Listening to Our Collections: Preserving Records of University-Based Educational Radio Stations in Campus Archives

Abstract

University-based educational stations transmitted programming to local audiences throughout the U.S. Surviving records remain in the custody of university archives but remain unavailable due to the complicated nature of radio collections and their audio components, placing them at risk of loss. Using the University of Minnesota station KUOM as a case study, this paper documents archivists’ successful advocacy for the processing and preservation of historical radio materials. The authors offer reflections on broader strategies that archivists may employ to help process and digitize materials documenting the history of university-based radio within their collections.