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The KRAB Archive
Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics
Through June 2018

While it may be the age of "alternative facts", statistics can still be useful in reporting what we have accomplished since launching the KRAB Archive in Dec 2012. We have tried to avoid lies and damned lies, but there have undoubtedly been times when the imaginations of KRAB tricksters and story tellers have (for effect we presume) enhanced the truth.

This will be updated from time to time.

KRAB Program guides 1963 to 1984 - scanned and published

Program guides provide the most complete record of KRAB's programming, and portions of the history, including volunteer and staff names and activities, as well as events documented in the guides. The early guides also contain the essays of Lorenzo Milam that describe the philosophy, temperament, and mood of the stations founder(s) and followers as it progressed.

Fifteen people, a foundation, and a book have contributed either hard or electronic copies of program guides. Some, who happened to save more, have shared more, but all have helped to fill gaps in the collection. Here is a list of the donors, and a count of what is in the archive. Note, while Gary Margason is credited as only donating 20 guides, he is actually responsible for a much greater number. To trace the provenance: In 1988 I transferred to his custody 90 of my own and 89 guides collected by Darol Streib. He kept those secure for 29 years, and returned them to me in 2017 with his own and Chris Melgard's. So of the total guides in the archive, Gary saved, protected and shared 229.

Total KRAB guides published 1963 to 1984, Archived, and yet to be found

(1) Archived includes only complete guides with all pages.

(2) A list of the missing KRAB guides can be found here

Audio - From magnetic tape, digital files, or out-of-print vinyl phonograph records

Audio lets listeners today hear what the station "sounded like", with announcers and engineers who came from the community, and tended to avoid the cliches of commercial radio "DJs". Today, with 570 hours of program content, we have barely scratched the surface in attempting to reveal the diversity of programs, programmers, and voices heard on KRAB.

This lists only that material that has been digitized and published in the archive. Material that is currently in the process of being digitized and prepared for the site is not included.

(3) Audio (or program) segments are complete programs, or discrete portions of programs. Note some physical reels contain more than one program or program segment.

(4) Physical reels, cassettes, or phonograph records digitized, or digital files contributed.

(5) At our request, to date the Jack Straw Foundation has generously digitized 130 reels, and given digital files of the content to the KRAB Archive to share. In addition, they have given the Archive digital copies of another 29 reels that were previously digitized for other people or organizations.

Audio Classified by Genre

As with the two charts above, this tells one less about the nature of KRAB programming than it does about the people and circumstances of the recordings that have been saved and shared with the Archive. In other words, this does not inform one of the percentages of programming types or genres actually broadcast. It is only informative of what has survived and is now posted in the Archive.

(3) Audio segments are complete programs, or discrete portions of programs.

(6) The discrepancy between the total hours reported in the two charts is due to the applications that summarize the data use differing algorithms.

If you possess any souvenirs (program guides, tapes, or photos) or have a story about your experience with KRAB you are willing to share, please email archive@krabarchive.com

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