The following sample preliminary archives assessment report is based on the one given to New York Theatre Workshop as part of the pilot ATAP Initiation Program conducted by Eunice Liu (archivist) and Ken Cerniglia (documentarian) in summer 2012. A cover sheet and table of contents was followed by the sections below (overview, assessment, recommendations, workshop prep questions). A list of resources accompanied the report; however, these are now included in Appendix F of this manual. This report served as the basis for discussion in a follow-up workshop with theatre staff.

Overview

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) is an Off-Broadway theatre located at 79 East 4th Street in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. NYTW was founded in 1979 by Stephen Graham and incorporated as the New York Theatre Workshop in 1982.

NYTW houses a 198-seat theatre for its mainstage productions, and a 75-seat black box theatre for staged readings and developing work in the building next door, at 83 East 4th Street. In 2005, NYTW purchased a vacant building at 72 East 4th Street for set and costume shops. NYTW and its buildings are a vital part of the designated Fourth Arts Block (FAB) Cultural District.

The records of NYTW are valuable assets that contain information pertaining to its historical development, artistic programming and business operations, and provide unique opportunities to capture and share institutional memory. The American Theatre Archive Project (ATAP) supports NYTW in establishing an archives program to ensure the preservation of its legacy.

The NYTW archives assessment, conducted by members of the ATAP-NYC team, is supported by a generous grant from the Lucille Lortel Foundation.

Assessment

The records of NYTW include all recorded information that is created, received, or maintained by the organization and those that relate in any way to its functions, operations, or activities. This definition of records encompasses all documented information regardless of physical form. These records include, but are not limited to: paper; computer files and other born-digital materials; photographs and film; audio, video, and digital recordings; and ephemera.

Interviews were conducted with key members of the NYTW staff in order to gain a better understanding of their past and current recordkeeping practices, needs, concerns, and goals. The sessions took place on July 12 and 17, 2012. Staff answered these questions:

  • What materials are present?
  • How are they stored, organized, and maintained?

The following summaries are organized alphabetically by department.

Artistic

Physical records include production binders and stage manager books in chronological order on office shelves, date to c. pre-1988; awards; framed poster for NYTW’s first production, A Day in the Life of the Czar directed by Peter Sellars; framed original drawing called “The Game of NYTW,” published in an early newsletter; NYTW branding memorabilia (coasters with old and current NYTW logos); paper scripts, located on shelves that extend to other departments; records documenting international trips; building research; production photographs, film negatives, contact sheets, and slides, housed in binders; VHS videotapes of non-NYTW productions; records documenting summer residency programs and early fellowships; a Rent poster autographed by the original cast.

Electronic records include born-digital files and correspondence, kept on the server. Old paper scripts have been digitized in a piecemeal manner.

Board

Official NYTW Board documents include meeting minutes, resolutions, agreements with third parties and artistic collaborators, loan agreements, contracts (i.e., contracts with the city), some funding and development records, correspondence. Records exist in both paper and electronic forms and are accessed through the Director of Individual Giving & Board Relations and the Managing Director. Paper files are located in filing cabinets near the Director of Individual Giving & Board Relations. Electronic files are saved on the server.

Development

Physical records include annual reports (oldest reports available only in paper); institutional and government funding records; audits; 501(c)(3) records; capital project records; repeat patron files; documentation of fundraising events (older photographs, programs, related materials); proposals; solicitations; and old tele-funding paper records. Filing cabinets contain paper records in chronological order. Event materials are organized in binders. Some hard-copy photographs are kept in binders.

Electronic records include annual reports; institutional and government funding records; audits; 501(c)(3) records; capital project records; repeat patron files; digital photographs of events; proposals; correspondence; Raiser’s Edge database files. Electronic files date back to circa 1999 to early 2000s. Electronic records are kept on the server; some files have permission restrictions. Digital photographs saved on an external hard drive and CDs.

Education

Physical records include documentation of the program Mind the Gap, learning workshops, master classes, fellowships, internships, and public programs such as AfterWords; program applications, schedules, and related materials; student artwork and plays; and student evaluations. Evaluations are important in promoting programs to donors and in facilitating future ones. Education programming materials are stored in binders on five shelves above the Director of Education’s desk, adjacent to the script library. There are no records in off-site storage.

Electronic records include PDF files of “The Brief”, audio files, MS Excel files of education programming data, evaluations, photographs, and correspondence. Electronic files are kept on the server. Consistently recorded information includes program dates, numbers of students, activity tracking—to use for generating report data. Digital photographs of education activities are saved on an external hard drive.

Marketing

Physical records include advertisements, press clippings (some newsprint), member communication packets, brochures, direct mail, sales reports, ticket stubs (retained for legal and auditing purposes), and older photographs. Records in current use are housed on-site. Press clippings are kept near marketing’s desks. Binders of marketing materials by season (dated 1992-present) are stored on shelves in the back office room. 2 or 3 copies of each brochure/program are kept in the binders. Nothing has been moved to off-site storage during the Marketing Director’s tenure at NYTW.

Electronic records include advertisements; press clippings (MS Word files); direct mail; videos (show trailers uploaded to Youtube); photographs of shows, readings, parties, public events, and programs; and correspondence. These files reside on the server. In addition, digital photographs are backed up on an external hard drive and thumb drives. 200 photos, on average, are taken per show.

Website

The webmaster’s office, on the fourth floor of the NYTW office building, serves as the default archives. Physical records kept there include show posters (rolled) and show poster boards, in cabinet; headshot photographs, résumés, auditions recorded on VHS tapes and CDs; some set models (also housed in second floor kitchen); commemorative plaque from Dreamworks Records for the Rent soundtrack album; architectural drawings for the new building; legal files (two filing cabinet drawers).

Electronic records include audiovisual files, website construction files, correspondence, all kept on the server. Digital photographs are backed up onto an external hard drive, organized with marketing staff.

Common Staff Goals

Interviews across departments revealed several common goals for NYTW records and archives:

  • To more efficiently utilize on-site and off-site spaces as well as server space and external hard drives.
  • To create and implement clear guidelines and policies regarding the recordkeeping of archival and non-archival materials and their disposition.
  • To strengthen interdepartmental communication and create a centralized and accessible inventory of key records, housed in-house and off-site.
  • To promote the legacy of NYTW by sharing its history through the use of archival materials.

Recommendations

The initial assessment has prompted the following recommendations for developing an archives program at New York Theatre Workshop. Many are common for theatre companies getting started, and some are unique to NYTW. The recommendations are organized around short-term (next 6 months) and long-term (ongoing) goals.

Short-Term Goals

  • Create strategic documents to implement protocols:
    • Establish guidelines for recordkeeping and files management of archival and non-archival records.
    • Create a records retention schedule that covers both archival and non-archival records.
    • Draft an archives collection policy. Begin with the mission statement drafted during the Orientation: “The NYTW Archives serve as the institutional memory for over three decades of unique theatrical relationships, processes, and presentations. The Archives exist to benefit NYTW’s current staff, associates, and patrons as well as future artists, theatregoers, and scholars.”
  • Follow best practices in recordkeeping:
    • Apply records retention schedule consistently across departments.
    • Develop new or refine existing organizational schemes for physical and electronic files.
    • Develop and apply clear and concise folder and file naming conventions (by department).
    • Eliminate unnecessary duplication of records.
  • Regularly schedule times for archival review and disposition (what records that are no longer current can be transferred to your Archives and how).
    • Shred records of non-archival value that are past the required retention period. (All discards and shredding activities must be approved by the appropriate staff person and tracked.)
  • Staff the Archives:
  • Establish an archives committee. Appoint one or two key staff persons serve as the archives liaison. Maintain momentum by holding regularly scheduled meetings and archival reviews of records. Ensure that recordkeeping and archiving protocols are followed.
  • To help with specific archival projects, consider enlisting graduate student interns who have had archival training, and/or hire a part-time consulting archivist.
  • Sustain commitment from all staff to care for an in-house archives program and/or to arrange for a future off-site archives.
  • Sustain financial support for the Archives program from within NYTW. Build an archives line item into season and show budgets. The amount can be nominal to start (e.g., $50 per show and another $100 per season to cover folders, boxes, and hard drives) and expand as circumstances allow.
  • Begin processing NYTW records (archival processing is the arrangement, description, and housing of archival materials for storage and use):
  • Arrange records with respect to their provenance and original order when possible, to protect their context.
  • Place paper records, photographs, and audiovisual analog materials in archival housing.
  • Record and organize details about the formal elements of collection holdings (creator, title, dates, extent, and contents) in an inventory and/or database. (This can be a simple Excel spreadsheet to start.)
  • Create a finding aid: a complete and consolidated description of records that assists users of the archives to gain access to and understand the materials.

Long-Term Goals:

  • Apply for grant funding to expand and ensure the long-term health of the Archives.
  • Build the Archives collection.
    • Reach out to the greater NYTW family (former staff, Usual Suspects, volunteers, etc.) to fill identified holes in your collection.
  • Use the Archives to share the legacy—show how NYTW evolved as a critical Off-Broadway arts and cultural institution with a rich and provocative history…
    • Through the website and social media outlets;
    • Through communication outreach: email blasts; use NYTW’s extensive database of affiliated artists, patrons, volunteers, and other supporters;
    • At NYTW programs; and
    • At fundraising events (e.g., plan a retrospective using “gems” from the archives to highlight major accomplishments and milestones).
  • Digitize early photographs, audiovisual recordings, and paper records of special interest and archival value (discrete projects).
  • Consider low cost in-house OCR scanning of paper scripts.
  • Consider low cost in-house scanning of photographs.
  • For large-scale collection digitization, consider collaborative efforts with a future “home” repository and/or contacting vendors offering archival digitization services (such as AudioVisual Preservation Solutions).
  • Develop an oral history program.
  • Gather and preserve unique historical information from current former board members, staff, directors, artists, collaborators, and long-time repeat patrons through digitally recorded interviews.
  • Investigate potential collaboration with a local oral history program and oral history consultants.

Workshop Prep Questions

To prepare for the culminating workshop of the ATAP Initiation Program, where the ATAP team will help the NYTW staff clarify its Archives goals and next steps and provide basic tools for moving forward, please prepare answers to the following questions.

  • How did the assessment site visit and interviews affect your understanding of the difference between records and archives?
  • Are personal records of your work (what you would take with you if you left) clearly distinguished from what belongs to NYTW, especially items of archival value?
  • Create a rough inventory of records within your purview that may belong in the NYTW Archives.
  • Create a list of records in your department that are no longer needed on a regular basis nor have particular historical value (e.g., records that may be good candidates for recycling or shredding to free up space).
  • What do you know about NYTW that nobody else does?  Is it important for the theatre’s functioning?  Is it important for the archives?  How can you share important knowledge with others to preserve continuity for NYTW when you are no longer doing your job?

 

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