The Listening Library is open to the public. Any library patron may request information or listen to recordings for any purpose. Members of the Archives staff offer reference assistance to students, faculty and staff of Indiana University on a walk-in basis, as well as by telephone, letter, fax, or email. The staff provides reference assistance to the general public for inquiries concerning Archives resources. The Archives staff also gives tours and lectures about the Archives and its procedures to interested groups.
Duplication of Collections
Copies of some field recordings from the Archives holdings may be purchased for nonprofit, educational, or research use. In some cases it is necessary to obtain permission from the individual or institution that holds the rights to the material before duplicate copies can be made. Price lists and order forms are available on request.
Outreach and Education
The Archives has initiated an outreach program that helps Native American communities obtain copies of recordings of their own music and enhances the existing documentation of these materials. Other forms of assistance to community-based archives are also available.
Graduate students receive training in archiving principles and basic recording technology through assistantships at the Archives. A member of the Archives staff occasionally offers a graduate-level course in the management of sound archives through the Folklore institute.
The Archives has, in the past, issued a series of ethnographic recordings of outstanding vocal and instrumental music from around the world with the cooperation of Smithsonian/Folkways Recordings in Washington, D.C. Future plans include the production of audio compact disc packages that draw on Archives holdings.
