- Date
- 2017-09-09
- Kind
- Archival preservation
- Where
- Beaver Island
- Carried out by
- Beaver Island Historical Society
- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- oral-historyarchivespreservationlocal-historymedia
- Within
- Beaver Island
Summary
In September 2017, Joe Moore began converting Beaver Island Historical Society oral-history VHS tapes to digital preservation files before the tapes degraded. The Historical Society said the Print Shop would provide viewing access. Robert Cole identified himself as the original interviewer and described the collection as part of a longer preservation effort involving Shirley Gladish, the Beaver Island District Library, and the Library of Michigan.
Evidence limits
This is a first-party preservation report with unusually useful provenance. It does not establish that every tape was digitized, that playable DVDs were made, or that the digital files are currently accessible.
Sources
- Moore listed additional digitized material, including the 2004 Town Clock dedication, military and community programs, township birthday footage, historic music and theater, and interviews with Brian Gallagher and Helen Collar. He said the files were digitized for the Historical Society and made available to subscribers through Beaver Island News on the Net. This expands the announced inventory but does not prove current access or that all source tapes survive.forum · www.beaverislandforum.com · 12 · t012696
- Moore listed additional digitized Historical Society VHS material, including interviews with Cloyd Ramsey, Garrett Cole, Lawrence and Winnie McDonough, Theresa Boyle Gallagher, Clare Left Cull, Paul Perry Smith, Bernadette McCauley, Phil Gregg, Helen Pike, and others, plus event footage. He said the unlabeled interviews were generally Robert Cole’s oral-history work and that subscriber viewing was available through Beaver Island News on the Net. This is an inventory/provenance notice, not proof that every item remains accessible or that the archive holds the files.forum · www.beaverislandforum.com · 12 · t012607
- The Historical Society announced that Moore was converting its oral-history VHS tapes to digital files and that the Print Shop would provide viewing access. Moore clarified that he was creating preservation files rather than playable DVDs, because the VHS tapes were degrading. Robert Cole identified himself as the original interviewer and connected the collection to Shirley Gladish, the Beaver Island District Library, and the Library of Michigan circa 1990. These are first-party archival provenance statements; the archive does not hold the digitized files or a complete inventory.forum · www.beaverislandforum.com · 12 · t012270
- Moore listed additional Historical Society VHS material then available to subscribers, including Robert Cole interviews, Museum Week footage, community programs, and a presentation by Helen Pike about Beaver Island schools. The Society thanked Moore for preserving its collection. This is a first-party inventory and access notice, not proof that each listed item remains available or that the archive holds the underlying files.forum · www.beaverislandforum.com · 12 · t012552
Added 7 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “Joe Moore begins digitizing Beaver Island oral-history VHS tapes, 2017”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-oral-history-vhs-digitization-2017/, accessed [date], citing Joe Moore, “More historic video,” Beaver Island Forum, January 20, 2018. (and 3 further sources listed on the page).
Last revised 2026-08-07. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.
BibTeX for “Joe Moore begins digitizing Beaver Island oral-history VHS tapes, 2017”RIS for “Joe Moore begins digitizing Beaver Island oral-history VHS tapes, 2017”