Soundprint records
Collection
0563-MMC
The Soundprint audio recordings consist of programs produced by Soundprint media from 1988-2008. The collection consists of recordings of programs on CDs, DATs, and Beta tapes.
This collection is open to the public and must be used in the Special Collections reading room. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.
Photocopies or digital surrogates may be provided in accordance with Special Collections and University Archives duplication policy.
Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs unless otherwise specified. It is the researcher's responsibility to secure permission to publish materials from the appropriate copyright holder.
Archival materials may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal and/or state right to privacy laws or other regulations. While we make a good faith effort to identify and remove such materials, some may be missed during our processing. If a researcher finds sensitive personal information in a collection, please bring it to the attention of the special collections reading room staff.
1,121 Items (CD, Beta, DAT)
2 Webpages (Two archived websites)
English
The radio documentary series Soundprint, founded in January 1988, was originated by Bill Siemering, creator of National Public Radio's "All Things Considered," and first aired on Baltimore's public radio station WJHU-FM.
Each program in the series explored one subject in-depth, using the talents of independent producers. "We call Soundprint the aural equivalent of photojournalism," the company's website stated. "We like stories which engage the listener's mind, imagination and heart. We encourage the creative and inventive use of sound to develop a contemporary art of storytelling."
In 1994, an independent production company known as Soundprint Media Center, Inc. took over production of the series. Moira Rankin, formerly of the Sophie's Parlor Media Collective, became executive producer of the series and president of the new corporation. Production moved from Baltimore to WAMU-FM in Washington, D.C.
"Soundprint" first gained national distribution through the American Public Radio Network, then became affiliated with National Public Radio, significantly increasing the number of stations airing the program. At one time, the longest-running non-fiction documentary series in public radio, "Soundprint" ran from January 1988 to July 2012. The series won several major broadcasting awards, including a Peabody and several from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
This collection is arranged into two series:
This collection contains audiovisual materials. Items that cannot be used in the Special Collections reading room or are too fragile for researchers require that a digital copy be made prior to use. If you would like to access these materials, please contact us prior to your visit.
The Soundprint audio recordings were received by the UMD Libraries in approximately 2013-2014. It is likely they were donated originally to National Public Radio (NPR) and UMD received them as part of a NPR accession.
Amy Wickner (electronic records archivist) compiled information about individual programs by crawling Soundprint's website, then integrating and cleaning data extracted from a Filemaker Pro database provided by the donor. Jim Baxter (processing archivist) checked program listings against the physical materials and removed any programs that SCUA did not hold. Archives staff removed duplicates from the collection, while retaining two different formats of each program. Archives staff largely reproduced descriptions of individual programs from Soundprint-created abstracts, with limited revisions to update and contextualize outdated language related to sex work, disability, Indigenous peoples, and sexuality.
Part of the Special Collections and University Archives