Early-career dance artists and young companies
If you are just starting out, you may not know what you should keep and how you can organize your records. Ten years from now, will those research notes still be useful? How useful is any of your research if it is all just thrown in a box under your bed with all your other source materials?
Use these resources in the Toolkit to begin to:
Identify: Determine what materials you possess.
Organize: Sort and arrange your saved materials, a crucial step in developing an efficient archive.
Label: Describe your materials now for easier identification in the future.
Preserve: Store your materials safely to extend the longevity as items in poor condition threaten your legacy.
Copyright: The section Copyright and Art-making explains how to secure the rights to your own work.
Think about what role technology plays in the way you document and preserve your legacy. How will you be able to access digital materials you create now over the lifespan of your career? Also, keep in mind that the issues addressed under Access, Resources, and Copyright may not be important to you right now, but will be in the future, and should be part of your long-term thinking.
Image of an exhibit of recent acquisitions to the dance collections, reproduced by Nicole Topich at the Library of Congress Performing Arts Division.