Ethical Approach to Research (Particularly Important for Primary Sources)
An Archive… (With a Capital A!) “is an organization dedicated to preserving the documentary heritage of a particular group: a city, a province or state, a business, a university, or a community.” - The Society of American Archivists definition
For example,
are all responsible for the preservation and management of archives.
special collection
n. “a cohesive collection of noncirculating research materials held together by provenance or by a thematic focus…,
Archives are used for their informational value because they capture and preserve First Hand information, often in rare or unpublished form that details the context of a person, place, object, artwork, (including music, dance, performance) theory or publication.
This is particularly important for theatre because performance is ephemeral - meaning occurring for only a short time. Often after a performance is done all that is left is the documentation of the event. This stuff is what ends up in the theatre archive.
For example:
Documentation of performances found in archives are routinely consulted for the restaging theatre productions.
As is the case with these two different performances of Krapp’s Last Tape filmed here in1972 with Patrick Magee and this later production of Krapp's Last Tape featuring Rick Cluchey, which was directed by Samuel Beckett, the author of the play in the 1980's.
Krapp's Last Tape is a one-act play, with a cast of one man, was written for Northern Irish actor Patrick Magee and first titled "Magee monologue". It tells the story of Krapp, an impassioned, eccentric, recluse whose existence consists chiefly of recalling both pleasant and unpleasant memories. ( source @20thCenturyTimeMachine)