Evan R. Spencer
M.A. in Public History
Documenting the Dave Matthews Band's 2014 Tour
As part of my Seminar in Archival Management course, I created a digital collection using the methodology of the Documentation Theory. My collection aimed to document the entirety of the 2014 tour of the Dave Matthews Band. This project allowed me to couple my love for music with my expanding knowledge of archival theory and practice. In addition to Documentation Theory, the project continued my training with the Dublin Core metadata schema and Library of Congress Subject Headings.
Documentation Theory is based on the idea that the entirety of something can be documented in an archives. This approach requires including multiple perspectives in the archives. In my digital collection, I included many different aspects of the tour: Setlists used by the band, videos of performances, posters, and images from both officially sanctioned band photographers and fans.
This image shows the Dublin Core elements of an audio recording in the collection. Utilizing Dublin Core and Library of Congress Subject Headings in this project built upon my summer internship experience with descriptive metadata.
After documenting the 2014 Tour, I created an exhibit intended to recreate the atmosphere at a fan-favorite location, "The Gorge." Each year, the band plays a three night concert run at the picturesque amphitheater. The exhibit includes documents from the collection and uses a chronological flow, progressing through the three nights of concerts to recreate the atmosphere experienced by fans.
Documentation Theory is based on the idea that the entirety of something can be documented in an archives. This approach requires including multiple perspectives in the archives. In my digital collection, I included many different aspects of the tour: Setlists used by the band, videos of performances, posters, and images from both officially sanctioned band photographers and fans.
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