Read R. Buckminster Fuller's thoughts about archiving:
Because I knew at the 1927 outset of the commitment that no one else thought my commitment to be practical or profitable, I also knew that no one would keep any record of its evolvement should it be so fortunate as to evolve. Since I intended to do everything in a comprehensively scientific manner in committing myself to this very large-scale experiment (which, as already stated, sought to discover what a little, unknown, moneyless, creditless individual with dependents could do effectively on behalf of all humanity that inherently could never be done by any nations or capital enterprise), I saw clearly that I must keep my own comprehensive records records being a prime requisite of scientific exploration. This I have done. It has been expensive and difficult both to accomplish and to maintain. It is comprehensive and detailed. I speak of the record as the "archives." They consist of:
A. The "Chronofile," which in 1981 consisted of 750 12" x 1" x 5" volumes. These volumes contain all my correspondence, as well as sketches and doodles made during meetings with others, and also back-of-envelope and newspaper-edged notes, all maintained chronologically---in exact order of inbound and outbound happenings---all the way from my earliest childhood to the present keeping of such records as induce discovery of what to avoid in future initiatives
B. All the drawings and blueprints I have been able to save of all the design and full-scale artifact-inventing, -developing and -testing realizations
C. All the economically retainable models
D. All the moving picture and television footage covering my work
E. All the wire and tape recorded records of my public addresses
F. All the affordable news-bureau and clipping-service records of articles or books written by others about me or my work
G. All the posters announcing my lecturing appearances as designed and produced by others
H. A large conglomeration of items (for instance, over 100 T-shirts with pictures of my work or quotations of my public utterances) produced and distributed by students at many of the 550 universities and colleges that have invited me to speak; collection of awards, mementos, etc.
I. All the multi-stage copies of the manuscript and typescript versions of my twenty-three formally published books and many published magazine articles
J. Over 10,000 4" x 5" photo negatives and over 30,000 photographs, all code-listed, covering my life and work; also 20,000 35-mm projection slides
K. My own extensive library of relevant books and published articles
L. All my financial records, including annual income tax returns
M. All the indexes to the archival material
N. All the drafting tools, typewriters, computers, furniture, and file cabinets for an office staff of seven
O. A large collection of framed photos, paintings, diplomas, cartoons, etc.
P. Biographical data, published periodically (approximately every three years), summarizing all developments of my original commitments
Q. The "Inventory of World Resources, Human Trends and Needs"
R. The World Game records
The archives' collected public record now consists of over 100,000 newspaper and magazine articles, books, and radio and television broadcasts about me or my work, unsolicitedly conceived and produced by other human beings all around the world since 1917.
The prime public record of my more-than-half-century's fulfillment of my commitment has been realized in the working artifacts themselves--the 300,000 world-around geodesic domes, the five million Dymaxion World Maps, the many thousands of copies of each of my twenty-three published books---and, most important of all, within the minds and memories of the 30,000 students I have taught how to think about how to design socially needed, more efficiently produced artifacts.
I do not now employ, and never have employed, any professional public relations agents or agencies, lecture or publishing bureaus, salespeople, sales agencies, or promotional workers. As indicated earlier, I am convinced that nature has her own conceptioning, gestation, birth, development, maturization, and death rates, the magnitudes of which vary greatly in respect to the biochemistry and technological arts involved. The most important evolutionary events take the longest.
Since maintenance of the updating and safety of the archives is as yet my responsibility, they are not open to the public, though scholars from time to time are allowed to view them and be shown items of special interest to them. Because I avoid employing any professional agencies, the magnitude of my development is not kept track of and publicly reported by any of the professional agency associations.. For instance, I am not included in the annual statements appearing in the news regarding the public speakers most in demand. Therefore every three years or so my office updates my "basic biography," as it is called, to be distributed to those who ask for information.
Because we are now entering upon the 1927-initiated half-century period of realization, it is now appropriate to make public exposure of the record in order to encourage youth to undertake its own mind-evolved initiatives.
A. The "Chronofile," which in 1981 consisted of 750 12" x 1" x 5" volumes. These volumes contain all my correspondence, as well as sketches and doodles made during meetings with others, and also back-of-envelope and newspaper-edged notes, all maintained chronologically---in exact order of inbound and outbound happenings---all the way from my earliest childhood to the present keeping of such records as induce discovery of what to avoid in future initiatives
B. All the drawings and blueprints I have been able to save of all the design and full-scale artifact-inventing, -developing and -testing realizations
C. All the economically retainable models
D. All the moving picture and television footage covering my work
E. All the wire and tape recorded records of my public addresses
F. All the affordable news-bureau and clipping-service records of articles or books written by others about me or my work
G. All the posters announcing my lecturing appearances as designed and produced by others
H. A large conglomeration of items (for instance, over 100 T-shirts with pictures of my work or quotations of my public utterances) produced and distributed by students at many of the 550 universities and colleges that have invited me to speak; collection of awards, mementos, etc.
I. All the multi-stage copies of the manuscript and typescript versions of my twenty-three formally published books and many published magazine articles
J. Over 10,000 4" x 5" photo negatives and over 30,000 photographs, all code-listed, covering my life and work; also 20,000 35-mm projection slides
K. My own extensive library of relevant books and published articles
L. All my financial records, including annual income tax returns
M. All the indexes to the archival material
N. All the drafting tools, typewriters, computers, furniture, and file cabinets for an office staff of seven
O. A large collection of framed photos, paintings, diplomas, cartoons, etc.
P. Biographical data, published periodically (approximately every three years), summarizing all developments of my original commitments
Q. The "Inventory of World Resources, Human Trends and Needs"
R. The World Game records
The archives' collected public record now consists of over 100,000 newspaper and magazine articles, books, and radio and television broadcasts about me or my work, unsolicitedly conceived and produced by other human beings all around the world since 1917.
The prime public record of my more-than-half-century's fulfillment of my commitment has been realized in the working artifacts themselves--the 300,000 world-around geodesic domes, the five million Dymaxion World Maps, the many thousands of copies of each of my twenty-three published books---and, most important of all, within the minds and memories of the 30,000 students I have taught how to think about how to design socially needed, more efficiently produced artifacts.
I do not now employ, and never have employed, any professional public relations agents or agencies, lecture or publishing bureaus, salespeople, sales agencies, or promotional workers. As indicated earlier, I am convinced that nature has her own conceptioning, gestation, birth, development, maturization, and death rates, the magnitudes of which vary greatly in respect to the biochemistry and technological arts involved. The most important evolutionary events take the longest.
Since maintenance of the updating and safety of the archives is as yet my responsibility, they are not open to the public, though scholars from time to time are allowed to view them and be shown items of special interest to them. Because I avoid employing any professional agencies, the magnitude of my development is not kept track of and publicly reported by any of the professional agency associations.. For instance, I am not included in the annual statements appearing in the news regarding the public speakers most in demand. Therefore every three years or so my office updates my "basic biography," as it is called, to be distributed to those who ask for information.
Because we are now entering upon the 1927-initiated half-century period of realization, it is now appropriate to make public exposure of the record in order to encourage youth to undertake its own mind-evolved initiatives.
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