David Farneth, MLS'77, is the first institutional archivist for the J. Paul Getty Research Institute. With the Getty Institute since June 2001, Farneth has been charged with establishing and maintaining the historical archives, devising and implementing a records management program, developing an oral history program.
The historical archives are situated within the Research Library of the Getty Research Institute, and cataloguing records are being integrated into the Research Library's search and retrieval system. As institutional archivist, Farneth gathers documentation pertaining to the Getty's history from outside sources as well. He also heads the Getty Trust Oral History Project. The project captures insights of people who made critical contributions to the development of the Trust and its programs from the time of J. Paul Getty's death in 1976 to the opening of the Getty Center in 1997. Future phases of the project will document the years up to 1976 and institutional changes made after 1997.
With expertise in records management, cataloguing, scholarly research, and archival conservation, Farneth has held positions as head archivist of the Dia Art Foundation in New York and music librarian at both the University of Delaware and the Dallas Public Library. Prior to his appointment with the Getty, Farneth was director of the Weill-Lenya Research Center in New York City, where he also served as archivist of the Kurt Weill Edition and editor of the critically acclaimed Kurt Weill Newsletter. His numerous publications include Kurt Weill: A Life in Pictures and Documents and Lenya: The Legend.
Posted September 22, 2003