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Floppy Disks, 1980-2000 November 9

3 boxes
SOME ONLINE CONTENT
Restrictions may apply.
Collection Creator:
Morrison, Toni
Dates:
1980-2000 November 9
Extent:
3 boxes
Languages:
English
Scope and Contents

This series consists of files extracted from 3.5" and 5.25" floppy disks. These files include drafts from Beloved, Jazz, Paradise, Playing in the Dark, Race-ing Justice, Engendering Power, Birth of a Nation'Hood, and various academic lectures; as well as administrative databases and correspondence, likely including duplicates from letterbooks and reports found in Working Files.

Researchers should note that partial drafts of Beloved can be found in file groups "DataBase Files, Indexes and Programs" and "Ronnie's Disks."

Disk titles are taken from original handwritten labels, and may include dates that do not match the dates derived from the actual files. When disks were unlabeled, disk titles were occasionally supplied by the archivist, as indicated at the file-level. Description notes for individual disks contain further notations from longer labels or disk envelopes where present, or other contextual information. Disk numbers refer to the order in which disk imaging was attempted. Some disks (disk009, disk027, disk030-disk031, disk054, disk076, disk104-disk110, disk112-disk119) were unable to be successfully imaged but may be added if new machines allow them to be imaged successfully.

Conditions Governing Access

Please contact Special Collections staff through the Ask Us! form for access to content. Files from some disks, as indicated in the finding aid, are restricted due to content with personally identifiable information.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. For permissions and copyright questions related to Toni Morrison and her writings, please contact the Toni Morrison Estate via Rene Boatman (boatman@princeton.edu). To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Credit this material:

Floppy Disks; Toni Morrison Papers, C1491, Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Storage Note:
  • Firestone Library (hsvm): Box 227-229
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Some material in this collection, particularly found in the Writings and Correspondence series, was damaged by the fire that destroyed Morrison's upstate New York home in 1993. Damage ranges from charred edges to pages missing significant portions or rendered illegible.

Processing Information

Some materials in this collection were treated for fire damage and encapsulated in mylar in 1994.

This collection was processed by Allison Hughes, with the assistance of Sophia Alvarez, Fiona Bell, Kristine Gift, Isabelle Litke, Chloe Pfendler, and Ann-Elise Siden in February 2015-February 2017. Processing of the born-digital material was done by Elena Colón-Marrero, Jarrett Drake, and Allison Hughes in 2015-2016. Finding aid written by Allison Hughes in 2016-2017.

New additions were processed and the finding aid was updated by in March-November 2017 by Kelly Bolding, in 2018 by Faith Charlton, in January-February 2020 by Chloe Pfendler, and in 2024 by Faith Charlton. Additional born-digital materials were processed by Kathryn Antonelli and Kelly Bolding in July-August 2017.

Collection Overview

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

This series consists of files extracted from 3.5" and 5.25" floppy disks. These files include drafts from Beloved, Jazz, Paradise, Playing in the Dark, Race-ing Justice, Engendering Power, Birth of a Nation'Hood, and various academic lectures; as well as administrative databases and correspondence, likely including duplicates from letterbooks and reports found in Working Files.

Researchers should note that partial drafts of Beloved can be found in file groups "DataBase Files, Indexes and Programs" and "Ronnie's Disks."

Disk titles are taken from original handwritten labels, and may include dates that do not match the dates derived from the actual files. When disks were unlabeled, disk titles were occasionally supplied by the archivist, as indicated at the file-level. Description notes for individual disks contain further notations from longer labels or disk envelopes where present, or other contextual information. Disk numbers refer to the order in which disk imaging was attempted. Some disks (disk009, disk027, disk030-disk031, disk054, disk076, disk104-disk110, disk112-disk119) were unable to be successfully imaged but may be added if new machines allow them to be imaged successfully.

Arrangement

This material is arranged alphabetically by disk titles, or groups of disks containing the same type of material, such as "Correspondence" and "Chronological Letters". The disks in groups "DataBase Files, Indexes and Programs" and "Ronnie's Disks" were maintained as per their original arrangement, in boxes with those labels.

Collection History

Appraisal

Some floppy disks were deaccessioned after imaging due to a lack of archival value. Duplicate papers and audiovisual materials were removed from the collection.

Processing Information

Some materials in this collection were treated for fire damage and encapsulated in mylar in 1994.

This collection was processed by Allison Hughes, with the assistance of Sophia Alvarez, Fiona Bell, Kristine Gift, Isabelle Litke, Chloe Pfendler, and Ann-Elise Siden in February 2015-February 2017. Processing of the born-digital material was done by Elena Colón-Marrero, Jarrett Drake, and Allison Hughes in 2015-2016. Finding aid written by Allison Hughes in 2016-2017.

New additions were processed and the finding aid was updated by in March-November 2017 by Kelly Bolding, in 2018 by Faith Charlton, in January-February 2020 by Chloe Pfendler, and in 2024 by Faith Charlton. Additional born-digital materials were processed by Kathryn Antonelli and Kelly Bolding in July-August 2017.

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

Please contact Special Collections staff through the Ask Us! form for access to content. Files from some disks, as indicated in the finding aid, are restricted due to content with personally identifiable information.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. For permissions and copyright questions related to Toni Morrison and her writings, please contact the Toni Morrison Estate via Rene Boatman (boatman@princeton.edu). To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Some material in this collection, particularly found in the Writings and Correspondence series, was damaged by the fire that destroyed Morrison's upstate New York home in 1993. Damage ranges from charred edges to pages missing significant portions or rendered illegible.

Credit this material:

Floppy Disks; Toni Morrison Papers, C1491, Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
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Storage Note:
  • Firestone Library (hsvm): Box 227-229

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Related Materials

Other materials relating to Toni Morrison's work at Random House may be found in the Random House records at Columbia University's Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Original drafts of Toni Cade Bambara's writings and related materials may be found in the Spelman College Archives.

A number of recordings of PEN American Center events in which Toni Morrison participated can be found in the PEN American Center Records (C0760). Online access to these recordings is available through the PEN America Digital Archive site.