Do-it-yourself institutions of popular music heritage: the preservation of music’s material past in community archives, museums and halls of fame

Abstract

Worldwide, a burgeoning number of volunteer-run do-it-yourself (DIY) archives, museums and halls of fame are preserving the vernacular, local and global experiences of popular music’s history. Little is known about the characteristics of these heritage sites in a collective sense. This article summarizes the findings of several research projects that examined the ways in which cultural memory is captured within community archives. Specifically, this article details the outcomes of a database that compiled information gathered on 41 community-based archives, museums and halls of fame. Data on key features of these DIY institutions was collected through a variety of methods, including on-site observation, interviews with volunteers and web searches. This article discusses such things as geographical location, funding, staffing, mission statements and the focus of collections. The analysis of this information reveals that many DIY institutions have similar characteristics, such as building types and preservation aims, and face recurring challenges including funding issues and an ageing volunteer workforce. In summarizing the properties of a large number of DIY institutions, the article contributes an informational resource that was previously unavailable to researchers in the area of community archiving and popular music heritage.