This week I am focusing on the reading by Aikin entitled "High Culture, Low Culture..." on the Library of Congress. This article focuses on the early work of the Library of Congress as both the "storehouse of American knowledge", and its role in the "transmission of culture". Aikin discusses the formation of national collections, and in part focuses on the music collecting undertaken by the LC. It is interesting (at least to me) to note the steps taken by the LC to collect, and weed, the vast music collections as those in charge saw fit and proper. Along with this information, we find a seemingly contrasting piece on the collecting of folk culture in the national collections. There seems to be quite a difference between the tactics and thought processes of those involved with the folk collections as compared to those involved with the main music collections at the LC.
Is Aikin's statement, "the library made possible, in theory, the study and perusal of any part of that [American] civilization" correct? Can we really make this type of grand statement about the work of the LC?
To me, this article puts forth the idea about the LC as a definitive agent of culture in the US. Am I correct? Are libraries in general agents of culture?
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Reading about the LC American folk music project reminded me of an article I read several years ago about the history of the song "House of the Rising Sun." I thought it was an interesting story, so I dug it up on Google to share with you all:
http://www.blues.co.nz/news/article.php?id=358
The first sentence of the article states that the LC is the 'official copyright registry for books, pamphlets, periodicals, maps, prints, and music published in the U.S.' So, yes, in theory the Library of Congress is the most comprehensive warehouse of American print and recorded culture. And, yes, they should have received every Carrot Top album ever produced (and copyrighted). But this policy leaves out unpublished materials (like zines, etc.).
For more information about the mandatory deposit policy, go here: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ07d.html.
Does anyone know of sources that document what LC has discarded over the years? Or an account of the books, music, etc. that didn't make it into the collection? I think that what is missing is sometimes more interesting than what is actually collected. It says a lot about who has authority and power and why they privilege certain texts over others.
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