I was recently asked to comment on the future of literary archives in an increasingly digital age. To which I noncommittally replied:
I have trouble imagining an entirely electronic archive. I suspect that authors will continue to interact with the physical draft for some time. This will, however, increasingly and obviously be in conjunction with more and more electronic media (word processors, email, etc.), and this poses several problems. […] My guess is that writers, dealers, and libraries will begin to work more closely with each other and at earlier points in authors’ careers to address these issues and ensure that important information is preserved. At least, that’s my hope.
Generally speaking, I don’t think the rare book world is ready for digital collecting or archiving. But I think this has much more to do with the fact that there haven’t been any real test cases rather than any kind of professional blindness or bias. Indeed, I don’t think most institutions or authors are ready for these changes either.
The problem with [a digital archive] is that it calls into question the very idea of primacy and authenticity upon which the rare book market is built. What is a real draft or a real letter in the age of email and .doc files? What is a “first edition” of an e-book? Now, these questions have been around at least since the development of photography, and have been far better addressed by the likes of Walter Benjamin, but I think you’re right to sense that these questions will be coming to a head in the near future. How it all will shake out, I’m just not sure.
Given my rather hedging answer, I was especially excited to find that one of the premier repositories for rare books and archives, The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, will be hosting a conference later this year to address these very questions. Creating a Usable Past: Writers, Archives, and Institutions will examine:
[…] the ever-increasing global interest in the future of research libraries and archives, digitization, preservation, and the value of original materials, the Harry Ransom Center will bring together leading writers, archivists, agents, and library directors to examine the ways in which they are engaged in creating a literary and personal past for future generations to study.
Writers Lee Blessing, Denis Johnson, Tim O¹Brien, and Amy Tan will discuss the issues they confront as they create their own archives. Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, will deliver a keynote address about the future of reading and its implications for archives and institutions. Prominent dealers of rare books and archives, including Rick Gekoski and Glenn Horowitz, will discuss the marketing and sale of archives. Archivists and institutional directors will examine the challenges of processing collections in meaningful ways, the issues they face in the growing age of digital information, and other concerns that confront institutions now and in the future.
Sounds like exactly the right conference at exactly the right time. Registration is open to the public. I know I’ll be planning on being there.