The Dartmouth Library launched its first digital sound archive on April 13 with the digitization of former professor Jon Appleton's collected body of work since 1948. The process allows the library to "preserve unique recordings in older, fragile formats," Patricia Fisken, head of the Paddock Music Library, said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth.
Although Dartmouth has a wealth of audio recordings from its Bregman Electronic Music Studio and campus performances, the Appleton Sound Archive marks the first digital preservation effort in the College's history.
The Appleton Sound Archive includes the professor's sound recordings, scores and other written documents.
Appleton, who taught at the College from 1967 to 2008, is a composer who was instrumental in the development of electronic music. In addition to founding the Bregman Electronic Music Studio, he also invented the Synclavier, an early form of the synthesizer, in conjunction with engineers at the Thayer School of Engineering.
The digitization of Appleton's work focused on two major components -- preservation and accessibility -- and represents a collaborative effort of several Dartmouth entities, including the Paddock Library, digital production services, the College archives, the cataloging and metadata department, and the Jones Media Center.
Fisken noted that many of the older sound recordings stored in various locations across campus have deteriorated due to improper climate control.
Dartmouth archivist Peter Carini said in an e-mail that digitizing Appleton's music ensures that his work is safe, and decreases the wear and tear on the original recordings.
Carini also noted that there are still flaws with the digitization process that Dartmouth is trying to address.
"The College is currently working to create an electronic records program to ensure that digital records can be saved, and perhaps, accessed in the distant future," Carini wrote in an e-mail.
The Appleton Sound Archive has been uploaded to the Database of Recorded American Music, and can also be directly streamed from the Dartmouth Library web site.
DRAM, a non-profit, online resource that hosts a wide variety of streaming audio content, features liner notes, essays and other written information about the recordings. DRAM has been given exclusive access to Appleton's body of work, which is the site's first complete musical archive, Fisken said.
David Bowden, a music library specialist in the Paddock Library, said in an e-mail that digital media and streaming audio are becoming increasingly prevalent in the classroom.
Bowden created master audio files of Appleton's recordings that were later converted to MP3 files.
Now that the College's digitization effort is underway, Fisken said she hopes other members of the music faculty will be able to have their works archived in digital form as well.
