Role of private and individual collectors in access for all!

The National Film Archives of India is located in Pune and is functioning very well. Unfortunately, National Sound Archive is yet a dream. However, over one hundred private collectors are engaged in collecting old gramophone records, open reel spool tapes, audio and video tapes, films and compact discs. They also collect textual material in the form of books, photographs, articles and catalogues. These mini archives and archivists go unnoticed and get lost to history. The Mumbai based ‘Society of Indian Record Collectors (SIRC)’ was formed in 1991 to bring together interested collectors for social communication. SIRC is directed towards the ‘Preservation, Dissemination and Documentation’ of a rich cultural heritage in the field of audio and video recordings.
Several outreach strategies and programs have evolved in the past twenty years. The annual magazine of SIRC titled ‘The Record News’, and ‘Guided Listening Sessions’ are two noteworthy achievements. The process is on-going. With the advent of internet technology, access has become easy through several social networking sites, links and web sites. Several new issues such as copyright and aesthetics have come up in new forms. This presentation will describe the role of individuals in general and SIRC in particular regarding the issue of “access for all”. It will be open for new concepts, ideas, suggestions and recommendations.