MLA Meets in Philly

It is gratifying to reflect on this year’s highly successful and historic meeting in Philadelphia. This was the first MLA conference with a unifying theme, and it shows that music librarians are in the forefront of library service by considering the many issues and challenges of born digital materials. We’re interested in your opinions about employing a theme for the conferences. We will be examining responses to the survey that was sent out just after the conference and using that to plan future programs.

The historic vote on the merger of MLA and IAML-US also took place at the conference as stipulated by the constitution, where MLA members voted overwhelmingly for the Plan of Merger at the Business Meeting: 215 in favor out of a total of 223. Tremendous thanks are due to Presidents Ruthann McTyre and Judy Tsou, and the MLA and IAML Boards for the work leading up to these important votes by our members.

At the MLA Board meeting in Philadelphia a number of important issues for the association were discussed and decisions were made. All MLA Board meetings are open to the membership. You may read the minutes of the Board meetings on the MLA Web site for a full account, but I’d like to mention a few significant decisions here. Ralph Papakhian was the first recipient of the Special Achievement Award, and beginning in 2011, it will be known as the A. Ralph Papakhian Special Achievement Award.

For many years, the operating budget was set in June in anticipation of the beginning of the fiscal year, and the conference budget was determined in September. Beginning this year, the entire MLA budget will be set in June. This will allow us to better control the costs of the conference and have a clearer picture of the overall budget. It will also give committees slightly more time to plan their programs, because the conference rooms and the budget for speaker honoraria will be determined in advance. Conference planning has become much more complex, and the Board will be exploring the possibility of contracting with professional conference management to provide the best conference experience for a reasonable cost.

The Board also has a number of challenges ahead including the review of the report of the strategic planning committee, balancing our operating budget, examining our IT infrastructure, establishing a records management program for the archives, and reviewing our various publications programs. It is an ambitious but exciting agenda.

To help us with that agenda are three new Board members, Daniel Boomhower, Kirstin Dougan, and Laurie Sampsel, with whom I’m looking forward to working over the next two years. We all owe a great deal of thanks to the three members leaving the Board, Linda Fairtile, Stephen Mantz, and Jenn Riley. Their dedication and insights have been invaluable for the organization. No sufficient thanks can be expressed to Ruthann McTyre for her great wisdom, patience, and good humor in guiding MLA as President. I’m grateful that she will continue on the Board as Past President lending her advice and support to our efforts.

As we start a new year for MLA, I welcome the opportunity to hear your opinions on how MLA can best serve its members and on how you would like to be involved in advancing our profession. Thank you and best wishes.

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Opening Plenary:
Thinking Beyond the Disc: Disseminating Recordings in the Digital Era

Scott Stone, Chapman University

With much excitement (and a not small amount of coffee) a crowd of several hundred eagerly awaited the first session of the 80th Annual Music Library Association meeting, Thinking Beyond the Disc: Disseminating Recordings in the Digital Era.  Library of Congress’ Lisa Shiota served as moderator for this interesting discussion and graciously introduced the first of three speakers, Stephen Millen, the General Manager of the nearby Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra (PSO).
 
Millen regaled the audience with a brief account of the Orchestra’s recording history (1925- first orchestra to make an electrical recording, 1962 – first orchestra to make a televised broadcast, 2009 – first orchestra to offer an online series of concerts).  After presenting this impressive history, Millen discussed why it is important for the orchestra to continue to record even though the sale of orchestral recordings has drastically declined in the last fifty years and, currently, the cost of recording is not normally recouped after being released.  These important reasons include brand recognition, increasing the orchestra’s audience fan-base from local to global, and the purely practical one of money—donations tend to increase after audiences are able take home a physical artifact of the group, not just their listening experience. Finally, Millen described the strides the PSO has made with the American Federation of Musicians to regulate the pay for musicians when their recordings are being disseminated on the Internet—solutions which have since been adopted by many other major orchestras nationwide.

Next, David Ludwig, composer and Chair of Performance Studies at the Curtis Institute of Music (CIM), jumped right in with a presentation of CIM’s effort to create, record, and archive media content generated by Curtis students, faculty, and guest artists.  Their first major effort in this endeavor was to create a partnership with WHYY, the local PBS affiliate, to record and later broadcast approximately thirty different programs each year.  Additionally, Curtis began to work with SpectiCast, an online video streaming service, to broadcast seven or eight concerts each year in addition to their full lineup of masterclasses.  Finally—and perhaps most excitingly—Curtis has recently created a partnership with InstantEncore, resulting in a service that allows users to download or stream Curtis recordings, including all audio recorded there.  Unfortunately, some of these services do cost money, but there is some free content on all of them to tantalize the user into purchasing some more of these extraordinarily fine recordings.

The final presenter, George Blood of Safe Sound Archives, interspersed his discussion of digitizing sound recording archives with some memorable stories from his time spent as recording engineer for the PSO.  Some of the projects he has been involved with include digitizing the archives of the Detroit, National, and Boston Orchestras, the Smithsonian Folkways projects, and Plectra recordings.  In addition to this conversion work, Blood also helps these organizations establish a Web presence with their newly digitized archives so that listeners around the world can gain access to them.

After a whirlwind ninety minutes, the first Plenary session of MLA was over and this writer’s mind was swimming with the possibilities of a world being flooded with Born Digital sound recordings and how music library users everywhere can benefit from their unique offerings.

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Hot Topics Tackles Born-Digital Dilemmas and More

Tom Caw, University of Wisconsin-Madison,
with additional reporting by Andrew Justice, University of North Texas

The 2011 edition of Hot Topics in Music Librarianship faced stiff competition from the various ILS Users Group meetings on the Saturday afternoon schedule, but still drew a sizable crowd of attendees eager to hear and be heard on issues percolating throughout the profession. Moderator Tom Caw (University of Wisconsin-Madison) began the proceedings by sharing a Bits & Briefs item from the February 12, 2011 issue of Billboard about YouTube viewing being named the most popular form of music consumption in a recent global survey by Nielsen and MIDEM, followed closely by listening to free downloads (either legal or illegal). With that news hanging in the air, Eric Harbeson (Univ. Colorado at Boulder) addressed the room in his role as Legislation Committee Chair, updating everyone on the nebulous realm of shrinkwrap licenses and digital media—the key question we must ask ourselves: “Am I an owner or a licensee?” Harbeson also shared news regarding MLA having endorsed comments ARSC filed to the U.S. Copyright Office in January strongly supporting bringing sound recordings fixed before 1972 under federal jurisdiction. It is hoped that such a move would reduce the current confusion resulting from fifty different copyright laws being applied, and thus improve access to older recordings. Legislation Committee member Yi Hong Sim (University of Wisconsin-Madison) reminded attendees that the restriction on historical recordings from Naxos in the U.S. is a result of this state-by-state copyright situation.

The first topic was the ongoing dilemma regarding downloadable-only sound recordings. Diane Norton (Wabash College) wanted to know how people are handling “born digital” recordings, and Anna Kijas (Univ. Connecticut) wondered if we as a profession should be investigating purchasing individual titles the way we purchase e-books. Caw asked if anyone thought downloadable-only sound recordings would ever be available to libraries in a manner similar to e-books, if that was a desirable model, and if purchasing downloads and circulating devices (iPods, iPads, etc.) with the files installed was something anyone was willing to pursue. Chris Schiff (Bates College) opined that purchasing and managing devices was cumbersome for libraries. Jenny Colvin (Furman) echoed this sentiment regarding the loaning of iPods, Kindles, and other such devices, and shared an idea about a pay-per-view model for recordings (in which libraries only pay vendors for what gets used) she included in her recent Music Reference Services Quarterly article about digital music distribution in libraries.

Kijas floated the idea of a digital audio repository that would house downloadable-only recordings. Ned Quist (Brown) supported the idea of such a repository, and suggested that we lean on Library of Congress or some similar body to help make it a reality. Joe Boonin weighed in with his perspective regarding the vanishing of fixed media (it’s a question of when, not if), and stressed that there needs to be a repository that is both powerful and sensitive. Caw asked if anyone was willing to acquire some of these recordings and break the end-user license agreement terms stipulating single-user/personal-use-only by making the recordings available to library patrons, and Brenda Nelson-Strauss (Archives of African American Music and Culture, Indiana University) said she was. Phil Vandermeer (UNC-Chapel Hill) wondered if the number of downloadable-only sound recordings was enough to warrant working ourselves into a lather, in terms of concern for materials not being collected by libraries, using the example of cassette-only releases libraries have failed to acquire throughout the years as a reminder that we miss and/or lose materials all the time. Laura Dankner (Williamstown Public Library) professed her love for her iPad and expressed her belief that capitalism will address the challenges facing libraries on this topic.

Beth Christensen (St. Olaf College) submitted the next topic, which was a request to hear about music searching experiences with web-scale discovery tools. Robert Dalton (UNC-Chapel Hill) observed that students (under the influence of Google) tend to search for music materials using the default “Anywhere” setting, and are frustrated when scores get buried in the results, but he likes the tool. Sara Manus (Vanderbilt) shared that they are developers for Primo Central, and they have had trouble fine tuning it for music searching—for example, LPs continue floating to the top of results, the icon resembles a CD, and users get confused. Rebecca Belford (Univ. at Buffalo) admitted Summon makes her want to cry, which prompted Nancy Nuzzo, her library’s director, to ask where we as a profession dropped the ball in terms of making our needs known to vendors and working with them in order to get products sensitive to our field.

Denise Smith Green (Cleveland Institute of Music) wanted to know what librarians whose institutions have made the switch from OCLC to SkyRiver for cataloging services have to say, especially about their experience with catalog records for music materials, but judging by the silence that followed no one at the session matched that description. Caw took the opportunity to broach the topic of ILS market dominance by Ex Libris, Innovative Interfaces, and SirsiDynix, asking if anyone thought open source ILS options might one day rise to a level above fringe representation, whether any libraries were contemplating going in this direction, and if anyone already using an open source ILS would be willing to speak about the experience. Tracey Rudnick (Univ. of Hartford) spoke about Koha, mentioning both the challenges of adapting it to meet the needs of an academic music library and the advantages of getting to make the rules and control the data.

Nancy Nuzzo asked whether anyone knew what had happened to the eXtensible Catalog, but no one had an answer. Darwin Scott (Princeton) shared that his institution has been a development partner for the Ex Libris Uniform Resource Management (URM) cloud-based next-generation library framework, which is now being called Alma, and expressed his wish that MLA members pay attention and “make noise” regarding this platform. Phil Ponella (Indiana University) shared news about the Kuali OLE project, a partnership of top research libraries for which Indiana is the lead school, indicating that another open source library management system option for the academic and research library community would be coming soon.

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Nancy Nuzzo was curious to hear from those who have canceled (or are planning to cancel) print subscriptions to core music journals available online through combinations of JSTOR, Project Muse, or university press sites; she also wondered how those maintaining print subscriptions are justifying the cost for titles that are reliably available in electronic form. Rebecca Koblick (City College of New York) reported her administration decided to cancel more than one quarter of their print journal titles—including Notes—and shared that few of her users have complained. Kim Ranger (Grand Valley State Univ.) echoed this situation, saying she has received little feedback since she canceled her print subscriptions two years ago, adding she now has more room for scores and books. David Hursh (East Carolina) shared he has heard no negative comments since canceling print subscriptions one year ago, and Margaret Ericson (Colby) said faculty have been supportive of cancelations. Paula Hickner (Univ. Kentucky) divulged that she has to cancel print subscriptions if the titles are available online, but she is still able to make a case to her administration for individual journals if she feels strongly about maintaining the print.

Nuzzo interjected that the difference in cost between electronic alone and print plus electronic is not great, but acknowledged that binding costs do add up; she illustrated this with a list of seven titles she had calculated would cost around $700 to maintain (that includes the entire cost of subscribing to Computer Music Journal for their annual CD/DVD, which isn't available separately). Ned Quist expressed concern for what will happen to the small-circulation music magazines if libraries move to electronic-only subscription policies, as many of them are primary sources to researchers in folk and popular music. Anna Kijas pointed out that although Connecticut’s strategic plan dictates a 90% electronic-only subscription rate, she still plans to maintain print for titles not available via full-text databases.

Caw kept the next topic in the realm of electronic resources, asking if anyone was monitoring statistics and considering canceling subscriptions to streaming audio databases due to low usage—a factor that would not necessarily merit the withdrawal of physical items. Suzanne Lovejoy (Yale) reported that Naxos is among their top four databases in usage, but Naxos Music Library Jazz is the lowest and therefore on the chopping block. She has warned the faculty, but she has not heard from them. Rebecca Koblick indicated cancelations are likely in the next year. Stephanie Bonjack (Univ. Southern California) encouraged attendees concerned about low statistics to increase their teaching, as she sees a spike in usage after every instruction session. Kim Ranger shared she recently canceled Opera in Video, saying the faculty did not like the quality of the performances. Joe Boonin cautioned that once you subscribe to streaming audio databases instead of purchasing physical sound recordings, you are committed and on a slippery slope of collection development.

The final topic came from David Gilbert (UCLA), who reported having to justify continued support for the facility, collections, funding, and staffing while feeling pressured to be innovative and develop new uses of technology, and wondered what anyone else is doing. Monica Fazekas (Univ. Western Ontario) suggested getting faculty and students to advocate for you, and shared that using LibQUAL can be an effective way to assess opinions of your library’s services and help you improve the marketing of those services. Leslie Bennett (Univ. Oregon) spoke about the way students at Western Washington University used Facebook in their effort to rally support for keeping the music library open there last fall, and were joined by staff, faculty, and community members in the successful effort. This story prompted Joe Boonin to remind everyone working in academic libraries that alumni support is a weapon to wield when battling administrators.

Deborah Campana (Oberlin) advocated making the most of library tours for new students in the fall by offering creative participatory activities. Lisa Lazar (Univ. Akron) told of a successful interdisciplinary outreach project related to all first-year students having to read Steve Lopez’s book The Soloist, in which she created a Naxos Music Library playlist of the music featured in the book that proved popular with the students and faculty. This encouraging example concluded the session, and the attendees continued conversing as they filed out of the ballroom. 

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Education Committee Sponsors "Marketing Your Music Library in the Digital Age"

Nobue Matsuoka-Motley, American University

Despite being held in the late afternoon when many conference attendees had drifted away to enjoy the city of Philadelphia, “Marketing Your Music Library in the Digital Age” attracted a full house. Natalie Hristov (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville) started the session by identifying potential venues to effectively promote library services to students.  She discussed the importance of knowing the mindset of students who do not want to know more than necessary, and anticipating the future needs of the library users. She also articulated the significance of building good relationships with library users and becoming one of “them” to maximize the marketing outcome.  The conclusion of the session was a short promotional streaming video which the presenters credited with contributing to a 20% increase in item circulation.

Matthew Harp (Arizona State) introduced the Library Channel, a multimedia promotional Web site, and discussed how the ASU library is integrating the communication business model into the library. The Library Channel was created to effectively convey information about library resources, news, and exhibits to more than 70,000 students in multiple campuses. The contents, including video and audio podcasts, are available anytime and downloadable to mobile devices so the users can take the information with them.  Matthew also discussed “The Library Minute,” a series of one minute promotional videos, which is downloadable as well as posted to YouTube, the Internet Archive, and other Web sites. Matthew concluded his presentation by explaining the production cycle of the channel's contents, the importance of discoverability by managing metadata and using tag clouds, and the lessons learned during the production process.

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Preconference Workshop
RDA: A Hands-on Interaction

Lisa Shiota, Education Committee and Kathy Glennan, BCC Chair

The MLA Preconference in Philadelphia was a hands-on workshop for RDA. Co-sponsored by the Education Committee, the Bibliographic Control Committee, and the Music OCLC Users Group (MOUG), this all-day workshop consisted of presentations interspersed with written exercises to highlight what music catalogers need to know about RDA, regardless of when it is implemented. The presentations as a whole stressed the similarities and differences between RDA and AACR2 rules.

Casey Mullin (Stanford) kicked off the workshop with an orientation to the RDA Toolkit, emphasizing the special features and how to navigate through the various resources. Kathy Glennan (Univ. of Maryland) provided an extended look at RDA descriptive elements for scores and sound recordings, noting specific differences between AACR2 and RDA practice. John Attig (Pennsylvania State) spoke about personal name access points, corporate name access points, and the increasing importance of recording relationships in RDA. Laura Yust (Library of Congress) talked about identifying musical works in RDA and presented LC policy about these instructions. Steve Yusko (Library of Congress) demonstrated some of the challenges associated with identifying musical expressions. Finally, Nancy Lorimer (Stanford) and Hermine Vermeij (UCLA) shared some full RDA examples, commenting on particular challenges and issues they faced as participants in the U.S. National Libraries’ RDA Test.

Eighty-four people attended the workshop. Registration fees covered wi-fi access and refreshments during the breaks; ALA Publishing provided free access to the RDA Toolkit for the preconference. The RDA workshop proved to be an informative and instructive session for all who participated. The presentations and examples from the preconference have been uploaded to the MLA 2011 Handouts Web page.

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A Response to the Information Commons Survey
Jill King, DePaul University; Liz Berndt Morris, Central Michigan University

What does reference service look like in your library’s Information Commons? How has your job changed with the adoption of an Information Commons model at your library? These were some of the questions that prompted members of the Midwest Chapter of the Music Library Association to develop an Information Commons survey, which was distributed to the MLA-L in July 2010. This article reports on some of our findings and asks additional questions that we hope to address in future discussions.

The survey defined Information Commons as “a place where students/patrons can go to conduct research, collaborate with colleagues, and/or use multi-media technologies to discover and produce information.” With an emphasis on collaboration and specialized technology tools, these spaces are also referred to as “Learning Commons” or simply “commons.”

According to the survey results, a formal commons is not typically found in branch music libraries: of the 50 survey respondents with a commons, 38 are located in main libraries, 4 in music or performing arts libraries, and 8 in other branch libraries. However, some of the most often reported services and equipment in main library commons could be attractive to music users, including audio and video editing tools, multi-media production, large LCD monitors, and audio and video recording equipment. With technology support staff on hand to provide assistance, are music users drawn to these kinds of services in the commons?

Most survey respondents report multiple service points within their library’s commons, which may include a designated reference desk in addition to other points of service. If a commons includes a dedicated reference desk, it is most often staffed by full-time librarians and a high number of part-time librarians and subject-specialist librarians (including music). Other reference desk staff in the commons includes library support staff, graduate student employees, and occasionally undergraduate student employees.

Libraries with a single, combined service point report referring to it by a variety of names, including information, help, research, reference, or service. Almost half of these respondents also say they provide some form of technical support or multi-media assistance, including help with course management systems and production and editing tools. Additional services provided from a combined service point include circulation, writing assistance or other tutors, and course reserves. According to survey results, combined services are provided most often by library support staff with full-time librarians and undergraduate student assistants close behind.

Even though librarians seem to be staffing the commons, most respondents do notpersonally staff a commons service point at all. For those who do provide service in a commons, between four and ten hours per week is most typical. Although cross-training is often available, survey respondents do not feel proficient with the range of questions asked in the commons. For example, IT questions may get “too technical” for librarians, and IT staff may not be familiar with library resources.

With such a variety of staff present in the commons, is this model more often a referral service and what implications does thathave for music reference service? How satisfied are music librarians with this system?

Some MLA-L users may not have responded to the survey because their library has a unique model that did not fit our definition of an “Information Commons.” In fact, survey comments indicatea wide range of commons models; for example: a separate Scholarly Commons may be provided for faculty and graduate students or  reference service may be divided between two service points depending on the type of question. Some libraries may offer the kinds of services found in a commons without designating the area as an Information Commons. We are interested in continuing this study to learn more about how music librarians’ roles are changing to fit this new learning experience. If you have a commons, or a unique service model that serves a similar purpose, we’re interested in hearing from you.

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Jim Cassaro
MLA Development Officer

Whee! I don’t know about you, but I’m still reeling from all the energy and excitement of our recent meeting in Philadelphia. Again, members of MLA showed how generous they are, and how that generosity is consistent from year to year. In Philadelphia, we raised a respectable $5,402.00. This includes $650.00 in sales from the MLA Shop, $1,386.00 from the Silent Auction, $360.00 to the MLA Fund, $350.00 to the Coral RILM Office Fund, $750.00 to the Carol June Bradley Award Fund, $864.00 to the O’Meara/Hill Publications Awards Fund, and $1,042.00 in unrestricted gifts. Bravo!

There is so much going on development-wise, it is hard to know where to begin. At its meetings in Philadelphia, the MLA Board approved the establishment of two new endowment funds: the Carol June Bradley Award Fund and the O’Meara/Hill Publications Awards Fund. The campaign target for each of these funds is $20,000. Once fully endowed, these funds will generate the capital to cover the annual costs of the Bradley Award and the Eva Judd O’Meara and Richard S. Hill awards. These last two awards have been funded by revenue generated by the Duckles endowment over the years, and in establishing the new funds the Board has created a mechanism by which financial burden on that endowment will be assuaged.

As a method of seeding the new publication awards endowment, I created two parallel campaign initiatives as a focus for seeding the fund: a celebration of the fiftieth MLA meeting attended by Joe Boonin, and the close of Ruthann McTyre’s term as MLA President. Gifts and pledges honoring these two individuals made before and at the Philadelphia meeting totaled $9,821.00. The Board also approved of diverting the unrestricted donations made at the meeting into this new fund for a total of $10,863.00 now in the fund, over half of the target goal. Likewise, the Board approved the revenue gained by the sales at the MLA Shop and the Silent Auction to be deposited into the Bradley Fund for the foreseeable future until a more active campaign can be implemented. With this action, the Bradley Fund now stands at $2,736.00. Once we bring these campaigns to a successful close, we can turn our development efforts toward other funding needs; for example, technology at the annual meetings, additional travel grants for students and young professionals, and a dedicated archivist for the MLA Archives at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Also in Philadelphia, the MLA Board approved the naming of our Special Achievement Award in honor of Ralph Papakhian. This award, now known as the A. Ralph Papakhian Special Achievement Award, recognizes extraordinary service to the profession of music librarianship over a relatively short period of time. Ralph was its first recipient in 1992 as the founder of MLA-L. This recognition of Ralph is but a small token to honor his memory. We are currently in discussion with MOUG to create a joint development initiative with which to recognize Ralph’s impact on music librarianship. Stay tuned for further developments!

MLA entered the film realm with the creation of a video that outlines why our members donate to the Association. Titled “Why I Donate to MLA,” the video features eloquent statements from seven MLA members in various stages of their careers about why they donate. These members include (in order of appearance): Judy Tsou, Tom Caw, Jane Gottlieb, David Gilbert, Laura Gayle Green, Gerry Ostrove, and Bruce Evans. The video will be mounted on the MLA website. I hope you enjoy these efforts, and that these statements inspire you to join the ranks of those who give to MLA. You never know when you may be asked to participate in such projects, so make sure you are ready for your close-up!

Dues renewals for FY 2011–2012 will be coming shortly, and I hope that when you re-up, you’ll consider a donation to the Association, or to become a member of our two giving circles: the Orpheus Society and the Ostinato Club. Donations made at any time are very welcome and greatly appreciated!

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The Bibliographic Control Committee (BCC) held two business meetings and sponsored four programs in Philadelphia: Technical Metadata for Music; Sheet Music Consortium: Metadata Tools and Participation; BCC Town Hall (current topics in cataloging); and RDA: Kicking the Tires. All of the program sessions were well-attended. For details on the RDA: Kicking the Tires program, please see the Features portion of this issue. Details of the remaining three BCC programs will appear in the May/June issue of the MLA Newsletter.

The BCC business meetings included subcommittee and task force updates, as well as new topics. For details on the subcommittee meetings, please see their separate reports. BCC discussed administrative matters, including: the possibility of a change to BCC’s name to better reflect its scope of responsibilities; minor updates to some charges; and revision of the BCC Procedures Manual.

The committee spent time on RDA-related issues, including the implications of living in a multi-code environment and how to approach the development and dissemination of RDA music guidelines. For the latter, MLA and music cataloging specialists at the Library of Congress need to be in a position to work cooperatively in creating the needed documentation. We considered a few options about where to start: best practices guidelines; MLA workflows for scores and sound recordings in the RDA Toolkit; and “how to” documents. BCC will charge a task force to advise BCC about the needed content and how to proceed; this task force must include music catalogers experienced with creating RDA records.

We explored another RDA-related issue: best practices in relation to indexing and display of the new MARC 37X and 38X fields. BCC will contact the Emerging Technologies & Services Committee to offer our expertise in this area. The final document should be outcomes-based rather than being modeled on the past MLA guidelines for integrated library systems.

Beth Iseminger reported on the latest developments with the MLA-BCC Genre/Form Task Force, which will work toward identifying a technology that will enable the group to get a syndetic structure for visualization of the hierarchy of the agreed-upon terms. They will use this structure to identify gaps and propose new headings.

BCC brainstormed about potential programs for 2012, including: a program folding metadata into other initiatives (such as the RDA element set or digital preservation), development and implementation of the new music genre/form headings, and something related to RDA (perhaps bringing in the public service perspective).

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Syndetic Structure and New Terms
In the course of the project, we have not yet answered the question of whether we will allow polyhierarchy (terms having more than one broader term).  This will probably exist in our hierarchy, so we need to figure out how to make it happen in the structure and in the software tool.

The group felt that using Word or Excel as our system may be too cumbersome.  We will either need to work with small subsets of records (which makes creation of a true thesaurus structure difficult), or we need to push for other software to be used.  The software will need to allow multiple users in multiple locations and ideally will be low in cost.  We hope that LC may be able to provide some kind of software or system for this purpose.  We also hope that LC has a way to automatically generate a list of terms with broader and narrower terms pulled directly from the authority file.

How likely is it that we can get our new terms into the thesaurus?  There will be gaps in the structure with the existing terms, which the new terms can help fill.  We will also be using literary warrant to identify terms corresponding to existing bib records.  The problem may be timeliness.  It seems as if there is at least a six-month approval process for new terms, so we would have to streamline that workflow somehow.  How long would the process take through the SACO-Music Funnel?  It would accommodate those of us who are not institutional members of SACO, and there could be a tree structure for reviewing similar to what the NACO-Music Project has.  Another option might be creating a list of recommended new terms and submitting the list to LC, similar to the Working Group for Terminology in 20th Century Music.  The list of those terms was very much smaller than ours, so the SACO-Music Funnel would probably be a better method for our project.

In searching for literary warrant for the new terms, we should start with the terms from the Types of Composition list, since those tend to be the most commonly used terms.  We could then identify specific areas needing the most development.  For example, we could search the world music terms that came from New Grove.  Dance forms would be another smaller area to focus on.

Medium and the Subject Access Subcommittee
The task force agreed that assigning responsibility for the medium part of the project to the Subject Access Subcommittee (SAS) is a good idea. 

Subdivisions “Manuscripts Facsimiles”
The group discussed the idea, which arose out of the ALA-SAC Genre/Form Implementation Subcommittee, of how to represent that an item is indeed a manuscript, or a facsimile of a manuscript.  The Music task force recommends using the term “Manuscripts (Facsimiles)” or “Facsimile manuscripts.”  Is this really more of a format issue?  Will there be an element in RDA for manuscripts?  It appears there are very few guidelines regarding manuscripts in RDA. 

Notation
In the RDA environment, all terms for notation will go in MARC21 546 $b.  (This field actually existed for AACR2 but hasn’t been commonly used.)  Are terms for musical notation in scope of the genre/form project, or is this really a descriptive element?  Notation is similar to scores, or to the idea of carriers.

MARC Codes and Linked Data
Could the existing MARC composition codes be linked more broadly?  This is something to consider when our project is at the point of revising or creating authority records.  If 047 codes were added to genre/form authority records, they could be used in a wider environment, similar to 046, classification, and geographical data codes.  This will be something to include in discussions of implementation.

Joint Meeting: MLA-BCC Genre/Form Task Force and LC Music Genre Project Group

SKOS and Thesaurus Tools
One method for building the hierarchy would be to deconstruct the red books, which are arranged alphabetically, and the hierarchy would be present. This method would be quite manually intensive. Another alternative would be to deploy vocabularies into respective spreadsheets with specific columns (broader terms, narrower terms, source of terms.) This would show where the broader terms, etc., are lacking.

Could SKOS be a source for extracting terms and their relationships into our thesaurus/hierarchy tool?  The cross-references, LCCNs, broader, narrower, and related terms all appear there.  Could someone at LC possibly manipulate SKOS and XML to make this useful? 

Whatever hierarchy building tool we choose should allow us to visualize the terms, preferably in a tree structure.  It should also allow multiple users.  The spreadsheet or tool should help determine gaps in hierarchy and highlight any orphan terms.  We need a tool that will show the relationships at all levels.  Currently, we have a one-dimensional authority system where we can only go up.

New Terms
There were differing views on whether the SACO-Music Funnel would be the best way to add new terms to the LCGFT.  The internal workings of the SACO program could make it hard to get terms through in a timely fashion.  Perhaps using the funnel could help.

After the task force reviews them, the new terms will all have literary warrant.  These terms won’t represent the entire world of music terminology. Rather, they will help catch up the terminology and fill in gaps.  Filling in the gaps will allow the vocabulary to be more of a thesaurus.  While new terms usually are established through everyday workflow, this is a special project including vocabulary found in reference sources. Even so, all the terms will apply to actual works cataloged. 

Terms from the Garland Encyclopedia are so problematic that the task force will save them indefinitely.  Many of the terms in Garland are actually technical terms for the music, rather than genre/form terms.

How will new terms be added?  They could be submitted as part of weekly lists, for example by submitting a certain number of terms per month (that would mean a lot of terms per week!) Of course, there will need to be guidelines for where to draw the line at too much detail; this needs to be more developed.  LC could make a schedule, talk to Co-op, decide on the SACO rotation with the music catalogers, and set up to manage the project.  If terms are viewed as needed, then there is no argument about including them. LC can help get needed terms into the vocabulary.

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Medium of Performance
The MARC 382 field seems to be the preferred field for coding medium of performance.  It will thus serve two purposes:  one, as a descriptive RDA field, and the other as the place to encode medium of performance as an access point.  SAS will take on the work of the medium project and will start working on a proposal to redefine the 382 field so it fits with what the medium project needs, including adding the number of performers, and adding $2 for controlled vocabulary for use as an access point.
           
Medium terminology will probably live in LCSH.  The medium authority records are already in LCSH as is the structure and the terms.  While this is helpful, it also means the terms are supporting both medium and subject use.  This could result in very complex scope notes. Another alternative would be to include a field in authority records indicating how the term should be used as a medium access point, similar to the MARC Authorities 781 for geographic terms.  This would obviate the need to delete medium terms that would be solely topical, like “Violin music”.
           
The LC project group has drafted a document entitled Functional Requirements for Medium of Performance Statements in Bibliographic Records.  It is at the philosophical end of the continuum, while the document drafted by task force member Nancy Lorimer is at the practical end.  The LC document is trying to figure out the principles of what the system should do for users.  Taking this to systems people could be very helpful. LC will continue working on it, and the task force and Subject Access Subcommittee support these efforts.

Implementation
Who will be using the new music genre/form terms?  We are assuming that everyone will use them, especially if institutions are splitting genre/form into its own index.  Also, we are changing the vocabulary enough that everyone will need to use it and implement it together. Public service librarians have been asking for this for a long time, and genre/form terms have already been implemented for other areas (cartography, moving images, radio programs.)  Putting genre/form terms in their own index within ILSs is another issue, though if the project develops well, we could force the issue on this point.  OCLC will probably need to be involved at the point of implementation and help with conversion of headings.  ILSs will also have to be able to accept the terms and their coding.
           
It is important to start thinking about vocabulary building principles across the entire LCGFT.  The ANSI/NISO standard suggests that the different subject areas should not be developed individually.  Different areas of the LCGFT currently have different principles, for example, moving image terms still have carrier terms embedded with genre/form terms. While we have ideas for what we want as a music community, we don’t know yet how that will mesh with the broader community.

After approval of the 2010 minutes, chair Damian Iseminger announced that Mary Huismann would be rotating off of the Authorities Subcommittee.  Iseminger thanked Huismann for her participation on the subcommittee and for contributing to several BCC task forces during her four years of service.

The chair reviewed the activities of members of the subcommittee for the past year. Huismann and Iseminger participated in the drafting of BIBCO Standard Records for scores and sound recordings.  Neil Hughes, Damian Iseminger, Casey Mullin, and Raymond Schmidt served on the BCC Task Force to create Expression Record Examples.  Iseminger also served on the BCC Task Force for Best Practices for 38X fields.  Finally, Huismann, Iseminger, Mullin, and Thomas Pease were testers in the U.S. Libraries National RDA Test.  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 2010 in Washington, D.C. and ALA Midwinter 2011 in San Diego.

At the last business meeting in San Diego, the subcommittee reviewed the attributes of the FRBR entities works and expressions in preparation for a project to develop guidelines for the construction of work records for music falling outside the Western-art music canon.  Because of more urgent needs, particularly as regards possible revisions to RDA, the project has been temporarily shelved.

The subcommittee reviewed and discussed the work of the 38X Best Practices Task Force and the Expression Record Example Task Force.  Particular attention was paid to the difficulty of creating unique expression access points and expression records using the MARC Authorities Format, the degree of desirability of unique expression access points, and the need for a detailed best practices document concerning the construction of expression access points.

Following this, a discussion took place discussing the experience of subcommittee members in using RDA during the U.S. National Libraries Test, with the goal being to identify possible revisions to RDA instructions concerning musical works and expressions.  Two major issues were identified.  The first was a lack of distinction between the recording of work and expression attributes and using those attributes to help construct a work or expression access point.  The second was the dichotomy within RDA between arrangements, sketches, vocal/chorus scores, and translations and all other categories of musical expressions.  Members of Authorities will be partnering with members of the Descriptive subcommittee to address the first issue.  The need for a best practices document was also acknowledged.

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Bruce Evans began the meeting by having the committee members introduce themselves. He then thanked Catherine Busselen and Peter Lisius for their four years of service on the committee, as they are set to rotate off. Therefore, there are now openings on the committee, and Evans encouraged everyone to consider applying for membership.

The beginning of the meeting focused on MARBI discussion papers and proposals, addressed by Evans as MLA’s liaison to MARBI and by Steve Yusko, the LC representative to the subcommittee. For details on the discussions at ALA Midwinter, see the liaison report published in the Music Cataloging Bulletin and linked at the BCC website.

MARBI Proposal 2011-01: This proposal, sponsored by OLAC, was a follow-up from an earlier discussion paper, focusing on more specific coding for the original language in field 041. MARBI approved the proposal with a few amendments. The revised definition of subfield $h will specify that the language code is for the original language of the primary content of the item and that it is not required to use it if the item is not a translation. A new subfield $k will be used for Language code of intermediate translations; $m will be Language code of original for accompanying materials; and $n will be added for original language of librettos.

For 2011-DP01 (which proposes changes in the MARC 21 Bibliographic Format so that the RDA elements for production, publication, distribution and manufacture are given separate MARC elements) there was support for Options 1 (indicator option) and 3 (definition of NEW fields), but not Option 2 (to add separate [new] subfields).  Another option was suggested to define one new field (rather than add an indicator to field 260 or add multiple new fields) with an indicator designating the function. Participants felt that we need to continue to be able to use 260 as we do now if the function is not clear. There was support for the suggestion to add a field for copyright date in the 26X block of fields. A proposal will be presented at the next meeting reflecting the preferences expressed.

For 2011-DP02 (which discusses additional elements that may be needed to accommodate RDA in the MARC 21 Bibliographic and Authority format: these include elements for Language of expression, Associated institution, Fuller form of name, and Type of jurisdiction) there will be proposals presented for the additional elements at ALA Annual 2011. For Language of Expression (377): preference is for broadening field 377 (Associated Language). If added to the bibliographic format and used for expression records, the definition needs to state that it is only used for language of expression. It was noted that the current definition should also be broadened so that it can be used for language of family, since currently it is defined for persons and corporate bodies. For Associated institution (373): in broadening the definition of 373 (Affiliation), the paper suggested a $a for Affiliation of person and $b for Associated institution for corporate body. It was suggested that instead we could broaden $a to be Associated institution rather than separate these into two subfields. Consideration needs to be given to whether we need to include both the preferred form and the form on the piece, in which case subfields could be provided for each. For Fuller form of name (378): There may be a need to define two subfields, one for fuller form of surname and one for fuller form of given name. In that case one or the other or both could be used. There is no need for $0 because there wouldn't be a record to link to, since this is only part of the name entry. For Type of jurisdiction (334): it was pointed out that currently the scope of RDA is limited to only some types of jurisdiction, but this will change to include all types. It was suggested that $0 be added to link to a record; the Germans make authority records for jurisdiction types.

For 2011-DP03 (which discusses defining a new field (883) in the MARC 21 Authority, Bibliographic, and Holdings formats to identify that the record is for a Work, Expression, Manifestation or Item) the majority of participants wanted to continue to pursue the ability to identify this information in the record. It will be important to tighten the definitions and provide guidance to users, including restricting the use of the field to those records that are explicitly work or expression (manifestation being the default), rather than a combination. It was noted that this supports applications that may not exist yet, but could be very useful in the future.

2011-DP04 (which discusses RDA controlled lists of values for carrier attributes and possible fields and subfields for recording them): Participants agreed that this should come back as a proposal. Examples are needed especially to show when to use field 340 [Physical Medium (Carrier Characteristics)]. We may need to broaden the definition of field 340; it is used widely in the museum community. Subfield $3 (Materials specified) should be added in the proposed new fields.

Evans summarized the subcommittee’s efforts in getting the 028 field definition and scope updated to reflect the content in MARBI Proposal 98-03. This included reporting a discrepancy between the description available via Cataloger’s Desktop and the file available a www.loc.gov/marc. At MLA’s request, LC also updated the 037 field description and scope to properly refer to field 028. Mark Scharff noted that very few cataloging agencies use 1st indicator 5 as defined; Steve Yusko suggested that LC could investigate this further.

After receiving liaison reports from OCLC and LC (available on the BCC website), the subcommittee opened the floor to discuss music-related MARC concerns that have arisen from the RDA Test. Mark Scharff raised the first issue: how to include a thematic index data element in the new 383 field. Discussion centered on the subfields required (a new subfield for the name of the thematic index and a $2 for a source list), as well as the mechanics for developing the source list. The latter task will be undertaken by the Authorities Subcommittee. Various BCC subcommittees will work together to create the necessary documentation so this idea can go forward to MARBI at ALA Annual. Another issue is the creation of a more specific field for Format of notated music in RDA (this element currently is mapped to a general 500 note).

Other BCC efforts may require subcommittee involvement. For example, the documentation limits the repeatability of field 048 to five occurrences. The Subject Access Subcommittee is also investigating the expansion of field 382 for Medium of Performance. Another possibility is validating the 047 and 048 in the authority file.

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Bryan A. Acee, Vernon, NY
Stephen David Bartenhagen, Alameda, CA
Etsuko Benton, Boston, MA
J. Paul Buchanan, Dallas, TX
Melissa Margaret Burel, Kalamazoo, MI
Britt Andrew Burns, Denton, TX
Jennifer Cheney, Marion, NY
Russell M. Clark, Urbana, IL
Timothy Wayne Cook, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Paula F. Corman, West Newton, MA
Reed David, Denton, TX
Lisa C. Dempsey, Aspen Music Festival, Chattanooga, TN
Rebecca French, Bloomington, IN
Leigh Katherine Glaeser, Augusta, GA
Guillermo Alfonso Gomez, West Chester University
Katherine Hanley, Benicia, CA
Christine Ann Hansen, Minonk, IL
Charles Edward Hill, Indiana University    
Frank Johnson, Temple University

Jason Kibby, Albany, NY
Kevin Seiji Kishimoto, University of Chicago
Jan Lauridsen, College Park, MD
Glenn Loflin, New York, NY
Daniel C. Lopata, Rochester, NY
Dustin Lee Ludeman, Leesburg, VA
Robert E. Lussier, Marywood University   
Nichole Maiman Waterman, Seattle, WA
Alex McAllister, Wilmington, NC
Kevin C. Miller, Los Angeles, CA
Rebekah Myers, Indianapolis, IN
Ryan Nitz, Tucson, AZ
Simonne Teresa Ronk, N. Lawrence, OH
Ann Shaffer, University of Oregon
Priscilla Jane Smith, Carrboro, NC
Albert Squillace, New York, NY
Carei F. Thomas, Minneapolis, MN
Julia Thompson, UNC-Chapel Hill
Liz Tousey, Bowling Green, OH
Jonathan Werth, Coralville, IA

Eighteen people attended the Small Academic Libraries round table meeting in Philadelphia, and discussed three agenda items. The first was a report from Marian Ritter regarding the Western Washington University Music Library. Ritter successfully averted a planned closure of the Music Library at WWU; she shared her experiences with members.  The Dean of the Libraries made a sudden announcement of the planned closure of the Music Library and consolidation of the collections.  Ritter has an active Friends of the Library group, which she was able to communicate with and mobilize.  Students, parents, and members of the local community also lobbied to keep the Music Library open.  Several parents and community members pledged donations to the library, if the Dean would keep the Music Library open.  The Dean has agreed to keep the Music Library open.

Next was a report from Joy Pile regarding Middlebury College.  The music collection at Middlebury will be moving from a branch library to the main library this summer.   External factors had been driving down traffic in the branch library.  Pile shared her experiences planning for this rapid move.  In the main library, scores and books will be housed together in open stacks, while sound recordings will be housed in closed stacks behind the main circulation desk.

Finally, an open question was posed to the group: can we continue to justify keeping music collections in distinct spaces, when much material is now online and one no longer needs dedicated equipment (like an LP player) to study music? Other attendees shared their experiences with consolidation and/or staffing changes. One member suggested a request that MLA work with NASM/ALA to develop an official statement/documentation regarding these recent consolidation trends. There was also a suggestion that the Small Academic Libraries Round Table start a Facebook page.

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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 2011 MLA Annual Meeting in Philadelphia

As is the case every year, the 2010 annual meeting generated news of interest to MLA members. The highlights follow, compiled by Renée McBride, Publicity & Outreach Officer.

Election of Three Music Library Association Board Members-at-Large Announced

The Music Library Association (MLA) announces the election of three new Board of Directors Members-at-Large: Daniel Boomhower (Library of Congress), Kirstin Dougan (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), and Laurie J. Sampsel (University of Colorado at Boulder).

Daniel Boomhower is Head of the Reader Services Section of the Music Division at the Library of Congress. Previously he served as Head of the Performing Arts Library at Kent State University, and Assistant Music Librarian at Princeton University. He holds the M.M. in Musicology and M.S. in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and B.A. in Music from Wittenberg University. His publications include serving as editor of the 4th edition of A Basic Music Library (forthcoming from the American Library Association) and contributing reviews of music and books to Notes, Fontes artis musicae, Reference Reviews Europe, and Reference and User Services Quarterly. His MLA service includes membership on the Publications (2006-present) and Resource Sharing and Collection Development (2003-2007) Committees, and chairing the Music Resources for Libraries Task Force (2004-2006). He has also served on the Editorial Board of Kent State University Press (2008-2009) and the Advisory Board of Naxos Music Library (2008-2010).

Kirstin Dougan is Music and Performing Arts Librarian in the Music and Performing Arts Library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She previously served as Interim Head and Public Services Librarian of the Duke University Music Library, and Digital Projects Librarian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She holds the M.L.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, M.M. in Viola Performance from Ball State University, and B.M. in Viola Performance from Lawrence University. Her publications include “A View of Music Librarianship as Seen Through Its Journals: A Comparison of Notes and Fontes Artis Musicae, 1977‐2007” in Notes (June 2010), and “Music to Our Eyes in Google Books, Google Scholar, and the Open Content Alliance” in portal: Libraries and the Academy (Jan. 2010), as well as additional articles inthe Journal of Web Librarianship and Music Reference Services Quarterly. Her MLA service includes membership on the Program Committee Task Force (2010), the Publications Awards (2010) and Facilities (2007-present) Committees, and chairing the Newsletter Taskforce Committee (2008-2009). Recently she was elected Chair-Elect of the Midwest Chapter of MLA, adding to her various service roles in the Southeast and Midwest Chapters.

Laurie J. Sampsel is Faculty Director of the Waltz Music Library at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Previously she served as Music Librarian for the same institution and Cataloger at the University of Pittsburgh and Stephen Foster Memorial. She holds the Ph.D. in Musicology from the University of Pittsburgh, M.L.S. from Kent State University, and M.M. in Flute and B.M. in Music Education from Youngstown State University. Her publications include Music Research: A Handbook (Oxford, 2009), Cyril Scott: A Bio-Bibliography (Greenwood, 2000), Samuel Babcock: The Collected Works (Garland, 1999), and articles in Notes and the American Music Research Center Journal. Her MLA service includes chairing the Program Committee for the MLA 80th Annual Meeting (2010) and the Instruction Subcommittee (2005-2009), and membership on the Reference and Public Services Committee (2005-2009), Electronic Reference Services Subcommittee (2004-2008), and Membership Committee (2000-2004).

Overlapping MLA Boards for 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, plus Development Officer
Starting from back left: Jerry McBride, Stephen Mantz, Jenn Riley, Jim Cassaro
row 2: Linda Fairtile, Linda Blair, Michael Rogan, Cheryl Taranto, Kirstin Dougan
front row: Laurie Sampsel, Ruthann McTyre, Pamela Bristah, Liza Vick
Not pictured: Daniel Boomhower, Susannah Cleveland. Taken by Susannah Cleveland

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2011 Music Library Association Publications Awards Announced

MLA announced its annual publications awards at the 2011 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. Publications are considered during the year following their imprint date.

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

Brooks, Tim. "Copyright and Historical Sound Recordings: Recent Efforts to Change U.S. Law." Notes 65:3 (March 2009), 464-474.

Music librarians are required to be knowledgeable about the complex issues surrounding intellectual property and music. Tim Brooks, one of television's leading historians, a highly regarded writer on television and record industry history, and current Chair of the Copyright & Fair Use Committee of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections, offers a concise history of recorded sound copyright and legislation as well as a detailed look at the copyright status of historic recordings and their rights availability. Recent developments are outlined and suggestions are made as to what scholars and librarians can do to improve the situation of sound recording copyright in the United States. Brooks' well-written and well-researched overview of copyright for sound recordings provides a clear explanation of a complicated topic and should be on every music librarianship class reading list.

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

Agawu, Kofi. Review of A Theory of Musical Narrative. Notes 66:2 (December 2009), 275-277.

In his review of Byron Almén’s A Theory of Musical Narrative, Kofi Agawu’s deep knowledge of the subject matter allows him to engage substantively with the material and offer astute observations regarding Almén’s approach. He provides a concise summary of the areas of musical narratology and semiotics and contextualizes Almén’s study within the field, effectively demonstrating what is new in Almén’s approach. Agawu clearly and concisely explicates the author’s methodology, from his establishment of a theoretical framework and laying out of narrative archetypes to his analytical readings of selected repertoire. Though dealing with challenging material, Agawu’s prose remains accessible throughout, and his insightful commentary regarding the strengths and weaknesses of Almén’s approach exemplify fine review writing.

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2011 Music Library Association Research Awards Announced

At its recent Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, MLA announced the recipients of its research awards.

The Carol June Bradley Award supports studies that deal with the history of music libraries or special collections. The 2011 award goes to Beverly M. Wilcox, a doctoral student in Musicology & Criticism at the University of California, Davis. Ms. Wilcox’s research project, “The Music Libraries of the Concert Spirituel: Canons, Repertoires, and Bricolage in Eighteenth-Century Paris,” examines the music collections of the Concert Spirituel, founded in Paris in 1725 as the first large-scale public concert series in Europe. Her study of the Concert Spirituel repertoire and its contribution to the formation of a musical canon is unique in its approach through the inventories of the Concert’s music libraries, as opposed to its concert programs. Ms. Wilcox’s research arises from her recent discovery of a previously unknown Concert Spirituel collection inventory from 1761. Ms. Wilcox used her award in support of an October 2010 research trip to the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

The Dena Epstein Award supports research in archives or libraries internationally on any aspect of American music. This year's recipient is Dr. Nancy Yunhwa Rao, Associate Professor of Music at Rutgers University. Dr. Rao’s research, “Spectacular Sound across Borders: Chinese Opera Theaters in Chinatowns and Beyond,” will culminate in a book on Chinese opera in America during the first decades of the twentieth century, shedding light on an aspect of American musical culture that, though broad in its effect, is largely forgotten today. Along with a thorough exploration of a particular performing tradition, Dr. Rao’s work draws on racial identity, immigration policy, and a range of social and political issues to characterize the origins, development, and influence of Chinese opera in America. Dr. Rao’s combined expertise in language, theory, and culture ensures her book will be a significant contribution toward a more complete understanding of American music. Dr. Rao will use funding from her award for travel to examine primary source materials held by institutions in the United States and abroad, including the Ethnic Studies Library at the University of California, Berkeley; The National Archives in Washington, D.C. and Seattle; the Heritage Museum in Hong Kong; the City of Vancouver Archives; and the Centre for Chinese Research at the University of British Columbia. 

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. Anna E. Kijas, Music & Dramatic Arts Librarian at the University of Connecticut, received this year's award in support of her research toward the completion of a bio-bibliography of pianist and composer Teresa Carreño. The bio-bibliography will present a more current and scholarly, and less biased view of Carreño than that found in the sole extant English-language biography, Marta Milinowski’s Teresa Carreño: “By the Grace of God” (Yale University Press, 1940; reprint by Da Capo Press, 1977). Ms. Kijas is re-examining Carreño as an artist, composer, pianist, musician, and woman, and will provide a complete discography of Carreño’s works and an annotated bibliography of sources she has located—most importantly primary sources, including archival materials—so that future scholars and students can further study Carreño. Ms. Kijas will use funding from her award primarily for travel to the Archives and Special Collections at Vassar College Libraries and to other institutions that house materials relevant to Carreño.

Six Receive Travel Grants to Attend 2011 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 2011 meeting in Philadelphia, the Freeman recipients were Langston Bates, Sally Bauer, Zachary Coble, Carolyn Doi, Molly O’Brien, and Lindy Smith.

Langston Bates is enrolled in the MSLIS program at the University of North Texas (UNT). He currently serves as a teaching assistant with the UNT College of Information, and holds a Master of Music in Media Writing and Production from the University of Miami. He recently represented UNT as an Association of Research Libraries Diversity Scholar at the 7th National Conference of African American Librarians. Langston is especially interested in African and African American music and the information needs of researchers in music technology.

Sally Bauer earned her Master of Arts in Information Resources and Library Science from the University of Arizona and has been employed by the New York Public Library as Music and Media Cataloger since 2008. She also enjoys playing the French horn, having earned the Master of Music in performance from the University of Akron.

Zach Coble is pursuing his Master of Arts in Information Science & Learning Technologies at the University of Missouri, Columbia, where he serves as treasurer of the ALA Student Chapter while also working part-time as a graduate student assistant. He is collaborating with one of his professors on a research project that has been accepted for presentation at the 2011 ACRL National Conference. Zach also volunteers at a community radio station, where he indexes and catalogs compact discs. He hopes to pursue a career in technical services in a music library.

Carolyn Doi completed her MLIS degree at McGill University earlier this year and is currently on a one-year appointment as the Music Liaison Librarian at the same institution. She is an active member of the Canadian Association of Music Libraries and presented a paper on audiovisual lending at the October 2010 annual meeting of the Quebec chapter. Carolyn is fluently bilingual in English and French and has participated in the Librarians Without Borders program, doing fieldwork in Guatemala, since 2008. She is also interested in digital libraries, web design, mobile technologies, and streaming media.

Molly O’Brien recently completed her MLIS at the University of Buffalo, where she also earned an MA in Music History. She is currently working in a paraprofessional position in the music library at the University of Louisville while seeking a position as a music librarian. Molly also volunteers for the Kentucky Opera Association, helping to create a library for that organization.

Lindy Smith received her MSLIS in 2009 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), where she is currently pursuing an MM in historical musicology. During her time at UIUC she has held graduate assistantships in both the University Archives' Student Life and Culture Program and the Music and Performing Arts Library. She has also volunteered her time at the Sousa Archives and Center for American Music. Her professional interests include reference and instruction, collection development, and special collections materials.

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MLA Undertakes Strategic Planning: Seeks input from YOU on its final draft

David Gilbert, Chair, Strategic Planning Task Force
 
MLA is planning for the future of the association and our profession by developing short-term (3-5 year) and long-term (15-20 year) goals. The MLA Board appointed a Strategic Planning Task Force at their Winter 2010 meeting in San Diego. The Task Force retained the services of Ericka Patillo as a consultant, retreated to a hotel room near O’Hare Airport in September, and with invaluable input from the Board and the membership developed the draft Strategic Plan that appears below. We presented this draft in person to the MLA membership at a Town Hall Meeting at the recent MLA conference in Philadelphia. Members gathered to discuss and improve the plan, to ensure it is relevant to their own needs as members and the interests of their institutions and those they serve. If you were unable to attend the Town Hall Meeting, or you want another opportunity to review the draft of the plan before it reaches its final form, it is reproduced below. All of the members of the Task Force encourage you to present your ideas.
 
David Gilbert (chair); Kirstin Dougan; Dick Griscom; Jennifer Matthews; Nancy Nuzzo; Jenn Riley; Terry Simpkins; Liza Vick; and Ericka Patillo (consultant).
 
Purpose
The purposes of the Association shall be to promote the establishment, growth, and use of music libraries and collections; to encourage the collection of music and musical literature in libraries; to further studies in musical bibliography; to increase efficiency in music library service and administration; and to promote the profession of music librarianship. (MLA Constitution and Bylaws, Article II.A)

Mission
The Music Library Association provides a professional forum for librarians, archivists, and others who support and preserve the world’s musical heritage. To achieve this mission, we:

• provide leadership for the collection and preservation of music and information about music in libraries and archives;
• develop and deliver programs that promote continuing education and professional development in music librarianship;
• ensure and enhance intellectual access to music for all by contributing to the development and revision of national and international codes, formats, and other standards for the bibliographic control of music;
• promote legislation that strengthens music library services and universal access to music;
• foster information literacy and lifelong learning by promoting music reference services, library instruction programs, and publications; and,
• collaborate with other groups in the music and technology industries, government, and librarianship, to promote our mission and values. (Approved June 13, 2008)

Proposed Core Values
MLA is committed to:

Access - Music should be findable, accessible, and preserved.

Inclusivity - The Association welcomes members who work with all types of collections and all types of music in all types of settings, exclusive of organizational affiliation.

Collaboration - Cooperation among individuals and institutions involved in music creation, publishing, and the dissemination chain is crucial to our mission.

Expertise - The Association fosters excellence in music librarianship through the professional development of its members.

Advancement of knowledge about music - The Association promotes research and scholarship by members and non-members on all topics pertaining to aspects of music.

Fairness and Transparency - The Association exercises fairness in its decision making and transparency in its operations.

Goals and Objectives
OVERARCHING PHILOSOPHY
MLA embraces the evolution of music librarianship, recognizing that the value of the services provided by its members transcends physical collections.

Goal Area: Organizational Excellence
Goal Statement: MLA’s operations are efficient, effective and transparent.

Objective 1: Develop and sustain the resources to ensure the vitality of the Association, its programs and services.

Objective 2: Improve access to information by and about the Association to meet the needs of members and other interested parties.

Objective 3: Pursue joint ventures with other organizations that offer financial as well as professional opportunities and advantages.

Goal Area: Value of the Profession
Goal Statement: MLA’s activities are relevant to current issues in librarianship and music, and non-members understand the mission and goals of the Association.

Objective 1: Increase the visibility of MLA among library and music organizations, individual scholars, musicians and librarians.

Objective 2: Increase the visibility of MLA to media organizations and social media networks.

Objective 3: Use new technologies to build greater public awareness, understanding and support for the Association, music libraries and music librarianship.

Goal Area: Advocacy
Goal Statement: MLA promotes and supports the equitable and ethical use of music in learning, it participates in the evolution of scholarly communication, and its official positions on these issues are widely known and influential.

Objective 1: Develop and disseminate official positions on intellectual property, access, and scholarly communication issues.

Objective 2: Enable and encourage members’ individual advocacy efforts.

Objective 3: Publish open access content on the web.

Objective 4: Increase legislators’, publishers’ and vendors’ awareness of the Association’s official positions on intellectual property issues.

Objective 5: Promote and encourage the use of music in all disciplines.

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Goal Area: Membership
Goal Statement: Membership in MLA is valued by and beneficial to a broad range of organizations and individuals, and membership reflects a broad diversity of musics as well as ethnic diversity.

Objective 1: Increase outreach efforts to members from underrepresented groups.

Objective 2: Increase outreach efforts to organizations that are underrepresented, including those whose holdings reflect many types of music.

Objective 3: Investigate opportunities to offer institutional members cooperative buying agreements that provide valuable resources at reasonable costs.

Goal Area: Education
Goal Statement: MLA’s professional development programs foster excellence in those who work with music collections.

Objective 1: Increase enrollment in MLA-sponsored training and professional development programs.
        
Objective 2: Use technology to provide training and professional development opportunities through webcasts and other web-based workshops.

Goal Area: Technology
Goal Statement: MLA makes effective use of technology to achieve its mission. Technological capabilities undergird several of the goals and objectives in this strategic plan; thus, some technology-based objectives appear elsewhere.

Objective 1: Develop a plan to improve and sustain the Association’s Information Technology infrastructure and expertise in order to better support the work of MLA officers and groups.

Objective 2: Provide systems that support collaboration among members and that permit direct and timely publication of approved content to the web.

You can send your feedback, suggestions, and concerns to David Gilbert, dgilbert AT library DOT ucla DOT edu.

Amendments Approved for MLA Constitution
Michael J. Rogan, Assistant Administrative Officer

The MLA Board of Directors proposed a number of amendments to the constitution intended to facilitate the merger of MLA and IAML-US and improve the operations of MLA which were briefly summarized in messages to the voting membership by President Jerry McBride, and fully detailed from a link within the constitutional amendment ballot itself.  The ballot results follow.

358 responses to 714 ballots sent, for a 50% return rate.

1. Shall the Constitution and Bylaws be amended to accommodate the merger of IAML-US and MLA as found in Articles I; III.D.; III.F.4; and IV.E.1?

YES  349  (97.5%)                  NO  1                                      ABSTAIN  8

2. Shall the Constitution and Bylaws be amended to change the title of "Treasurer/Executive Secretary" to "Administrative Officer,” and to create the position of "Assistant Administrative Officer" and add it to the Board of Directors as found in Articles IV.A.; IV.D.3; IV.E.6; V.A.; V.B.2?
YES  347  (96.9%)                  NO  3                                      ABSTAIN  8

3. Shall the Constitution and Bylaws be amended to establish membership classifications and authorize the Board to create and manage the membership categories within those classifications as found in Article III.B-C?
YES  341  (95.3%)                  NO  5                                      ABSTAIN  12

4. Shall the Constitution and Bylaws be amended to authorize the Board to vote and take action outside of regularly scheduled Board meetings as found in Articles V.C.5-6; V.D.?
YES  333  (93.0%)                  NO  12                                    ABSTAIN  13

5. Shall the Constitution and Bylaws be amended to eliminate two references to distributing ballots and notices of meetings by mail (Articles IV.C.1 and VII.D.) and clarifying the date by which ballots of constitutional amendments shall be distributed as found in Article X.B?
YES  342  (95.5%)                  NO  3                                      ABSTAIN  13

The constitutional amendments have been overwhelmingly approved by the association.  Thanks must go to many people, those on the Boards of both MLA and IAML-US, and others, who had a vision for a 21st-century Music Library Association, and who worked diligently to bring this process to a positive conclusion—a conclusion that has opened the door to a new era for MLA!

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Music OCLC Users Group Announces MOUG Distinguished Service Award

Marty Jenkins, MOUG Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect

The Executive Board of MOUG is honored to name Alice LaSota (University of Maryland – College Park) as the ninth recipient of MOUG’s Distinguished Service Award at its annual meeting in Philadelphia.  This award was established to recognize and honor those who have made significant professional contributions to music users of OCLC.  The MOUG Executive Board selects recipients based on nominations received from the membership. 

Thoughtfulness and careful deliberation have characterized LaSota’s approach to music cataloging and the profession of music librarianship as a whole, but her specific accomplishment goes far beyond such generalities.  For the past two decades, LaSota has been recognized as the NACO-Music Project’s preeminent expert on music series, the most vexing and difficult aspect of authority control.  She was one of the first two members of the NACO-Music Project to undergo the series training program at the Library of Congress when it was offered to non-LC staff in the mid-1990s, and in 1997 she co-taught a day-long workshop on music series with Phillip De Sellem of LC as part of a pre-conference continuing education workshop co-sponsored by MOUG and MLA at the MLA meeting in New Orleans. Thereafter, when series questions would come up on NMP-L, even those few catalogers who were probably Alice’s equal in series knowledge would often defer to her, offering their opinions but also asking her opinion as well, loath to consider the issue du jour properly settled until she had weighed in.

While she has never formally mentored large numbers of people, those few who have been so fortunate have publicly acknowledged her influence on their careers. One example was Jim Alberts, who praised her guidance in the Fall 2001 issue of the MLA Atlantic Chapter’s Newsletter at the time his career was launched with his first job at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia.  But, she also did a great deal of informal mentoring.  Neil Hughes relays,

“I can’t tell you how often Alice would come up to me after an Ask MOUG session or an MLA:BCC subcommittee meeting and say, ‘You know, Neil, I generally agree with what people are saying, but there’s some stuff that still bothers me about this…’—at which point I would take the hint that it was time to retire with her to the lobby for a beverage and a long, stimulating discussion of topics that might appear arcane to some, but which would definitely affect patron access to music materials if implemented via Method X, as opposed to Y or Z. She did this with many other colleagues, too, because she loved to think aloud in the company of colleagues, saying that it helped her to clarify her own thoughts on the subject at hand. Whenever I was the lucky beneficiary, she taught me to think more deeply and more carefully about my craft, and to appreciate that there really isn’t that much that we do that doesn’t matter.  I will miss her steady, focused navigation through all the rules and rule interpretations, and her amazing ability to remember just the perfect example of an analogous situation from many years past.”  

Alice’s NACO-Music statistics for series are among the very highest for any institution where only one individual contributed music series through March of 2010, with a total of 443 new series and 63 revised and an uncountable number she contributed using a general NACO authorization at UMCP.

Alice LaSota’s contributions to the education of her fellow catalogers, particularly in the myriad arcana of series authority work, have improved the quality of access to music materials in the OCLC WorldCat database, and improved the efficiency and effectiveness of the work of many of her colleagues.  To quote Neil Hughes one more time: “Alice has set an example of quiet, persistent dedication to our craft worthy of the finest Swiss watchmaker or Asian calligrapher. She is an unsung hero of MOUG about whom it is finally time to sing.”

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Call for Nominations: 2012 MOUG Distinguished Service Award

Marty Jenkins, MOUG Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2012 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 that 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.

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 Alice La Sota (2011; University of Maryland); Michelle “Mickey” Koth (2009; Yale University), Charles M. “Chuck” Herrold, Jr. (2007; Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh), 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).

Nominations should be sent to Marty Jenkins at the address below by U.S. mail or email. Nominations and accompanying statements must be postmarked or received via email no later than June 15, 2012. The Executive Board will select an award recipient at its summer Board meeting. For more information about MOUG, please visit http://www.musicoclcusers.org/. 

Thank you.

Marty Jenkins
MOUG Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect
120 Dunbar Library
3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy.
Dayton OH 45435
martin.jenkins@wright.edu

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6 May 2011
Submissions deadline for MLA
Annual Conference 2012 program proposals

11-14 May 2011
Association of Recorded Sound
Collectors Annual Conference

1-3 June 2011
MLA Board Meets

23-28 June 2011
American Library Association
Annual Conference

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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

Articles
Hartsock, Ralph (University of North Texas)
“An Interview with Cindy McTee.” Journal of the International Alliance for Women in Music 15, no. 2 (2009): 1-3.

 “National Anthems,” in The Encyclopedia of Political Science, ed. George Thomas Kurian (Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2010): 1075-1076.

Koblick, Rebecca (The City College of New York)
"Musically-Informed Writing on the American Songbook: Four Essential Books." Collection Building 29, no. 3 (2010): 106-109.

Moore, Tom (Rio de Janeiro)
“Styles of Articulation in Italian Woodwind Sonatas of the Early Eighteenth Century: Evidence from Contemporary Prints and Manuscripts, with Particular Reference to the Sibley Sammartini Manuscript (Part 2)” Flute Focus. (9 February 2011).
http://www.flutefocus.com/417-sammartini-articulation-part2.html

“Styles of Articulation in Italian Woodwind Sonatas of the Early Eighteenth Century: Evidence from Contemporary Prints and Manuscripts, with Particular Reference to the Sibley Sammartini Manuscript (Part 1)” Flute Focus. (6 January 2011).
http://www.flutefocus.com/401-sammartini-articulation.html

“Conversation with Dan Trueman.” Sonograma 9. (2 January 2011).
http://www.sonograma.org/2011/01/conversation-with-dan-trueman/

“An Interview with Sérgio Roberto de Oliveira.” MusicaBrasileira. (January 2011).
http://musicabrasileira.org/sergiodeoliveira/sro2010.html

“Andrea Clearfield: An Interview.” Opera Today. (31 December 2010). http://www.operatoday.com/content/2010/12/andrea_clearfie.php

“Rodney Waschka: An Interview.” Opera Today. (6 December 2010).
http://www.operatoday.com/content/2010/12/rodney_waschka_.php

“An Interview with Mark Zaki.” 21st Century Music. (December 2010).
http://21st-centurymusic.blogspot.com/2011/02/interview-with-mark-zaki-tom-moore.html

“Stellan Sagvik: An Interview.” Opera Today. (18 November 2010). http://www.operatoday.com/content/2010/11/stellan_sagvik_.php

“Marcela Pavia: An Interview.” Opera Today (3 November 2010). http://www.operatoday.com/content/2010/11/marcela_pavia_a.php

“An Interview with Kamran Ince.” 21st Century Music. (1 November 2010).
http://21st-centurymusic.blogspot.com/2010/12/interview-with-kamran-ince-tom-moore.html

“An Interview with Su Lian Tan.” Flute Talk 30, no. 2 (October 2010), 8-13, 28-29.

“An Interview with David Sanford.” 21st Century Music (September 2010).
http://21st-centurymusic.blogspot.com/2010/09/interview-with-david-sanford-tom-moore.html

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