MLA Visits San Diego

I'm still looking for palm trees whenever I look out my window.  Is anyone else?  The San Diego meeting at Paradise Point Resort was really terrific, in spite of the fact that our numbers were down somewhat. For those who couldn't be there, you were greatly missed, believe me.  Hopefully, by the time registration for the Philadelphia meeting comes around, the economy will be on the upswing and travel budgets will be in better shape for all of us.

There were fascinating sessions, the exhibit area was buzzing (and the view didn't hurt!), the band absolutely rocked (of course), and a great and quite productive time was had by all.

There are so many people to thank, topping the list with Diane Steinhaus and her Program Committee, Convention Managers Paula Hickner and Bonna Boettcher, Jim Zychowicz, our wonderful exhibitors, and of course everyone who participated in the program itself.  Together, we all make an amazing team.

We also celebrated the completion of the $5 campaign, which resulted in 80% of our membership making contributions to the Association.  Thanks to each and every one of you for making that initiative so successful and for your continued demonstrations of generosity to MLA.

The annual meeting always signifies hellos and goodbyes as new board members step up and others say farewell. Joining the Executive Board are Vice-President/President Elect Jerry McBride, Recording Secretary Pamela Bristah, Assistant Treasurer/Executive Secretary Linda Blair, and members-at-large Susannah Cleveland, Cheryl Taranto and Liza Vick.  Leaving the ranks are Past President Phil Vandermeer, Recording Secretary Karen Little, and members-at-large Lois Kuyper-Rushing, Nancy Lorimer and Paul Cary.  I've already expressed my thanks to them in several venues over the last month or so, but it never hurts to say it one more time.  It was an honor to work with all of them and a great pleasure to make such great friends through the course of our time together on the board.

Finally, welcome to our new newsletter editor, Misti Shaw!  Misti is taking over editorship from Steve Mantz.  (Steve, I actually turned this one in on time!)

There's a great deal on the horizon as we continue to move the work of the Association forward.  Stay tuned for a Strategic Planning endeavor, among other exciting projects.

With best wishes to all as I type this out on my SNOW FREE and SUNNY patio (I had to work a weather report in somehow!)

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Opening Plenary:
California Music and Mexican Borderland Influence

Mark Puente,
Association of Research Libraries

The opening plenary session presented a fascinating look at modern and historical California musical expressions and their influence and development from borderland Mexican traditions. Vanderbilt University professor Helena Simonett traced nineteenth-century Northern Mexican band (“banda”) traditions, discussing how economic globalization and NAFTA allowed for cross-border influences on this musical genre in Northern Mexico and Southern California. Simonett described how the techno music influences of the 1990s helped to create the “Chicago” sound. She used musical examples to demonstrate the impact of modern, electronic, urban musical trends on the peasant, Borderline compositions of the turn of the nineteenth-century. Although evolving into a cross-cultural musical idiom with global influences, the Nor-tec movement maintained its roots in band and accordion music from the borderland peasant communities.

Alejandro Madrid (University of Illinois, Chicago) continued this theme of cross-border influences during his presentation on the “Tijuana sound.” Rooted in social movements of the 1960s, this musical expression owes its development to progressive rock, European electronic, and club (or “house”) music scenes, particularly from the mid-80s. Similar to technobanda movement, changes in commerce such as NAFTA provided the entrée to these cross-border influences in Tijuana, allowing for a local response to a transformative global music scene. The Tijuana sound attempted to separate itself from its roots, both musically and politically, through a “discourse of difference” while simultaneously embracing technological innovations of the twentieth-century.

Last, Tom Diamant from the Strachwitz Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American Recordings at UCLA provided numerous musical examples and a pictorial essay of the recordings and ephemera held in this outstanding archival collection of UCLA’s Chicano Studies Research Center. Diamont played examples of Mexican “corridos,” musical ballads that told stories of events and personalities of note from the several decades in the twentieth century. Although focused on recording labels from the Los Angeles area, this collection chronicles this musical form, which offers social and political commentary from events and people from throughout the Southwest and Mexico.

The session offered a rare glimpse at musical genres and recording traditions from two geographic regions (Southern California and Northern Mexico) that have had profound influences on one another in the cultural, political, and social arenas.

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FRBR and FRAD: Three Different Perspectives

Casey Mullin,
Stanford
(Report on the session, “FRBR, FRAD, and Music: Theory and Practice,” sponsored by the Bibliographic Control Committee)

Kathy Glennan, who moderated the session, introduced the three presenters, each of whom discussed implications of the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Data (FRBR) and Functional Requirements for Authority Data conceptual models (FRAD) from a different perspective.

Ed Jones (National University) gave brief introductions to FRBR and FRAD, beginning with a short history and context of the models’ development (growing out of the ever-evolving cataloging paradigm, beginning with the Paris Principles of 1960 and culminating in RDA, to be released later this year). He described the entity-relationship structure of the models, the sources used in developing the models (e.g. ISBD, UNIMARC, etc.), the user tasks identified in the reports, along with the intended users (users of all types in FRBR, as opposed to authority data creators in FRAD), and subsequently the entities, attributes, and relationships identified in the reports. Along the way, Jones showed several supporting illustrations. The first was Barbara Tillett’s visualization of the continuum of “equivalent” Expressions, to new Expressions/Works (“derivative”), to bona fide new Works (“descriptive”). Next were examples of catalog displays, in which he compared an alphabetic list of access points (showing relationships syntactically), a faceted browse display, and a theoretical “FRBRized” display, which shows relationships explicitly.

Jones stressed two further points. He identified FRBR/FRAD relationships as a “new concept,” as they have not been treated as explicitly or consistently in MARC. Next, he discussed two distinct approaches to thinking about the models: the “top-down” (real world) approach, exemplified by the Object-oriented FRBR model (FRBRoo), which starts from creation of the Work, and the “bottom-up” (empirical) approach, which more closely reflects activities the cataloger engages in (starting with an Item in hand and determining associated entities). Finally, Jones introduced RDA as a content standard which employs FRBR/FRAD terminology, and is organized according to the user tasks and entities described therein. Three implementation scenarios are outlined in RDA: (3) unlinked bibliographic and authority files, (2) linked bibliographic and authority files (most current systems), and (1) relational database structure with records for individual entities. As a marked departure from current practice, a Scenario 1 implementation will likely have to await a successor or competitor to the MARC format.

Caitlin Hunter (Library of Congress, previously at Indiana University) described her experiences creating metadata for ethnic music resources, as it relates to FRBR/FRAD concepts. She first described her varied musical background, in both Western and non-Western realms, which has informed her work as a music cataloger. The specific work described here was on the Variations2 Digital Music Library project at Indiana University, where she was the first cataloger in a newly-developed Work-based music discovery tool. This tool provides granular access to digitized scores and sound recordings, using a data model roughly analogous (though not identical) to FRBR, with separate records for Works, Instantiations (roughly: Expressions), Containers (roughly: Manifestations), and Contributors. The metadata used to populate these records is partially derived from MARC records, though many salient attributes of non-Western music have not been accommodated as well in cataloging practice as have been attributes of Western music.

Hunter went on to describe the numerous challenges of providing Work-level access to non-Western musical resources. First she identified specific attributes users of this content search for: geographic location, ethnic group, form/genre, instrumentation, and various “second tier” elements, which include languages, dates, and content (the “Works”). Next she described the corpus of resources she used to develop practices for cataloging non-Western music; this included both commercial and field recordings. Lastly, she treated, in turn, the vagaries associated with Works (which are difficult to define in non-Western music), contributors, form/genre, instrumentation, geographic location, and other issues.

Jenn Riley (Indiana University) presented the most current phase of the Variations initiative at IU, which aims to create fully FRBRized metadata for all scores and sound recordings in IU’s Cook Music Library, as well as share this data, and the technical specifications of the underlying data model, as a testbed for the broader library community (to this end, XML schemas were released in March 2010.) She began by identifying, as warrant, specific queries not handled well by current library catalogs (as she posed, “Can the catalog be a research tool as well as a finding tool?”) As she observed, other experimental FRBRized systems (e.g. WorldCat Local) are a step in the right direction, but are only a start. She then described how Variations uses the FRBR model, with certain additions and omissions, to provide granular access to musical works contained in library resources. Among the other goals of the current project, the Variations/FRBR project team wishes to apply innovative, evidence-based interface design techniques to both cataloging and search interfaces.

Next, Riley showed a mock-up of the Variations/FRBR search interface, which accommodates user access to alternatively Works or Manifestations, though in separate panes within the same screen. The design exhibits other crucial design decisions. The interface gives results right away, allowing the user then to refine, using both facets (this is in line with next generation catalogs) as well as disambiguation, using the Work pane. She disclaimed that the interface was still under heavy development, with many other design details yet to be ironed out (e.g., what to display in the Manifestation pane, how to sort facet values).
A more efficacious metadata creation interface is another goal of the Variations/FRBR project. Riley described the various issues associated with creating such an interface, including machine-mapping and harvesting of MARC records to the fullest extent possible (using sophisticated algorithms), transparency for the cataloger, by hiding complexity whenever possible and allowing easy retrieval of already existing entities,  data clean-up, and the need for statistics on time and money required to upgrade and create records.

A question and answer period followed, with most queries directed at Riley. Issues raised included the abundance of digital music content available online, and how it might be useful to FRBRized discovery systems, the large number of unanalyzed collections in libraries, and other gaps in existing library metadata.

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Hot Topics: Recordings, Robots, and Social Networking

Katie Buehner,
University of Houston

The 2010 Hot Topics session, moderated by Tom Caw (University of Wisconsin-Madison), revisited certain issues while putting others to rest.  The session kicked off with a familiar topic, the future of sound recordings.  The plenary session at last year's Chicago meeting devoted to this topic notwithstanding, questions persist, including how to preserve current collections, and a clear methodology for acquiring and providing access to recordings available only as digital downloads.  D.J. Hoek (Northwestern) reminded the room that record companies are more interested in the casual consumer than in libraries because record companies are most interested in revenue, which makes attracting their interest as active participants in solving this dilemma unlikely.  Alexander Street Press (Tim Lloyd) sent out a call for librarians to alert streaming audio providers of such recordings so that they might be acquired for their services.  Jenny Colvin (Furman) suggested that adopting a model used for e-books, where institutions are charged per e-book accessed, might prove effective, as it would allow for patron-driven acquisition while still requiring discovery through the library catalog. Digital Audio Collections Task Force chair Daniel Boomhower also pointed out some of the practical issues in acquiring digital downloads, such as long-term access, licensing, consortial vs. single institution purchasing, and the technical ability of institutions to host such information. 

The bulk of conversation was born of the next topic, which began as a discussion of collection development in the face of budget concerns and segued into a parallel topic: the merging of music libraries into "main" collections. Laura Gayle Green (University of Missouri-Kansas City) started by telling of what she termed "the robot," an Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS) currently being used at her institution in order to allow reallocation of collection space for more "student friendly spaces". As such a system requires a dependence on the library catalog for browsing, other librarians began speaking of the need for music patrons to physically browse through scores. This led to the conversation of music's desired autonomy from main collections as more and more, academic administrators seek to cut costs by consolidating collections.  

As more such stories surfaced, Joe Boonin stated that there is a distinct difference between physical consolidation and administrative consolidation, and that loss of space can be survived, but proprietary loss is far more damaging. Several members spoke of the power of statistical data in making convincing arguments, as statistics can articulate certain strange truths about the habits and needs of music library patrons, and is the language administrators most appreciate.  Despite the many negatives of main collection integration, some librarians mentioned some positive outcomes, such as increased opportunity for interdisciplinary projects and ready access to the ear of administration or other library units.  Since it was observed this topic cyclically surfaces on MLA-L, and that the advice shared in that forum has proven overwhelmingly useful, the idea of MLA hosting some ready resources on this issue was proposed.

Caw introduced the final hot topic, a discussion of where we stand on Web 2.0, by polling attendees about their interest in several online tools, such as Second Life, Facebook, and Twitter.  Only one person admitted to “tweeting” during Hot Topics, and only a few hands raised when asked who had checked their Facebook during the day. So, in the case of Web 2.0, have we arrived?  With a lack of general enthusiasm to further delve into the intricacies of social networking and YouTube, the conversation then veered into the quirks of e-books and e-readers (Kindle, etc.).  Stephen Nordstrom (Brigham Young University) said that of the eleven hundred e-book titles in the BYU Music and Dance Library, most have at least two views, while the top ten titles have averaged between thirty and fifty views.  He also said that his institution had purchased Kindles with the intention of using them for ILL requests, but Amazon found out and shut it down.  Leslie Bennett (University of Oregon) was curious as to how other institutions were handling e-books which come with audio and/or video components, which led Ned Quist  (Brown University) to ask what the difference is between buying an e-book that doesn't live on a local server, and an audio file purchased in the same way?  David Hunter (University of Texas) objected to the exclusion of libraries as legitimate suppliers of information, particularly those who distribute by download only, which makes it impossible for librarians to do their jobs. Hunter believes such publisher and economic models are repugnant. This seemed to, in fact, end the conversation in much the same place that it started, and with that, the 2010 Hot Topics session came to a serendipitous conclusion.

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Soliciting Nominations for MOUG Distinguished Service Award

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2011 Music OCLC Users Group (MOUG) Distinguished Service Award. This award recognizes and honors someone who has made significant professional contributions to music users of OCLC. The MOUG Executive Board selects a recipient based on nominations received from the MOUG membership.

Eligibility for nomination is as follows:

*  Nominees must have made professional contributions which significantly address the needs and concerns of music-oriented users of OCLC's products and services.
*  Nominees may be MOUG members, but membership in the organization is not a requirement.
*  The nomination must be accompanied by a statement that provides supporting evidence of the nominee's qualifications.

Please send nominations and accompanying statements to the email address below no later than June 15, 2010. The Executive Board will select an award recipient at its summer meeting.

The award recipient will receive an engraved plaque containing an inscription recognizing his or her special contribution to the field, complimentary registration for the MOUG meeting at which the award is being presented, and a lifetime complimentary membership to MOUG.

Past recipients of this award are Michelle "Mickey" Koth (2009; Yale University), Charles M. "Chuck" Herrold,  Jr. (2007; Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh), Bettie Jean Harden (2006; University of North Texas), Ralph Papakhian and Sue Stancu (joint recipients, 2005; Indiana University), Jay Weitz (2004; OCLC, Inc.), Judy Weidow (2003; University of Texas), and Kay Burnett (2002; Smith College).

For more information about MOUG, please visit http://www.musicoclcusers.org/. Questions and nominations can be sent to the following individual:

Tracey Rudnick, MOUG Past Chair
Head, Allen Memorial Library
University of Hartford
200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06117
ph: 860.768.4404; fx: 860.768.5295; rudnick@hartford.edu

Jim Cassaro
MLA Development Officer

It was so wonderful to see so many of you at the MLA meeting in San Diego! I am always amazed at how generous MLA members are, and indeed you all surpassed my expectations for giving! With a challenge from Michael Ochs, former Notes editor and president of the association, to give $1,000.00 if we could raise $2,000.00 at the meeting, I am happy to report that we have more than met the challenge. In total, we raised approximately $8,160.00, which includes $4,595.00 from individual donations; $1,180.00 from our silent auction; $885.00 from the MLA Shop, and $1,500.00 from our drink tickets initiative. Bravo!
           
In my last column, I outlined the establishment and implementation of the Orpheus Society, a giving circle for major gifts, with payments made at regular intervals. In addition to this initiative, we have also established the Ostinato Circle, a program for you to donate an amount of your choosing on a monthly basis, by credit card or by bank transfer. You’ll be hearing more about this in the near future. There are other initiatives coming down the pike, most notably a way to honor our late colleague, Ralph Papakhian.
           
In addition, we have also established a “10 Creative Ways of Giving” program for the Association. As I wrote in my last column, many of our generous donors want to have their funds cover the cost of something specific in the annual MLA operating or conference budgets, but do not necessarily know how much these items cost. This program will help our donors to focus their giving to a particular initiative outside of those we already offer, and as such, will allow the association to do bigger and better things. Here is our list:

“Ten Creative Ways of Giving” to MLA

$100.00 will help cover the cost of...
            —MLA’s affiliate dues to the American Library Association

$250.00 will help cover the cost of...
            —renting CD players for the annual conference

$500.00 will help cover the cost of...
            —the annual processing subvention for the MLA Archives
            —the printing of brochures
            —funding the MLA Special Achievement Award

$750.00 will help cover the cost of…
            —producing an online issue of the Music Cataloging Bulletin

$1,000.00 will help cover the cost of…
            —supporting MLA’s investment in the Historical Recording Coalition for Access
            and Preservation (HRCAP)

$1,500.00 will help cover the cost of…
            —equipment rental for the MLA Big Band
            —designing a new brochure

$2,000.00 will help cover the cost of…
            —the Legislation Committee to represent MLA interests in appropriate fora
            —MLA’s Directors & Officers insurance
            —the Educational Outreach Program
            —the MLA Vice-President/Past-President’s travel to visit MLA Chapters

$2,500.00 will help cover the cost of…
            —travel for MLA’s Bibliographic Control Committee representatives to an
            American Library Association meeting

$5,000.00 will help cover the cost of…
            —printing an issue of Notes
            —maintaining and improving the online MLA Membership database for a year

$7,500.00 will help cover the cost of...
            —MLA’s subsidy to the US-RILM Office

$10,000.00 will help seed the amount needed to...
            —fund an MLA endowment

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The Bibliographic Control Committee (BCC) held two business meetings and sponsored four programs in San Diego: FRBR, FRAD, and Music: Theory and Practice; Workflow Design for Metadata Creation; BCC Town Hall (current topics in cataloging); and RDA: Approaching Implementation. All of the program sessions were well attended. For details on these programs, please see the separate reports published elsewhere in the MLA Newsletter.

The BCC business meetings included subcommittee and task force updates, as well as new topics. The committee discussed issues relating to RDA, including the U.S. National Libraries’ RDA test plan timeline and partner expectations, and the implications for planning RDA-related programming for the MLA Philadelphia meeting. Since the timing of an announcement about U.S. implementation of RDA will be unknown by February next year, BCC should consider alterative RDA training options. BCC also needs to create a framework for cross-subcommittee work on possible proposals to revise RDA.

BCC-related education and training opportunities arise in addition to those related to RDA. We will work with the Education Committee in exploring opportunities to provide content within MLA. Possibilities include pre-conferences, developing workshops as part of the Educational Outreach Program, online training and webinars, and partnering with outside organizations such as MOUG and OLAC.

Damian Iseminger led a discussion about the possibility of developing guidelines for expression records, following the basic model of the 2008 BCC Working Group on Work Records for Music. BCC members had differing opinions on this issue, recognizing that the cataloging landscape has changed since the previous working group’s final report. BCC will explore the issues further in the next few months and will likely charge an internal task force to work on the issues related to expression records.

We welcomed two members of the RBMS/MLA Joint Committee on Early Printed Music (Jain Fletcher and Nancy Lorimer) to discuss the latest draft of Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (Music) and how to have BCC provide the best possible feedback. The Joint Committee has made a public wiki available for comments at http://dcrmmreview.pbworks.com/; BCC will collect internal comments separately and prepare a formal report by the end of May.

Beth Iseminger brought BCC up-to-date with developments on the music genre/form project. The MLA-BCC Genre/Form Task Force will take the initial one thousand terms identified by the task force and the Library of Congress and start to provide a hierarchical structure. They will also complete their analysis of genre/form and medium of performance terms included in the Garland Encyclopedia of World Music and Grove Music Online but missing from LCSH. The task force will also explore potential changes needed in the MARC Formats, working with that Subcommittee as appropriate.

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After approval of the 2009 minutes, chair Damian Iseminger announced that Linda Blair would be rotating off of the Authorities Subcommittee.  Damian thanked Linda for her participation on the subcommittee and for contributing to many of the endeavors that BCC has pursued during her 4 years of service.

The chair reviewed the achievements and activities of the subcommittee for the past year.  This included the completion of the MLA Statement on Authority Control in June 2009, approved by the MLA Board at their September 2009 meeting, and the BCC response prepared jointly by the Authorities Subcommittee and the Subject Access Subcommittee to the IFLA draft document Functional Requirements for Subject Authority Data.  The chair, as liaison to the ALA ALCTS-CCS/LITA Authority Control Interest Group (ACIG) and to OLAC’s Cataloging Policy Committee (CAPC), also reported on the activities of these two groups at ALA Annual 2009 in Chicago, Ill. and ALA Midwinter 2010 in Boston, Mass.

The remaining hour of the meeting was given over to discussion of a proposed Musical Works Project for music falling outside the Western art music canon.  BCC, through the report of the 2008 Working Group on Work Records for Music, had previously tackled the concept of a “work record” for Western art music, but had specifically excluded music falling outside that boundary, mostly due to time and expertise constraints.  With the recent finalization of the text of RDA: Resource Description and Access and a release date set for the summer of 2010, the chair felt it would be a good idea to revisit the idea of work records for music, but this time for music excluded from the 2008 report.  After some preliminary discussions with Authorities Subcommittee members, it was decided that some reading was in order to find some sort of common understanding about the concept of a musical work and how it is treated bibliographically.  In order to address this need, the chair assigned to the subcommittee a group of core readings to be discussed at the Authorities business meeting.

As with 2009’s meeting, Resource Description and Access (RDA) and prioritizing were the main points of business.  The chair began with a brief recounting of RDA-related events since last year’s MLA meeting, including the March meeting of the Joint Steering Committee (JSC) that finalized the RDA text for naming musical works, the creation of the MLA/OLAC funnel for testing RDA, the software testing, and the schedule for RDA publication and testing. 

Though it’s not yet been published or tested as a code, thoughts have turned already to RDA revision.  The JSC has compiled a list of “deferred issues,” features (or gaps) in the code that were allowed to go into the first edition but which are not supported by one or more JSC constituencies.  In the process of developing ALA’s priority list for revision, its Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access (CC:DA) invited cataloging communities with liaisons to CC:DA to identify items of most interest to them and prioritize them.  Mark Scharff, MLA’s liaison to CC:DA, extracted a list from the JSC document and worked with BCC and MLA members to assign priority and detail MLA’s concerns.  He presented this document verbally at the CC:DA meeting at ALA Midwinter in January.  The task of the subcommittee in this meeting was to go through the list and identify which BCC subcommittees in addition to Descriptive would be involved in developing proposals.  Members of the audience weighed in with comments and questions.

There was a question about the timing of the priority list: wouldn’t it make more sense to do this after RDA has actually been published and tested?  The answer was “yes,” but CC:DA wanted to start the process now.  MLA certainly did not want to miss out on input into ALA’s priority list.  Problems identified during the testing process can be addressed, and may actually trump items on the current priority list.  The chair reported that other communities, such as OLAC and the American Theological Library Association, had weighed in with their wish lists.  Another factor driving timing is the expectation that RDA revision will be an ongoing process, albeit one that might require wider consultation than that for AACR2.

The list of priorities can be found at:
http://www.musiclibraryassoc.org/BCC/PositionPapers/RDA_Revision_Priority_List.pdf
The Authorities Subcommittee will be invited to collaborate on or take charge of concerns over constructing access points and of clarifying instructions about arrangements and adaptations.  The Subject Access Subcommittee and the Form/Genre Task Force might offer some input on whether better correlation between terminology in access points and in form/genre headings can occur.  The Task Force might help with developing a plan for ordering instruments within the medium of performance portion of a preferred access point.

So what’s next?  While work on some points must wait for availability of the RDA text, some larger questions can be addressed now (in particular, those surrounding then naming of popular and “ethnic” musical works).  The free availability of RDA this summer is an important window of opportunity for all.  We will also look for feedback from the MLA/OLAC RDA testers.  Proposals should be ready for ALA Midwinter; it can be to MLA’s advantage to be proactive rather than reactive.  A “November-ish” date should be the goal.

The RDA discussion consumed most of the meeting time.  The Subcommittee was told of the availability of the draft of Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (Music) for comment on the BCC wiki; the deadline for comments is May 1.  The title of the manual leaves no doubt as to what MLA group needs to be looking at it.

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A report of the Committee's activities and discussions follows.

"Putting Your Best Foot Forward"
The CDS Committee sponsored the program, "Putting Your Best Foot Forward:  Successful Navigation of the Job Interview," at the San Diego meeting.  It was presented from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM, just prior to the Committee's business meeting.  The Chair commended the presenters on the excellent comprehensive coverage of their topics (and commented that she had already received very positive feedback from attendees.  Copies of the presentations will be made available on the MLA Website.

Music Library Student Group
Yi Hong Sim and Veronica Alzalde are responsible for the formation of a new Music Library Student Group.  The MLSG was conceived by Yi Hong in September 2009.  At the MLA, Midwest Chapter Meeting in South Bend, Sim discussed the idea with Sheri Stormes who encouraged Sim to contact MLA President Ruthann McTyre to discuss possible sponsorship of the group by the Career Development and Services Committee.  The Board approved the sponsorship at its most recent meeting.  The MLSG has a Google Site, Google Group (through which it conducts official business), and Facebook Group.  To date, the MLSG has attracted fifty-four (54) members.  Sim and Alzalde have drafted a mission statement, identified service groups and support groups, and have crafted an administrative structure.  Sim and Alzalde met with Ruthann McTyre on Sunday afternoon to discuss the group and its mission and how MLA can best lend its support.

Sim and Alzalde suggested that the MLSG may wish to sponsor a regular student session at MLA national meetings and perhaps at MLA chapter meetings as well.

The MLSG members are interested in career advisors.  Stormes encouraged them to work with Lisa Shiota who is currently coordinating the CDS Committee's Career Advisory Service.  The MLSG also expressed interest in testing any Webinar software in which MLA might invest.  The group has indicated an interest in conducting a survey to learn which areas of study would be most useful to students preparing for a career in music librarianship.  Stormes suggested that the CDS Committee's review of "Core Competencies for Music Librarians" might dovetail well with the student group's interest.

Sim plans to write a detailed report about the MLSG for the May-June 2010 issue of the MLA Newsletter.

MLA Placement Service
MLA Placement Officer Susannah Cleveland reported that only one institution, Cornell, had interviewed at the San Diego Conference.  Three (3) MLA search committees also interviewed at the Meeting.  At the Placement Desk, there were advertisements for five (5) open jobs.  Cleveland noted that with the exception of one temporary position at Harvard, the positions were full-time and entry-level or mid-level appointments.

In general, activity in the Placement Service has been relatively slow.  Cleveland has been working on publishing the archives of the job postings on the MLA Website.

The Career Development and Services Committee members would like to recognize and commend Susannah Cleveland for her exemplary service as MLA Placement Officer and her valuable service and contributions to the CDS Committee.  Her term of service as Placement Officer ends on July 1st, 2010.

Résumé and Cover Letter Review Service
This year, Chief Coordinator Lisa Woznicki worked diligently to improve the Résumé and Cover Letter Review Service.  She refined and codified instructions for reviewers and for those requesting the reviews and developed various means of alerting and reminding service participants of their appointments.  Woznicki also worked to encourage participants to complete and return evaluations of the service.

Woznicki reported that the Service hosted twelve virtual reviews from March 1, 2009, until March 18, 2010.  Eight reviewers offered fifty-six possible review time slots to attendees of the San Diego meeting.  Woznicki cooperated with Rick McRae to secure seven Reduced Rate Program participants to help staff the RCLRS sign-up table.  Four members of the CDS Committee also assisted with this.  Twenty attendees took advantage of the face-to-face review opportunities.  Evaluations were positive and indicate that this is still a vital service to the MLA membership.

Before handing over control of the RCLRS to her successor, Mike Duffy, who assisted with the service this year, Woznicki offered three suggestions for improving the service: (1) that it provide some sample cover letters that can be shared with participants, (2) that it make available brief bios of the reviewers at the sign-up table so that applicants can find reviewers with desired background experiences, and (3) that the RCLRS service have a more visible link to its virtual review service on the MLA Web page.

First-Time Attendees/New Members Forum
Pat Fisken reported that the First-Time Attendees/New Members' Forum in San Diego was a great success.  It took place on Sunday evening from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM in the Dockside Room.  This year, co-coordinators,Pat Fisken and Suzanne Lovejoy opted to modify the format of the forum.  There were a total of eight speakers.  They included (in addition to the Forum's co-coordinators) Past MLA President (Phil Vandermeer), Current MLA President (Ruthann McTyre), Placement Officer (Susannah Cleveland), Program Chair (Diane Steinhaus), Career Development and Services Chair (Beth Christensen filled in for Sheri Stormes, whose flight was delayed), and Conference Mentoring Coordinator (Laura Moody).  They shared a bountiful banquet with twenty-eight  first-time student attendees.  Ten of this year's twelve Conference Mentors joined the group for dessert.  During the course of the program, the first-time attendees/students introduced themselves and spoke about what they hoped to get out of the meeting.  (N.B. Students are now invited to attend the Forum more than once if they remain students.)

Career Advisory Task Force
Lisa Shiota reported that an online forum has been created for the MLA Career Advisory Service.  There is a link from the Employment and Education page on the MLA Web site. Several mentors have been secured and have signed on to the Forum.  Shiota is working with Jon Haupt to improve the design of the site.  She soon will post on MLA-L to advertise the Career Advisory Service Forum.

Study of Minority Participation in Music/Fine Arts Librarianship
Susannah Cleveland reported that she and Mark Puente presented an analysis of the results of their study of minority participation in music/fine arts librarianship survey at a program entitled, "Theme and Variations:  Survey of the MLA Personnel Characteristics, Revisited (2009). Judy Tsou presented with Cleveland and Puente and suggested ways that MLA might seek to expand diversity in the profession.  Cleveland indicated that she, Puente, and Tsou would make available the content of their presentations via the MLA Web site.

Core Competencies, Revisited
In preparation for this discussion, Sheri Stormes had asked the Committee members to review David Hunter's 2002 statement on "Core Competencies for Music Librarians" and an article that appeared in Fontes Artis Musicae in 1974, entitled, "Qualifications of a Music Librarian."  During the meeting, Stormes asked those present to speak briefly about their primary work responsibilities and what skills have been most critical to their success.  In some cases, members suggested courses of study they wish they had had to better prepare them for their jobs as music/fine arts librarians.

Among the competencies that the members deemed important were skills in:  collection development (especially in an electronic world), cataloging, personnel management and general library management, knowledge of general reference sources, classroom instruction, assessment, space planning and utilization, budgeting, grant writing, program management, negotiating consortium agreements, and advocating for one's discipline.  A number of people felt that knowledge in an additional (especially arts-related) subject area (e.g., dance, theatre, art, architecture) could prove very useful.  They also stressed the importance of having familiarity with at least one foreign language (especially French, German, Italian, or Russian).

Stormes appointed a Task Force to work on a revision statement of the core competencies for music librarians during the coming year.  Task Force members are: Veronica Alzalde, Joseph Clark, Susannah Cleveland, Alan Ringwood, Sheri Stormes, Maurice Wheeler, and Lisa Woznicki.  Once the Task Force has drafted a statement, the group will share it with the full CDS Committee and solicit members' reactions/suggestions.

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Joshua M. Aldorisio, Indianapolis, IN
John Andrew Baga, Winston-Salem, NC
Evan Baker, Los Angeles, CA
Robert Bethel, Yesterday Service Sheet Music, Inc
Emily Conroy Butler, Curtis Institute of Music
Andrew Cameron, Austin, TX
Remi Castonguay, Yale University Library
Erin K. Collins, Norfolk, VA
Derek Matthew Davis, Grove City, OH
Jack Falk, Portland, OR
John W. Hadler, Babylon, NY
Kathleen Harrison, Murphysboro, IL
Christian Hertzog, University of California,San Diego
Nicholas Mark Homenda, Austin, TX
Lisa Hooper, Tulane University
Patricio David Johnson, San Francisco, CA
Jason Jones, Chester, SC
Justin Kovar, Austin, TX
Clare Joyce Krier, Seattle, WA

Alison Leonhardt, Syracuse, NY
Jonathan Manton, Morristown, NJ
Christopher James Nylund, Macon, GA
Anna Perkins, Carrollton, TX
Bailey Nicole Pike, Olathe, KS
Tracy Pizzi, Indian Trail, NC
Robert Dan Rich, Nashville, TN
Candy Riley, San Antonio, TX
David Savage, University of California San Diego
Jenny Scro, Titusville, NJ
Justin Nicholas Seidler, Poland, OH
Karin Lisa Suni, Kansas City, MO
Mark Elias Tabla, Springville, UT
Jean Uhl, Dix Hills, NY
Patrick Vallez-Kelly, Redwood City, CA
Dr. Maurice B. Wheeler, University of North Texas
Laura Hazlett Williams, Durham, NC
Tara Marie Wood, Chicago, IL
Heather Yager, Mountain View, CA

The Small Academic Libraries Roundtable (SALRT) met on March 22, 2010 at 1:00 pm. Co-chair Joy Pile led introductions of the three-person panel which included Anita Breckbill, Encore user, and Margaret Ericson and Sharon Saunders from Colby/Bates/Bowdoin (CBB) combined catalog which is utilizing AcquaBrowser.
Anita Breckbill discussed the adoption of Encore of her institution as a discovery tool only to see it quickly became the default catalog of her institution. She briefly showed the layout of the Encore platform, then focused on searching for music materials utilizing Beethoven’s “Moonlight” sonata as an example. She pointed out problems encountered, such as lack of cross-references and diacritics. Her list of requested changes includes correct display of diacritics, putting 100 and 240 fields together, and a request for a hybrid catalog utilizing author and title searches as well as keyword. Her closing remark suggested the irony that Encore was selected as the name for a product that doesn’t serve music materials very well.

Margaret Ericson and Sharon Saunders co-presented a session on AquaBrowser, which is being used for the Colby/Bates/Bowdoin (CBB) combined catalogs. The shared collection development of these institutions is reflected in their combined “NextGen” catalog, which layers over their individual ILSs. Aquabrower’s layout was briefly shown, and problems with searching music and work-arounds were carefully described. A specially requested option by CBB to search composer and title for scores improved with effectiveness of searches.

Submitted by Sarah R. Canino, Vassar College

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The Women in Music Roundtable sponsored two successful sessions. The first session was co-sponsored with the Jazz and Popular Music Roundtable, and hosted filmmaker and composer Dr. Jeannie Pool, who screened her film "Peggy Gilbert & Her All-Girl Band." Jazz bandleader Peggy Gilbert, who spent most of her career performing in Southern California, was a one-woman powerhouse who dedicated her life to the development of all-girl jazz bands in an era and genre that did not readily recognize the potential and value in women musicians. Dr. Pool lead a lively discussion of Gilbert's career prior to the screening, and the film brought to life Peggy Gilbert's passion for music and her advocacy for women musicians.

The second WMRT-sponsored session was a plenary session comprised entirely of MLA members. Entitled "Wish They All Could Be...California Women," this plenary highlighted women musicians who all had California ties. Ana Dubnjakovic guided us through the compositions of Mildred Couper, who became well-known for her quarter-tone compositions. In Mac Nelson's talk, we learned about Vahdah Olcott-Bickford as a dominant force in organizing and promoting guitar activity and enthusiasm. Delightful photographs and videos of Ruth Slenczynska were presented by Therese Dickman, who took us through the pianist's career from child prodigy to mature performer, teacher, and author. Finally, the career of Betty Freemen, as illuminated by Beth Fleming, showed us the enormous influence of this music patron on contemporary composers such as John Adams, Pierre Boulez, John Cage, and Philip Glass.  

MLA 2010 Call for Program Proposals

This is a call for Program Proposals and Business Meeting Requests for the next MLA Annual Meeting scheduled for February 9-12, 2011, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Next year's meeting will have a theme: Born Digital: A New Frontier for Music Libraries. Visit the MLA website for the submission forms and instructions. Program proposals and Business Meeting Requests will be accepted through June 4, 2010. However, if you are considering inviting an outside speaker(s) and requesting honoraria, please contact Laurie Sampsel at lauriejsampsel@gmail.com by May 14, 2010

Members of the Program Committee include Morris Levy, Gerry Szymanski, Beth Iseminger, and Zoe Rath. Ex-officio members of the Committee are Diane Steinhaus, Bonna Boettcher, Laura Gayle Green, Jenn Riley, Dick Griscom, and Abby Cross.

Pacific Northwest Chapter
Marian Ritter, Chair

The Pacific Northwest (PNW) MLA chapter meeting in Seattle, April 17-19, 2009, was a wonderful success, due to great planning by Cate Gerhart, Judy Tsou, Laurel Sercombe and Verletta Kern.  The meeting Friday afternoon was held in the beautiful Peterson Room (Allen Library) at the University of Washington.  Cecilia Jezek, Kathleen DeLaurenti, Brendan Lax and John Vallier (UW Libraries, Head Distributed Media Services, Libraries Media Center, Odegaard Undergraduate Library) gave a collaborative talk entitled, "Puget Sounds: UW Libraries' Regional Music Collection."  The meeting continued in downtown Seattle at the Seattle Symphony Library, where members enjoyed a tour of the Benaroya Hall.  Cate Gerhart hosted an excellent dinner in her home.

Saturday morning the meeting convened at the University of Washington's Brechemin Auditorium.  Paul Brian (emeritus Professor of English, Washington State University) presented a paper on classic American love songs. Christina Sundardi (Assistant Professor of Music, Ethnomusicology Division, University of Washington) gave a paper, "Narrating History, Claiming Female Potency: Stories About the Origins of the East Javanese Dance Beskalan Putri Malangan."  The Business meeting concluded the chapter meeting and the members accepted Paula Elliot's invitation to have the next meeting on Bainbridge Island, April 30 - May 1, 2010, at the Public Library. The election results included Carolyn Shandler as chapter vice-chair/ chair elect, Terry Horner as Newsletter editor, Bill Blair as secretary/treasurer.

Marian Ritter, Chair

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We appreciate our Corporate Patrons and Corporate Members and their support of MLA.  

Corporate Patrons
Harrassowitz
ejazzlines/Jazz Lines Distribution
Theodore Front Musical Literature Inc
American Institute of Musicology
OMI-Old Manuscripts & Incunabula
A-R Editions Inc
J W Pepper & Son Inc

Corporate Members
Harmonie Park Press
Music Library Service Company
G Schirmer Inc/Associated Music Publishers Inc
Broude Brothers Limited
Yesterday Service Sheet Music Inc
New World Records
aaa Music Hunter Distributing Company
Preservation Technologies
Alexander Street Press

News from the 2010 MLA Annual Meeting in San Diego
As is the case every year, the 2010 annual meeting generated news of interest to MLA members. The highlights follow.

Election of Five Music Library Association Board Members Announced

The Music Library Association (MLA) announced the election of five new Board of Directors members in San Diego. Elected as Vice President/President Elect is Jerry McBride (Stanford University), as Recording Secretary Pamela Bristah (Wellesley College), and as Members-at-Large Susannah Cleveland (Bowling Green State University), Cheryl Taranto (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), and Liza Vick (Harvard University).

Jerry McBride is Head Librarian of the Music Library and Archive of Recorded Sound at Stanford University. Previously he was Music Librarian at Middlebury College and the Arnold Schoenberg Institute. He holds an M.L.S. from Kent State University, M.M from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and B.M. from the University of Redlands. His many publications include Douglas Moore: A Bio-Bibliography (forthcoming from A-R Editions), a chapter in Guide to Writing Collection Development Policies for Music (Scarecrow Press and Music Library Association, 2001), and contributions to The Arnold Schoenberg Companion (Greenwood Press, 1998). His MLA service includes membership on the Legislation Committee (2004-present; Chair, 2008-present), Electronic Reference Services Subcommittee (1998-2003), Music Thesaurus Form/Genre Terminology Working Group (1998-2002), and serving on MLA's Board of Directors as Fiscal Officer (1994-1996). He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections (2006-2008).

Pamela Bristah is Music Librarian at Wellesley College. Her previous position was Head Librarian at Manhattan School of Music. She holds an M.L.S from Columbia University and a B.M. from Westminster Choir College. Her publications include serving as scores editor for A Basic Music Library, 3rd ed. (American Library Association, 1997), providing bibliographies for the New Grove Dictionary of American Music (Grove's Dictionaries of Music, 1986), and providing abstracts and citations for RILM Abstracts. Her MLA service includes serving on MLA's Board of Directors as Fiscal Officer (2004-2006), co-coordinating the Small Academic Libraries Roundtable (2002-2004), and coordinating the Conservatory Libraries Roundtable (1993-1998). She has also served on the Output Measures and Electronic Statistics Task Forces of the Boston Library Consortium (2002-2003).

Susannah Cleveland is Head of the Music Library and Sound Recordings Archives at Bowling Green State University. Previously she was Music Recordings and Digital Resources Librarian at the University of North Texas. She holds an M.M. in Musicology and M.S. in Library Science from the University of North Texas, and a B.M. in Music History from Baylor University. Her publications include chapters in A Basic Music Library, 4th ed. (forthcoming from American Library Association), the article "Moody Blues: The Social Web, Tagging, and Non-Textual Discovery Tools for Music" (with Gwen Evans) in Music Reference Services Quarterly (2008), and she is currently engaged in data analysis of a survey of MLA personnel characteristics (with Mark Puente). Her MLA service includes membership on the Web Advisory (2008-present) and Preservation (2004-2008) Committees, serving as Placement Officer (2007-present), and membership on the MLA Midwest Chapter's Technology, Archives, Preservation, & Sound Committee (2006-present).

Cheryl Taranto is Head of the Music Library at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her previous position was Music Librarian at the University of Alabama. She holds a Ph.D. in Musicology, M.L.S., M.M., and B.M. from Louisiana State University. Her publications include annual bibliography compilations in the Mozart Society of America Bulletin, "Branch Libraries and Technology: Benefits from a New Main Library" (with Jeanne Brown and Jennifer Fabbi) in Library Hi-Tech (2005), and articles about Emma Lou Diemer, Barbara Kolb, and Libby Larsen in Women and Music in America since 1900: An Encyclopedia (Greenwood Press, 2002). Her MLA service includes membership on the Instruction Subcommittee (2004-2008; Chair, 2009-present), Epstein Award Committee (2007-present; Chair, 2009-present), Best of Chapters Committee (2002-2005), and serving as Chair of MLA's Mountain/Plains Chapter (2006-2008). In addition, she is active in the Music OCLC Users Group and the Society for American Music.

Liza Vick is Music Reference and Research Services Librarian at the Eda Kuhn Loeb Music Library of Harvard University. Previously she was Research Librarian for the Performing Arts at the University of California, Irvine. She holds an M.L.S. and M.M. in Ethnomusicology from the University of Maryland, and a B.M. in flute performance from West Chester University. Her publications include serving as Associate Editor, World Music for A Basic Music Library, 4th ed. (forthcoming from American Library Association) and as Editor, New Periodicals Column for Notes (2009-present). Her MLA service includes membership on the Information Sharing Subcommittee (2002-2007), coordinating the Performing Arts Roundtable (2004-2007), and serving as Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect of MLA's New England Chapter (2009-present). She has also served as Secretary of the ALA/ACRL Arts Section (2005-2007) and Chair of the ALA/ACRL Arts Section Dance Librarians Discussion Group (2004-2006).

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2010 Music Library Association Publications Awards Announced

MLA announced its annual publications awards in San Diego.  Publications are considered during the year following their imprint date.

The Vincent H. Duckles Award for the best book-length bibliography or other research tool in music:

Laurie J. Sampsel. Music Research: A Handbook. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2009.

Anyone who has stood before a music bibliography class on Day One knows firsthand what daunting work lies ahead. Laurie Sampsel’s Music Research: A Handbook comes to us then as a welcome gift offering great relief. Informed by a decade of teaching graduate‐level music bibliography, Sampsel skillfully demystifies and codifies the field. Part enumerative bibliography and part teaching guide, the work addresses distinctive needs of students and instructors alike. Students will appreciate the book as a concise and approachable introduction to an unfamiliar (if not daunting) field; instructors will be grateful for its evaluative checklists, suggested readings, and other features that can be used to enhance classroom teaching. This carefully prepared, well‐edited handbook will be essential reading for music librarians, graduate students, and music faculty for years to come.

The Richard S. Hill Award for the best article on music librarianship or article of a music-bibliographic nature:

Rupert Ridgewell. “Artaria Plate Numbers and the Publication Process, 1778‐87.” In:
Music and the Book Trade: From the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Century. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2008.

Rupert Ridgewell examines archival, documentary, and bibliographical evidence to address fundamental questions about the operation and administration of Viennese publisher Artaria’s business practices in the 1780s. Motivated by the seemingly simple problem of a missing plate number on a first‐edition copy of Mozart’s op. 3 piano duets, he uses inventory ledgers, press advertisements, letters, and surviving copies of the edition to investigate issues surrounding the publisher’s plate number system. Ridgewell’s handling of extant documents, his well‐founded arguments, and his clear explication of complicated issues serve as a model to researchers, and his work in this previously unexplored area illuminates our understanding of publisher operations and engraving practices of the late eighteenth century.

The Eva Judd O’Meara Award for the best review published in Notes:

Daniel F. Boomhower. [Reviews of Bach B‐minor Mass editions]. Notes 65:2 (Dec.
2008), 385‐389.

Daniel Boomhower's review of three recent critical editions of J.S. Bach's B‐Minor Mass is a balanced and insightful assessment of where textual scholarship has arrived with this perennially‐challenging work. His use of Joseph Kerman's critique of positivistic scholarship as a vehicle for creating a succinct historical context regarding the construction of the Mass admirably prepares the reader for his interpretations of Christoph Wolff's facsimile edition of the P180 manuscript and Joshua Rifkin's edition of the Mass's late version. Boomhower's calm and steady scholarly hand masterfully contrasts the two approaches and in the end creates a convincing argument for considering the different incarnations of the Mass side by side, rather than attempting to unify them or force the "one true version" of this complex piece.

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Five Receive Travel Grants to Attend 2010 MLA Annual Meeting

MLA awards the Kevin Freeman Travel Grant to students, recent graduates, or other colleagues who are new to the profession for support to attend the MLA annual meetings. For the recent 2010 meeting in San Diego, CA, the Freeman recipients were Dyann S. Bishop, Matthew Ertz, Bracken Klar, Yi Hong Sim, and Jennifer Ward.

Dyann S. Bishop received her M.L.I.S. degree from the University of Pittsburgh in August 2009, during which time she was employed as a Library Associate at the Shirlington Library (Arlington County, VA). In October 2009 she received a merit-based promotion to Librarian I. A professional flutist for 30 years, Dyann initially thought that orchestra librarianship was her niche, but has since decided on public service in music librarianship as her true calling.
 
Matthew Ertz is in his second year of the M.L.S. program at Indiana University, with a music librarianship specialization. He attended the 2009 MLA meeting in Chicago and enjoyed making connections with both seasoned professionals and those new to the profession. He found conference attendance to be an excellent stimulus and inspiration as he continues in his studies. Matthew is particularly interested in development of web-based databases, audio collections and resources, and thematic catalogs. As a composer, he has a keen interest in contemporary musical works.

Bracken Klar is enrolled in the M.L.I.S. program at the University of Oklahoma and works as Public Library Media Center Associate I for the Tulsa City-County Library System. An avid fan of popular music, and upset at the dearth of live performing opportunities for independent musicians, he started a production/promotion company that resulted in putting Tulsa “on the map” of national touring acts. Bracken aspires to a music librarianship position that encompasses archival work as well as programming and community outreach.

Yi Hong Sim is a double M.A. candidate in Library and Information Studies and Historical Musicology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is an avid choral singer, and is interested in the public service aspects of music librarianship. Yi Hong has worked at the UW-Madison Mills Music Library and College Library, and the Oberlin Conservatory Library and Special Collections Department.  She also interned under the Mellon Librarian Recruitment Program at the Multnomah County Public Library (Portland, OR), where she assisted with audio collection development. Her recently completed digital library, The Emma Abbott Grand Opera Company Presents Carmen, will go live at the UW Digital Collections later this year. Yi Hong is the founder of MLSG, an online forum and support group for students and prospective students in music librarianship. She also improved the organizational health of UW-Madison’s Music Colloquium Series by creating a website and organizing its committee workflow. Yi Hong hopes attendance at MLA 2010 will serve as a springboard for ideas of how to turn her leadership energies towards the field of music librarianship.

Jennifer Ward is enrolled in the M.S.L.I.S. program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). She holds a Certificate in Special Collections from UIUC and master’s degrees in musicology and German from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At MLA 2009 in Chicago, she co-presented a paper about Northwestern University’s John Cage Collection. Additionally, while attending the Women in Music Roundtable (WMRT), she learned the group was seeking new leadership and expressed her interest. Jennifer is currently Co-Chair of the WMRT. In her free time she enjoys playing oboe in a wind quintet that has a tuba instead of a bassoon.

2010 Music Library Association Research Awards Announced

MLA announced the recipients of its research awards in San Diego.

The Dena Epstein Award supports research in archives or libraries internationally on any aspect of American music. This year's recipient is Ursula Crosslin, a Ph.D. candidate in musicology at The Ohio State University. Ms. Crosslin's dissertation, “The Institutionalization of Sacred Vocal Music in Cincinnati, 1810-1860," examines how sacred music developed as a musical and cultural institution during the first part of the 19th century, using Cincinnati as the case study. Her research will reveal how the publication and performance of religious music of different cultures interacted and shaped Cincinnati as a representative “western” city. In addition, she will examine Cincinnati’s musical ties to Lowell Mason and the shaped-note traditions. Ms. Crosslin will use award funding for travel to the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan, Harvard's Loeb Library, Andover-Harvard Theological Library, the Music Division of The Library Company of Philadelphia, and the Lowell Mason Hymnal Collection at Yale Divinity Library.

The Walter Gerboth Award is for members of MLA who are in the first five years of their professional library careers to assist research-in-progress in music or music librarianship. Mac Nelson received this year's award in support of his research project "The Varga Legacy: An Oral History." An outgrowth of his experience cataloging Varga's cello music housed at The University of North Carolina-Greensboro (UNCG), this project is designed to fill significant gaps in our knowledge of the art, life, and career of the renowned cellist Laszlo Varga. Mr. Nelson envisions creating comprehensive access to Varga's musical library through mechanisms such as linking the UNCG library catalog to a website bearing the fruits of the oral history. The award funding will allow Mr. Nelson to travel to Varga's home in Sarasota, FL to conduct three days of interviews.

Music Library Association Announces New Editor for Notes

MLA announced the appointment of Jane Gottlieb as editor of its quarterly journal Notes.  Ms. Gottlieb succeeds James P. Cassaro, who has edited the journal since 2004.      .

Ms. Gottlieb has served MLA in many capacities, most notably as its President from 1995-1997.  Under her leadership, MLA undertook a long-range planning process, “Plan 2001,” to serve as a blueprint for the future of the organization.  She has also been active in the International Association of Music Libraries.

Ms. Gottlieb is Vice President for Library and Information Resources at The Juilliard School, where she oversees the library and archives, including the extraordinary Juilliard Manuscript Collection.  She also serves as Chair of Juilliard’s Doctoral Governance Committee, and teaches the doctoral-level Music Reference and Research class.  Her 2008 book, Music Library and Research Skills (Prentice-Hall) is used as a textbook for music bibliography classes in the U.S. and abroad.   She has published widely on various aspects of music librarianship, and presented papers at conferences around the world.   Ms. Gottlieb holds a B.A in Music from Binghamton University, and an M.S.L.S. from Columbia University.   Prior to her tenure at Juilliard, she worked at Mannes College of Music, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and the American Music Center. 

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15 May 2010
MLA Newsletter no. 161 submissions due

21-22 May 2010
Mountain-Plains Chapter Meeting
Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS

24-29 June 2010
ALA Annual Conference inWashington, D.C.

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Please send citations for items published or premiered in the past calendar year to the column editor, Mac Nelson, via e-mail or USPS mail at the address below. Please follow the citation style employed below. You must be a current MLA member to submit citations.

Mac Nelson
Cello Music Cataloger
Jackson Library
University of North Carolina, Greensboro
P.O. box 26170
Greensboro, NC 27402-6170
wmnelson@uncg.edu

Huismann, Mary (University of Minnesota)
Frederick Delius: A Research and Information Guide, 2nd ed. (New York: Routledge, 2009) [xvi, 379 p.; Routledge Music Bibliographies series; ISBN: 0-415-99364-4]

Articles
Dougan, Kirstin (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
"Music to our Eyes: Google Books, Google Scholar, and the Open Content Alliance."  portal: Libraries and the Academy 10, no. 1 (2010): http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/pla/v010/10.1.dougan.html.

Dougan, Kirstin (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) and Camilla Fulton. "Side by Side: What a Comparative Usability Told Us about a Web Site Redesign." Journal of Web Librarianship 3, no.  3 (2009): 217-237.

Hooper, Lisa (Tulane University)
"Breaking the Ontological Mold: Bringing Postmodernism and Critical Pedagogy into Archival Educational Programming" in Critical Library Instruction: Theories and Methods, eds. Emily Drabinsky, Alana Kumbier, Maria Accardi. (Duluth: Library Juice Press, 2010).

Hunter, David (University of Texas)
"Bridging the gap: the patrons-in-common of Purcell and Handel." Early Music 37, no. 4 (2009): 621-32.

[27 separate articles] in Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia, eds. Annette Landgraf and David Vickers. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009).
 
"Music." In The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain, vol. 5, 1695-1830. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 750-61.

"Writing the Nation's Musical Taste: Hawkins, Burney and the Popularization of Handel in the First Histories of Music." in Music's Intellectual History: First Conference of theRépertoire International de Littérature Musicale (New York: RILM, 2009), 377-86.

Moore, Tom (Duke University)
"Anna Weesner: An interview." Opera Today (10 April 2010).
http://www.operatoday.com/content/2010/04/lance_hulme_an_.php

"2009 Biannual Festival of Contemporary Brazilian Music." Classical Voice of North Carolina.
ttp://cvnc.org/reviews/2009/112009/Bienal.html

"Brazilian Classical Music." BrazilMax (21 January 2010).
http://www.brazilmax.com/news.cfm/tborigem/fe_music/id/22 

"Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez Interview." 21st Century Music (March 2010).
http://21st-centurymusic.blogspot.com/2010/02/interview-w-carlos-sanchez-gutierrez.html

"An Interview with Gabriela Ortiz." Opera Today (10 February 2010).
http://www.operatoday.com/content/2010/02/gabriela_ortiz_.php

"An Interview with Hilary Hahn." Opera Today (8 January 2010).
http://www.operatoday.com/content/2010/01/an_interview_wi.php

"An Interview with Ileana Perez-Velazquez." Opera Today (26 October 2009).
http://www.operatoday.com/content/2009/10/an_interview_wi.php

"An Interview with John Fitz Rogers." Opera Today (17 December 2009).
http://www.operatoday.com/content/2009/12/

"An Interview with William Price." Opera Today (25 December 2009).
http://www.operatoday.com/content/2009/12/

"An Interview with Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon." Opera Today (7 January 2010).
http://www.operatoday.com/content/2010/01/ricardo_zohn-mu.php

"An Interview with Sophia Serghi." Opera Today (11 February 2010).
http://www.operatoday.com/content/2010/03/sophia_serghi_a.php

"An Interview with the Composer Sérgio Roberto de Oliveira. Opus 15, no. 1
(June 2009): 8-23.

"Kerry Andrew: An Interview." Opera Today (25 January 2010).
http://www.operatoday.com/content/2010/01/kerry_andrew_an.php

"Lance Hulme: An interview." Opera Today (10 April 2010).
http://www.operatoday.com/content/2010/04/anna_weesner_an.php

"Timothy Andres: An interview." Opera Today (10 April 2010).
http://www.operatoday.com/content/2010/04/timothy_andres_.php

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