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fwd: REPLY: science/technology archives (4) 

Forwarded to STHC-L from H-SCI-MED-TECH.

Russell



--- Begin Forwarded Message ---
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 1998 16:05:32 -0400
From: "N. Lerman, H-SCI-MED-TECH" 
Subject: REPLY: science/technology archives (4)
Sender: "H-NET List on the History of Science, Medicine, and 
Technology" 
To: H-SCI-MED-TECH@H-NET.MSU.EDU

Reply-To: "N. Lerman, H-SCI-MED-TECH" 
Message-ID: <199807092101.OAA11966@ebi.library.ucla.edu>


[1]
Date: Thu, 09 Jul 1998 11:14:23 -0700
From: Elizabeth Green Musselman 

One issue that concerns me is the relative archival disinterest in
scientists' and engineers' personal papers (correspondence with family,
and other documents that on their face don't seem to have much
scientific value). There is an immensely burgeoning number of social and
cultural historians who are very interested in how the personal and the
intellectual intermingle in science and technology.

In many cases, the papers are available, but poorly cataloged. Here, the
fault seems to lie especially with those who edit catalogs or published
volumes of manuscripts. For instance, Peter Harman recently published an
extraordinarily useful and meticulous edition of James Clerk Maxwell's
papers -- but excluded many of the personal documents which I need. I
don't mean to pick on Dr. Harman, who has done an extraordinary service,
but I *would* encourage archivists and historians who are cataloging or
publishing manuscripts to consider the importance of these
"non-scientific" documents.

Elizabeth Green Musselman

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Elizabeth Green Musselman (egreenm@banet.net)
Dept. of History & Philosophy of Science, Indiana University
88 Riverboat Village Rd., South Hadley, MA 01075; 413-532-4329

--------------

[2]
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 1998 20:26:11 -0700 (PDT)
From: KALPANA SHANKAR 

I find this problem a fascinating one  and my own research interests
touch on it in many ways.  I'm curious to know how academic archivists
are handling electronic scientific records in their institutions.
Actually, I have a ton of questions (some of which I hope to answer in my
own research):
- What kind of electronic records are being produced?
-Is the documentation being produced adequate?  In my (very preliminary)
research, I'm finding that while many students are contributing
significantly to research, they are not always very good about keeping
records of that research.
- What is the role of the archivist in
educational institutions with respect to scientific records - esp. when
many scientists are worried about fraud/theft, etc...?
-Has the increasing patentability of biological scientific products changed the
documentation needs of institutions?
-How do traditional archival
methodologies work for documenting the
social/cultural aspects of research that may be missed in the top-down,
"great men of science" paradigm?


Full of questions, but possessing no answers,

Kalpana Shankar

Department of Library and Information Science
University of California, Los Angeles
kshankar@ucla.edu

--------------------

[3]
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 1998 07:42:10 +0100
From: Michael Kenny 

Given the discussion about the availability of science/technology archives,
I'd like to call the list's attention to the Contemporary Scientific
Archives Centre in the UK. Among other things this organization generates
systematic, detailed, and annotated catalogs of scientific papers and
correspondence on deposit in one or another UK library and elsewhere.

The following is their web-page blurb; microfilm copies of the CSAC
catalogs appear to be available through UMI:

_______________________________

Scientists, engineers, and medical researchers of the 20th century have
changed history in many ways. From developing atomic energy and the atomic
bomb, to advancing computer technology, metallurgy, neurology, and zoology,
these are the people who pioneered modern research. In 1972 a proposal for
the creation of a Contemporary Scientific Archives Centre was put forwardin
England by a joint committee of the Council of the Royal Society and the
Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts. The principal aim was to ensure
that the notebooks, correspondence, and papers of scientists, engineers,
and medical professionals were not destroyed before their historical value
had been assessed.

 Since its establishment in April 1973, the Contemporary Scientific
Archives Centre, located at Oxford, has played a crucial role not only in
locating and ensuring the preservation of these valuable materials, but in
stimulating interest in the records of the scientists. The Centre is
supported by, and its operations guided by, the Royal Society with the aid
of other interested bodies.

 The subjects covered in these catalogs include:

                             anatomy
                             anthropology
                             biology
                             botany
                             chemistry
                             computing

The records of scientists and engineers consist of papers in a variety of
formats reflecting different phases and periods of their lives. They
accumulate in different locations: their homes, the institutions where they
work, and the professional societies to which they belong. They include
notebooks, working papers, and manuscripts of published works; lectures and
speeches; correspondence; and personal records and family photographs. The
collections are cataloged and indexed by the Centre and include all of
these categories of papers, assembled from various sources.

Michael G. Kenny
Dept. of Sociology & Anthropology
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, B.C.  V5A 1S6; Canada
Michael_Kenny@sfu.ca
phone: (604) 291-4270
fax:   (604) 291-5799

-----------------------

[4]
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 1998 15:52:04 +0100
From: Paul Rosen 
Reply-To: P.J.Rosen@anglia.ac.uk
To: HTECH-L@SIVM.SI.EDU

>         The question seems to be how to inform businesses and
> bureaucrats that
> their old records are really going to be of value to some historian of
> technology or science someday.  And where should they send them?  NARA?
> NMAH? Local historical societies?

As a sociologist who has made use of just one company's archives to a
great extent (the Raleigh Cycle Company in Nottingham, England) I can
imagine this being more-or-less impossible to achieve comprehensively.
In my own experience, the management personnel who sold off half the
company's land in the 1980s had no conception that their archives going
back a century were of value to anybody but them, hence they failed to
rescue some of them from a basement that later had housing built over
it.  Thankfully they have donated most of their archives to the county
archive office, but these are used by only a few academic researchers -
most enquirers as far as I understand it are trying to date a rare
bicycle!

Paul.


Dr Paul Rosen
SATSU (Science & Technology Studies Unit)
Anglia University
East Road
Cambridge                 Tel. 01223 - 363271 ext 2423
CB1 1PT                   Fax. 01223 - 352935

email:  P.J.Rosen@anglia.ac.uk
http://www.anglia.ac.uk/hae/satsu/
--- End Forwarded Message ---


___________________________________________________

Russell A. Johnson        rjohnson@library.ucla.edu

Archivist              (310) 825-3191  or  206-2753
Neuroscience History Archives
Brain Research Institute, UCLA
Box 951761     Los Angeles CA  90095-1761

Special Collections Cataloger        (310) 825-6940
Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, UCLA
Box 951798     Los Angeles CA  90095-1798
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