Can You Hear Me?: Sound-Capturing Technology and the Problem of Obsolescence

Abstract

This thesis examines technological obsolescence in archival record-keeping. In part a material culture study of the Gray Audograph, a dictation machine popular from the 1940s to its discontinuation in the 1970s, and in part a case study of Tennessee's legislative recording program, the thesis explores the complex relationship archives have with technology. It investigates the inevitable truth that technology will become obsolete, resulting in dire repercussions in record-keeping institutions. As such, the thesis is also a discussion of record migration and other tactics invoked by record-keepers to permanently sustain audio formats, and ultimately questions whether permanence, sustainability, and stability are achievable.