial publication. Four brief sentences from the Statement of Ownership and Copyright will provide answers:
a)
All items in the archives of the Ohio State University Theatre
Collection are owned, controlled, and protected by the rules and
regulations of the University Libraries of The Ohio State University.
b)
Copyright regulations protect all items in the OSU Theatre Collection.
c)
No reproductions are made of items in the OSU Theatre Collection
without written permission from the library or museum which owns the
original materials.
d)
The archives of the CSU Theatre Collection are consulted only by
representative and qualified scholars and researchers which are engaged
in theatre research in The Ohio State University.
III - This brief statement indicates how the OSUTC directs acquisition to research needs and how the OSUTC protects its holdings.
A major aim of the OSUTC is to train and to permit American scholars to engage in theatrical research. French, English, German, Austrian, Swediah, Dutch, and Italian scholarship has attained renowned position in research. American researchers must also engage in this research and they must do it themselves. American scholars wish to share in your wealth of experience and research and American scholars also wish to contribute to it.
Research in theatre is now on an international basis. No longer is isolation a factor. No longer may a single person stand as an absolute authority to reign with theatrical supremacy. Everything is open to inquiry and the Ohio State University Theatre Collection wishes humbly to participate in this inquiry.
The Ohio State University Theatre Collection originally preserved microfilm in the archives of the collection in the following manner. Each item on the microfilm was cut from the original role and placed in a small metal cachet, and this cachet was labeled to conform with the file of the research classification system. For a researcher to examine this film, he had to take it from the cachet and place it in a microfilm reader. A difficulty immediately took place, namely, that the film readily became scratched and in some instances the film was badly damaged. Also as most of the film was negative film, it was difficult at times to read the film and if the item happened to be an illustration, such as a scene design, it was difficult to examine the negative picture of a scene design and obtain any effective interpretation of the design.
The problem facing the OSU Theatre Collection was (1) to avoid scratching film and (2) to obtain positive film of the negative copy.
As most of the libraries now supply positive film that problem was readily solved.
To solve the problem of scratching, the OSU Theatre Collection has invested in what are called acetate-jackets. These jackets are made up in various sizes and we have adopted a (5" x 8" jacket) which we exhibit at the Conference. The positive film is cut into strips and inserted into the jackets. Twenty frames on the average will fill one jacket. If one jacket is not sufficient for the length of film, we go to two jackets or more. In some instances we have up to a dozen jackets to house the film. A 100 foot roll of film will occupy about 45 jackets. One frame of the jacket is reserved for a label. We type the short title and the identification number of the item on the label and paste it on the jacket. The jacket is then filed in the steel cabinets of the OSU Theatre Collection by number so that it is readily found by the researcher. A steel cabinet with drawers measuring 25" x 5" x 8" will hold 975 jackets.
To use this acetate-jacket the researcher merely places it in the reader. The film consequently is not touched by the researcher or by the reader, and in this way the researcher is able to examine the microfilm and the microfilm is in no way damaged or scratched or fingerprinted.
Another particular advantage of acetate-jackets is that they are readily filed and readily located. Also they take up very little room. One drawer of a steel cabinet of average size can house around a thousand acetate-jackets. Another advantage of course, is that each item is detached from every other item.
Separation of items has many advantages. Two may be mentioned:
- Hundred foot roles are difficult to manage, particularly when the researcher is looking for a specified frame. For example, you may wish to locate frame 430. You may have to count in sequence to find this frame. If. however, the hundred foot role is broken into 45 jackets, the item may be # 5 in jacket No. 40.
- Hundred foot roles
usually
contain many titles. lf a researcher is occupied with one title on the
role, the entire role is out of circulation for that period.
The acetate jacket plan is efficient, is economical, and is protective.
URL:
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Information about this site: Maria Teresa Iovinelli, Secretary General
Last updated: August 31, 2004
Information about this site: Maria Teresa Iovinelli, Secretary General
Last updated: August 31, 2004