Tom Hickerson
Vice Provost and University Librarian
University of Calgary
Annie Murray
Associate University Librarian for Archives and Special Collections
University of Calgary
In 2016, Libraries and Cultural Resources at the University of Calgary acquired the complete Archive of EMI Music Canada and its partner labels, a donation from Universal Music Canada. This archive covers the complete history of EMI, 1949-2012, and includes over two million items documenting all aspects of music production and business operations. Audiovisual media include 40,000 recordings in 47 different formats. Of the 18,000 audio recordings, 13,000 are original studio masters. Included are numerous Canadian artists, but through its partnership with Capitol Records, many of the most prominent bands of the time are included; the Beatles and Pink Floyd were first distributed in North America by EMI. With the support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the University of Calgary has initiated a project to migrate and preserve audio and video recordings in the archive and to develop a model contributing to the capacity of libraries, archives, and museums worldwide to confront this grand challenge. The speakers will address organizational and technological findings from a planning stage as this endeavor moves into full production.