Here today gone tomorrow.

We usually think of architects, painters, and sculptors who create work to last for a long time. Sometimes they create objects or events that are not intended to be permanent. Think about graffiti artists who spray paint walls that they know will be covered over or Buddhist monks making intricate mandala sand paintings that will be swept up at a closing ceremony. Being temporary is part of the work; it contributes to the meaning of the work.

I built my dream sand castle on a beach in San Diego. It was low tide, and I had to fetch buckets of water from the ocean to fill the tiny moat. When it was finished, I took a picture of my castle with an old-fashioned camera; this was long ago before they had digital cameras. Then the tide came in and washed it all away. I saved the snapshot but now it, too, is gone. Both the castle and the photograph exist only in my memory. They were ephemeral.

The word ephemeral means "beginning and ending in a day." We have come to use it to describe anything that is short-lived or brief. For instance, a musical performance is ephemeral. Although the same musical work may be performed again and again, each performance is unique and short-lived. It may be documented by an audio or video recording, but the recording never fully recreates the experience of being there in person.

A related word is ephemera, or "printed matter of passing interest." The ephemera from a performance would include things such as posters, programs, and tickets that were printed for the event. All of these things--recordings and ephemera--become part of the historical record.

Librarians and archivists help to collect and preserve the history of our culture. Historical records can be factual or merely hints about what happened, clues that must be interpreted thoughtfully by future researchers. When we document something, we try to be accurate. Since artists often create works that are complex and ambiguous, as well as short-lived, preserving an accurate record can be challenging.

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Anything from a hand-written note, a drawing, or a photograph to a computer file, a podcast, or a website can provide a record. Unfortunately, any of these may also become ephemeral, and information may have to be transferred to different formats as materials deteriorate or as equipment and technologies change. If I could find my photograph of the sand castle, I could save it on my computer. I could then print the new image out on paper or share it on a website. Transferring records to other formats is part of the strategy for saving them. If one format becomes out of date, we have to find another.

Trying to collect, record, and preserve the history of ephemeral works of art can be hard but these unique works of art are worth the effort.

If you were an archivist, how would you document the following works of art?

* a dance performance

* a magazine

* a landscape installation

* an outdoor mural

* an artist's interactive website

* a Mardi Gras parade

* a DJ's multimedia session (sound and images)