Guideline on Preserving Gramophone Records at the Museum and Archives, Public Relations Department

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to: (1) examine the preservation conditions of gramophone records at the Public Relations Department of the Museum and Archives; and (2) develop guidelines for the preservation of gramophone records at the Museum and Archives, Public Relations Department.

This study was a qualitative study. The key informant group were 24 people consisted of 11 staff and 13 library users which were selected via purposive sampling from 3 organizations : 5 employees of the Bureau of Public Relations Development, 3 employees of the King Rama IX Music Library and Princess Sirindhorn Music Library under the National Library Bureau, and 3 employees of the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Music Library, Mahidol University Library and Knowledge Centre; and 13 patrons of the Museum and Archives Public Relations Department. The instruments used for data gathering were in forms of records management and interviews schedule. Summary and description were used for analytic induction

The research findings were summarized as follows: (1) The current state of preserving gramophone records at the Museum and Archives, Public Relations Department includes 1) operations management with organizational restructuring, 2) operational procedures involve cleaning and maintenance with vinyl records are easier to preserve than shellac records, preservation prioritize converting shellac records into digital formats, cataloguing includes physical searching and computer-based systems, and library service includes on-site and online. And (2) The guidelines on preserving gramophone records at the Museum and Archives, Public Relations Department include (1) human resource management guideline in operational policy with planning and budget, (2) preservation processes by cleaning and maintenance with checking the integrity of gramophone records and categorizing, (3) physical and content preservation with diverse storage formats and consider intellectual property rights, cataloguing implement both physical searching and digital database system, and (4) building network and collaboration to exchange knowledge