Lest this blog be spoken of as being moribund, here are a few random and fairly recent items from various blogs that interested us.

First, although at the moment it has no direct bearing on performing arts archives or archivists, the news that the Amato Opera in New York City would be closing its doors in May made us very, very sad.  Upon reflection, however, while we still are sad that this irreplaceable piece of real New York would be vanishing forever, after reading the accounts of its various moves over the years and looking at pictures and ephemera relating to other companies no longer in existence, we became more optimistic that some brave soul would pick up the banner in his or her own way and time.  At any rate, although the story made it quickly to the Times and other media, it was reported first (and better?) in the blogs.

Next, we turn to the frequently cited and award-winning processing blog, A View to Hugh.  Although it currently contains only three entries in the “Jazz” category, these include some wonderful images and can serve as an interesting case study of an exchange between archivists and user communities.  Maybe someone here  can help them out with some other identifications?  We also wonder whether or not we were the only ones who found the tone of the most recent post in that category, while probably done with the best of intentions, to be a bit grating and insensitive?

Finally, we turn our attention to another processing (although they insist on “cataloguing”) blog, the Harold Pinter Archive Blog, mainly to express: a) our sense of chagrin, that in spite of reporting on the acquisition of the collection over a year ago here, we had been unaware that the blog existed until Pinter’s recent passing; and b) congratulations on helping to make this collection so quickly accessible to the public.