Questions Raised About Future of KUSF Archives

By JEANNE CARSTENSEN| January 28, 2011 5:33 p.m. In MUSIC

http://www.baycitizen.org/blogs/pulse-of-the-bay/questions-raised-about-future-kusf/

Supporters of KUSF, the community radio station owned by the University of San Francisco that ceased broadcasting recently when it was abruptly sold, want to make sure the station’s extensive archives will be preserved.

Founded in 1963, the station’s archives contain a “massive number of CDs and vinyl,” according to Irwin Swirnoff, the former music director. “It has cultural value that is priceless in terms of diversity and obscurity,” he said, with deep collections in jazz, rock, punk, electronic music and other genres.

Archivists Meagan and Rick Prelinger of the Prelinger Library in San Francisco are advising Swirnoff and other KUSF supporters on preserving the collection. “The music library has to be kept intact as a physical memory of everything that KUSF has been, and as a starting point for future,” said Meagan Prelinger, who is a longtime fan of the station. “It’s like the sound track of my life has been turned off.”

The dimensions of the vast archive containing 34 years of Bay Area broadcasting history are difficult to determine precisely. Much of it sits in Phelan Hall on the University of San Francisco campus and will be moved to a yet-undetermined location in coming months.

Reached on Friday afternoon, university spokesman Gary McDonald said he didn’t know immediately how many items it contained. “We talk about it in terms of space,” he said. “It’s large.”

Swirnoff said the collection consists of an active CD library and vinyl library. Items like 78 rpm records are packed away in storage areas.

In the long term, the university plans to digitize the archive, according to McDonald, “so that it will be available to anyone working in KUSF.org,” the online-only version of the station that will replace KUSF.

McDonald said he didn’t know how much it would cost to convert the collection to digital or what would become of the original materials afterwards.