Abstract Despite its primary emphasis on the blues and ragtime, the Samuel and Ann Charters Archives spans the entire 20th century, beginning with African-American spirituals and the ragtime of Scott Joplin and other early composers, and ending with Snoop Doggy Dogg and the rappers of the late 20th century. The Archives holds thousands of hours of recorded music on LP, 45 rpm and 78 rpm records, compact discs, audio cassettes, and reel-to-reel tapes. Though some records date back to the 1920s, the...