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are used for their informational value because they capture and preserve First Hand information, often in rare or unpublished form that details the context of a person, place, object, artwork, (including music, dance, performance) theory or publication.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.
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom by August Wilson, Rainey's Monologue 2015
"White folks don’t understand about the blues," says Ma Rainey in the play, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," set in a Chicago recording studio in 1927. This dramatic reading created for August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand is performed by Ebony Jo-Ann. The play premiered in 1984 at Yale Repertory Theatre and opened on Broadway the same year to win a New York Drama Critics Circle award. (source PBS American Masters accessed 9/10/2024)
Phil Kilbourne, Jevetta Steele, Ahanti Young and Lerea Carter in Arizona Theatre Company's MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM 2010 (Source Arizona Theatre Company accessed 9/10/2024)