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Berklee College of Music Career Resource Center collection, 1983-1998

 Collection
Identifier: BCA-048

Scope and Contents

This collection contains recordings on videocassette and audiocassette produced and/or compiled by Berklee College of Music's Career Resource Center (later Career Development Center) as reference resources for students and faculty. The recordings include Career Center events, visiting artist clinics and interviews, workshops, lectures and presentations, and other events from the 1980s and 1990s. Also included is a 1989 reference file listing available resources on videocassette, audiocassette, and paper formats. The inventory's contents suggest that additional recordings and printed resources were originally part of this collection; these were presumably weeded out or otherwise dispersed prior to arriving at the Archives.

Dates

  • Creation: 1983-1998 and undated

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research by appointment. These recordings have not been transferred. Advance notice is required for access because materials are stored offsite and require production of access copies to view. Patrons may view an item’s original container and/or carrier, but the original recordings are not available for playback due to preservation concerns. Contact Archives staff for further information.

Administrative History

The Berklee College of Music Career Resource Center was formed in the 1980s to offer students a centralized resource for information regarding careers in music. The Center housed a "career library" of books, periodicals, directories, and pamphets, and curated a collection of video and audio tapes from Berklee’s Career Workshop Series and Visiting Artist Series; offered career couseling services; hosted a jobs/gigs database; and maintained an office with a computer, typewriters, copying machine, and office reference books for student use. The Career Resource Center also served as the hub of the Berklee Career Network (later called the Berklee Professional Network), which connected alumni to students seeking job search strategies and career development opportunities. The Career Resource Center was renamed the Career Development Center (CDC) in 1999.

Over the next two decades years, the CDC expanded its reference offerings and computer lab; additionally, a separate Office of Experiential Learning provided credit-earning internship and service experiences to students. Following the merger with the Boston Conservatory in 2016, the CDC was renamed the Career Center in 2017. Now serving all Berklee students, the Center includes the Student Employment office; facilitates fellowships and internship programs; offers advising services and job-related resources; and hosts workshops, panels, networking events, and classroom presentations.

Extent

2 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Recordings on VHS and audiocassette from the 1980s-1990s produced and/or compiled by Berklee College of Music's Career Resource Center as reference resources for students and faculty, including Career Center events, visiting artist clinics and interviews, workshops, lectures, and presentations.

Arrangement

This collection is organized into three series according to format: Series 1: Video Resources (1986-1998 and undated), Series 2: Audio Resources (1983-1995 and undated), and Series 3: Career Resource Center List of Videos, Cassettess, and Career Handouts (1989).

Custodial History

The videocassettes in this collection were formerly circulated resources out of the Career Resource Center (renamed the Career Development Center (CDC) in 1999, renamed the Career Center in 2017); they were deaccessioned by the CDC around 2015 and given to Library for appraisal; in 2018, the tapes were transferred to the Archives.

The audiocassettes and a reference inventory were uncovered in the Archives’ offsite storage location in 2021, but the source and date of their transfer is unknown. Based on the inventory and descriptions of the Center's services in historical college bulletins, it was concluded that these recordings were also part of the reference resources offered out of the Career Development Center. The inventory also suggests that additional recordings and printed resources were originally part of this collection; these were presumably weeded or otherwise dispersed prior to arriving at the Archives.

Related Materials

Copies of several event recordings in this collection, as well as recordings on related topics or presented by the same individuals, also appear in Berklee College of Music Video Services Event Recordings collection, 1979-2005 (BCA-018).

Processing Information

While the audiocassettes and reference inventory were not part of the original boxes of materials deaccessioned by the CDC in 2015, Archives processing staff deduced from the inventory and descriptions of the Center's services in historical college bulletins that the audio recordings were indeed part of the reference resources offered out of the Career Center in the 80s and 90s.

Tapes that were derived from or otherwise duplicated material in BCA-018 (Video Services event recordings) were weeded from the collection. Additionally, several VHS tapes were removed from this collection due to playback failure. Commercially available recordings on audiocassette were weeded from the collection. Extant audiocassettes have not been assessed for playback quality.

Title
Berklee College of Music Career Resource Center collection, 1983-1998 and undated
Status
Completed
Author
Ashley Gray with Alex Pittman
Date
2022/07/20
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Berklee Archives Repository

Contact:
Berklee
1140 Boylston St
Boston MA 02215 USA
617-747-8001