Part of my education in this Capstone has been identifying what constitutes the "jazz community" in Austin, Texas, and establishing contact with it (& "them") and trying to build a sense of solidarity through interaction, collaboration, publicity, and most enjoyably, attendance at live performances. This process has grown like a spider web, allowing me to communicate with archivists at Tulane in New Orleans (Bruce Raeburne), Oberlin College in Ohio (Molly Johnson), Hamilton College in New York (Monk Rowe), the University of Idaho (Michael Tarabulski, who since has left there), and there are other archives-specific specialist who proved helpful.
Every step of this effort has required articulating and carefully solving multi-step problems, and that has required that I reach out and find other, better solutions that have already been tested and applied. For example, understanding HOW to physically digitize LPs and translate the information into digital content, resolve storage constraints, consider access and mechanical availability, etc., all required significant independent reading, research, site visits to see how different models have been implemented, etc. I gradually identified major functional areas of the project and continue to refine these. I have also had to modify my expectations as the realistic limitations of a one-person project become increasingly apparent. Despite this, however, knowing that various clusters of expertise exist, and that the people with whom I have already worked are generally ready to assist, I have found myself contemplating the underlying architecture, designed or ad hoc, of the community of practice that is emerging as I continue working. For example, the Association for Recorded Sound, whose listserv I joined early and have relief heavily for technical queries, led me also to the indispensable journal, ARSC Journal (avail at http://www.arsc-audio.org/journal.html) and related scholarly materials. So my conception of the projects real objectives, especially within the finite time between now and the technical conclusion of the Capstone (May 2009), has continuously morphed, in a positive way.
In my next posting, I will present a description of work I have been doing to host a series of Jazz Appreciation Month activities, 12-18 April 2009 (in conjunction with National Library Week).
