Rachel Somerville is opening a package that's just come into a work room of the new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Library and Archives.
RACHEL SOMERVILLE: It's from Del Shannon.
The archive assistant is hovering over a box brimming with papers from the 1960s rocker: news clippings, sheet music, and scribbles that eventually became popular songs.
RACHEL SOMERVILLE: It's always really exciting, because you get this box and you have no idea what's going to be in it, and then you open it up and it's handwritten lyrics to the song "Runaway". It's very cool.
A vast range of original musical documents is housed here, from the writings of pop phenoms such as Shannon, to the lyric fragments of weightier figures like Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix.
Another room, with high ceilings and climate control gauges, has endless shelves of archival storage boxes. Archives Director Andy Leach notes that the focus here isn't just on performers.
ANDY LEACH: Behind you is the Ahmet Ertegun collection. It's basically his personal papers as well as business records related to Atlantic Records.
Ertegun founded Atlantic in 1947, and music researchers can now pour through a collection of his correspondence, date books, and photos, which document the inner workings of the music business. Such materials are available for inspection in the reading room of the Library and Archives, along with a big collection of books and music journals.
Whereas a place like the Hard Rock Café restaurant chain prides itself on the display of autographed guitars and drum sticks, Rock Hall Archive director Andy Leach says the focus of his facility is to treat rock history as a serious subject of scholarly study.
ANDY LEACH: It's going to turn Cleveland into a research hub for popular music.
The Rock Hall's Library and Archives are housed on the metro Campus of Cuyahoga Community College. And although the facility is now open to the public, there are plans for a splashier grand opening to coincide with the annual Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, taking place in Cleveland in mid-April.
