Libraires and vinyl: the difficulties in accessing recorded sound at the level of National Heritage

Vinyl has not yet made the status of an item of National Heritage. Its conservation poses specific problems due to its multiplicity and the fragility of the medium. What should be preserved? Collectors are more interested in its veneration than in the logical necessity for a national heritage. Publishers confound "historical" and "patrimonial". As for libraries, barely aware of the issue, the conservation role assured by the Mediathèque musicale de Paris, the BnF, and the central music library of Radio France should not serve as an alibi to allow them to neglect their mission. An inventory of the present state of affairs would appear to be the most important task and a few initiatives have already opened the way.
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