SEE VIDEO http://www.ottawasun.com/news/ottawa/2011/01/26/17046841.html
Carleton University is the new home of a massive collection of sound recordings and music memorabilia from renowned music critic and journalist Jacob Siskind.
“The quantity of material is just awe-inspiring,” said Patti Harper, department head of archives and research collections.
The donation includes 20,000 LPS, 8,000 CDs, 3,000 78 RPM records, notes, photos and fountain pens.
There’s even a photo of Siskind with Lucille Ball.
Harper actually had to go to Siskind’s home and help pack up the items.
“When we first went in the house it was just floor-to-ceiling LPs in one room, hallways full of CDs, 78s,” she said.
That helped her get a real sense of who Siskind was.
“That’s a really, really unique experience that you don’t often get,” she said.
Siskind’s estate began looking for a home for the collection after his death last September at the age of 82.
It will be housed in Carleton’s MacOdrum Library, where the material will enhance the school’s music program and support study and research in the musical criticism field.
But it will take time to sort through three moving trucks full of belongings.
The first step is linking Siskind’s catalogue system to theirs.
The collection will eventually be available to students, faculty, researchers and the community.
kelly.roche@sunmedia.ca
Kelly Roche - Storyteller 