SearchResearch Challenge (Dec 21, 2016): Searching for the place where things should be

Where should things go?

Regular Reader Ann Folsom wrote in with a great question that I wanted to share as a SearchResearch Challenge, especially at this holiday time of the year.

Her excellent question:

Some of us are in the position of downsizing or finding out what's in those trunks in the attic, learning what a family member treasured enough to put away. For instance, I recently heard of a woman unable to find a buyer for her player piano and its 150 piano rolls. In another case, a family member passed away, leaving an enormous collection of lovely, varied, interesting teacups.

What happens to family photo albums from 80-90 years ago? The clothing and backgrounds are interesting, and who knows what might be of historic interest to future researchers?

Likewise, families often have magazine and comic book collections, stamp and coin collections, not to mention electronic collections (outdated computers, with instruction manuals and floppy disks of various types)

I've even seen collections of mounted trophy heads, artwork from painters, journals and magazines in various fields, and personal libraries of books. Where should they go? I'm guessing that somewhere out there, somebody would have loved to have the player piano or the piano rolls.

I have no idea how you'd make the connection. Some tech historian might really welcome the electronic collection of Victor computers, attachments, and disks.

This leads to today's Challenge, which comes in two parts:

1. How do you find the "best" place for your collection of artifacts from another time? Is there a strategy to match your collection with an interested buyer / acquirer? That is, how would you find a good home for your collection?

-- and then there's the opposite of that question...

2. If you're searching for archival materials to acquire, what's a good strategy for finding them? (As an example, what's the best way to find archival piano rolls to acquire? How about old oak library card catalogs?)

What would your advice be to Ann? Is there an effective strategy that would match archival artifacts with interested buyers or acquirers?

Let us know what your advice would be. How can you give stuff back to the universe after you're done with it (and do it in a way that is beneficial to the world at large)? And how can you figure out how to acquire the stuff that you're interested in as well. (While I'm not a big collector, I have been known to acquire the occasional historically interesting postcard. How does one do that??)

Who knew there was an amusement park at Fulton at Tenth Avenue in
San Francisco, next to Golden Gate Park known as "Beer Town"?
You can't make this stuff up. Postcards make the past visible.

Search on!