The Importance of Ephemera

Some time ago, the librarian at the Amon Carter Museum Library shared this article with me, which I found very interesting:

Gallery Card as Relic? By Roberta Smith

In my time at the library, it has become very evident to me just how important these ephemeral items (generally, information on paper with less than about 12 or 20 pages) are to researchers. At the Carter library, we use these ephemera to put in Bio Files for the artists. These files are generally our first line of reference when we are asked reference questions about a specific artist. Without these physical items, our bio files would not be the excellent (and rare) reference source they are today.

Of course, I can understand why galleries are changing to an email format - sending these gallery cards and announcements by email is almost free, while sending a physical card through the mail takes time, money, and extra effort. Also, sending an email is far better for the environment than a piece of postal mail is.

This highlights the oncoming crisis for libraries, especially ones like the Carter - what happens when paper starts to dwindle? I feel sure it won’t go away entirely, but what are we going to do with all this digital data? How is it going to integrate into our paper collection? These are some questions I want to look at in the second half of my MSLIS studies.