President's Report
Austin Workshop to Address Information Literacy
Calendar
Committee Reports: Resource Sharing and Collection Development
Chapter Grants Awarded
Chapter Reports: Mountain-Plains
Education Committee Issues Call for Poster Sessions
Members' Publications
Poster Session Application
Transitions
President's Report
James P. Cassaro, University of Pittsburgh
The summer is waning and fall will soon be upon us. Busy semesters are ahead for all. Where does the time go? It is hard to believe that my term as President of the Association will soon come to its end. Before it does, however, I will have several more opportunities to report to the membership on activities conducted by the Board of Directors on behalf of the Association.
Currently we are busy planning for the Board’s upcoming meeting in Columbus, Ohio, October 3-6, 2002. The fall meeting of the Board is the time when we put together our annual convention budget, finalize the program schedule, and prepare to mail out registration materials. In addition, parallel to this activity, the Board will continue its discussion of the conference, and if solutions to its crowded schedule are possible. A well-thought-out and presented position paper submitted to the Board this past spring by Michael Rogan, Ken Calkins and Steven Davison will be the catalyst for this discussion. As such, an ad-hoc committee will be appointed to look at this issue. This group will conduct a town meeting during our conference in Austin and make recommendations to the Board. Plan on attending the town meeting so that your voice can be heard! An important change to conference procedures has already been implemented. Beginning this fall, our management service, A-R Editions, Inc. will handle conference registration activities. This will take the burden off of the local arrangements committee to perform what can often be an onerous task.
On the topic of our conference, I am pleased to say that program chair, Ken Calkins, and local arrangements chair, David Hunter have put together sessions and activities that will delight everyone. All I can add is a hearty “Ya’ll come!” As more of the conference planning comes into focus, we will post preliminary schedules and other information on the MLA Website. One of the sessions that I hope many of you will attend is a demonstration of the MLA Membership Database. Matt Gryzbowski, one of our merry minions at A-R Editions, will take us through how the database has been set up, how payments are tracked, and the built-in system of checks and balances between this database and our financial accounting program. The Board has been privy to this demonstration at our last two spring meetings in Madison, and each time has been amazed and delighted by how well the database functions, and how far we have come in our ability to track membership information and activity.
From August 4-9, 2002, I attended the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres (IAML) meeting in Berkeley, California, and was pleased to see so many MLA (and now IAML-U.S.!) members there. The weather was beautiful, the sessions informative, the receptions sumptuous, and all under the skillful guidance of Lenore Coral, whose careful thought and organization was everywhere in evidence. Unlike other national branches of IAML, which serve as the sole organization for music librarians, the United States has two such groups: the United States Branch of IAML and the Music Library Association. Early on in the history of the U.S. Branch, Richard S. Hill noted, “we look forward to the day when the Music Library Association may become the U.S.A. Branch of IAML.” Sadly, this action has never taken place—stymied by financial accounting difficulties and the method of defining combined and individual membership premiums—although it is still passionately debated today. Despite this non-integration, a powerful symbiotic relationship has emerged between these two organizations for American music librarianship. I hope that many of those MLA members who in Berkeley attended their first IAML meeting will continue to remain active in this Association and participate fully in the activities of the IAML-U.S. Branch in the future.
As you all know, Nancy Nuzzo was recently appointed as our new Treasurer/Executive Secretary. I am pleased to say that she has taken the challenge firmly and has run with it. Past-Treasurer/Executive Secretary, Laura Gayle Green and the staff at A-R Editions Inc. are skillfully handling her training so that a smooth transition is assured. The Board and I look forward to working with Nancy in the years ahead. In taking on this new responsibility, Nancy has resigned as Chair of the Publications Committee. I am pleased to announce that Karen Little will take on the reins of this committee, continuing its work with great zeal and elegance.
There are, I’m sure, many other things I could mention, but several neophyte-graduate students are darkening my door and responsibility calls! I wish you all productive fall terms and look forward to seeing you in Austin!
Austin Workshop to Address Information Literacy
Linda Blair, for the Education Committee
How do you define Information Literacy? The accreditation standards for the Commission on Colleges, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, define it as “the ability to locate, evaluate, and use information to become independent life-long learners.” ACRL’s Institute for Information Literacy goes beyond this, calling it a new liberal art. Perhaps your institution is now developing an information literacy program, or is pursuing a grant to do so, or perhaps you have a personal interest this field. How can you learn more about this current topic of importance that is transforming philosophies and methods of public service and library instruction? The Education Committee together with the MLA Bibliographic Instruction Subcommittee is pleased to announce a pre-conference workshop on Information Literacy, which is planned for the 2003 meeting in Austin, Texas.
The program will feature guest speaker Julie Todaro, currently Dean of Library Services at Austin Community College and a past co-chair of ACRL’s Institute for Information Literacy. Julie will introduce the program with an overview of information literacy and what is happening in the information literacy world today. Deborah Pierce, music librarian, member of the Information Literacy Steering Committee at the University of Washington, and a certified master programmer in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, will lead a session on information literacy tools, including adult learning styles. In addition, the workshop will feature a Best Practices panel of music librarians who are currently involved in information literacy efforts. Panelists Kathy Abromeit (Oberlin Conservatory), Beth Christensen (St. Olaf College), Gregg Geary (University of Hawaii) and Laurie Sampsel (University of Colorado) will share what has been working for them at their respective institutions. Finally, Julie Todaro will conclude the program with a discussion of methods of assessment and wrap-up.
The workshop will take place on February 12, 2003 at the Renaissance Austin Hotel, Austin, Texas, from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM and will offer 5.5 hours of instruction. It is anticipated that 75 registrants can be accommodated. Further information concerning instructions for registration, fees, etc. will soon be available on MLA-L and in your conference mailing.
Education Committee Issues Call For Poster Sessions
Deadline: 16 October 2002
Description:
The Education Committee of MLA is calling for applications for Poster Session presentations at its annual meeting in Austin, Texas 10-16 Feb 2003. Presentations will be considered that fit one of these broad categories:
Sessions may cover any subject of professional interest to music librarians. Recent presentations have included solving personnel issues, both archival and theoretical research topics, new ideas on bibliographic control for music in online catalogs, and international collection development agreements.
Parameters for Presentation:
Poster sessions will fit on a 4'x6' poster board and convey the subject using a combination of graphics, narrative text, and handouts (NB: NO computer or network applications may be used). Printed copies of the abstract must be made available by the presenter for those viewing the session.
A table for handouts, business cards, and sign-up sheets will be provided. The presenter(s) must be in attendance throughout the designated time to answer questions and elaborate on the presentation topic.
Guidelines for Submission:
Entries by an individual or group of librarians must be submitted on an official entry form, see below, via email or “snailmail.” Submissions will be evaluated by the MLA Education Committee, sponsor of the event. Criteria for selection will include quality, innovation, and suitability to the Poster Session format.
There are only twelve slots available, so those interested are encouraged to be original, thorough, and early in their applications. Authors of the selected Poster Sessions will receive detailed guidelines concerning effective preparation and presentation.
Direct questions to the Coordinator at the address listed on the bottom of the application, located at the end of the newsletter.
Thank you and good luck !
Committee Reports
Resource Sharing and Collection Development Committee
Mark Germer, University of the Arts, Chair
During the months leading up to the 2002 national meeting, the RSCD Committee continued its exploration of possible Association involvement in aggregating website management, which in turn led to a separately appointed taskforce and the Town Meeting in Las Vegas where comments on this subject were solicited from the membership. Appreciative recognition was given to current Committee member Yale Fineman and to former RSCD chair William Coscarelli for their guidance in raising, sorting, and clarifying the issues, the importance of which became abundantly clear in the views of the membership expressed during the Town Meeting. Having turned over this charge to the taskforce, the Committee dedicated its business meeting to the identification and ordering of new priorities. Chief among the options given consideration were re-envisioning the Basic Music Library (BML) as a web-based resource and, in an effort emphasizing the Committee’s RS interests, formulation of a strategy for updating the classic reference work Resources of American Music History (RAMH) (1981). Kent Underwood agreed to devise a working statement outlining possible approaches to BML with a view to the advantages of electronic publishing and to investigate relevant proprietary implications.
The need for a new incarnation of RAMH was the central topic of the open meeting sponsored by the Committee, attended by some 75 members. Under the title “Ongoing Challenges in Identifying American Music Resources: A Gleam in Father RAMH’s Eye?” a distinguished panel of guest speakers offered clear and enthusiastic support for the Committee’s efforts to mobilize a project of this sort. The session title itself was suggested by the 1981 work’s prime force, Don Krummel, who though out of the country and unable to attend, sent words of encouragement. Deane Root, of the Center for American Music, University of Pittsburgh, and also an originator of RAHM, shared cautionary tales and lessons learned. Paul Wells, of the Center for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee State University, and Tom Riis, of the American Music Research Center, University of Colorado at Boulder, focused on the need for coverage of primary source materials in formats neglected or overlooked twenty years ago. John Bewley, music archivist at the State University of New York at Buffalo, summarized technical and other matters as they would need to be addressed in an age of electronic publishing. David Day, of Brigham Young University and representing also the interests of IAML’s Committee on the Registration of Archives, demonstrated the potential utility of the database and software he has developed for addressing many of RAMH’s objectives. Two immediate results of the open meeting were a proposal from Paul Wells, in his capacity as president of the Society for American Music, to form a joint committee between SAM and MLA for the purpose of building a support base for the initiative, and a proposal from David Day to define a mutually compatible module and input a body of test data so as to clarify what can and cannot be achieved by a collaboration.
Chapter Reports
Mountain-Plains
Anita Breckbill, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
The desert called to members of the Mountain-Plains MLA, and they responded by going to Las Cruces, New Mexico to hold their annual meeting, hosted by Gary Mayhood at New Mexico State University on May 17-18, 2002. Early arrivals met for a reception at a restaurant next to the conference hotel, overlooking Las Cruces.
Zuhl Library on the NMSU campus was the site of the conference. The university borders the unfenced desert, over 60,000 acres of which it owns. Desert flora (desert sage and prickly pears) and fauna (hummingbirds, jackrabbits, coyotes) decorate parts of the campus and from a distance the Organ Mountains overlook the city. The library itself is filled with displays of petrified rock from the Zuhl Geological Collection, some of which is mounted in display cases. A highly polished slice of petrified rock, made into a massive tabletop, decorates the stunning main entrance room of the library. Gary Mayhood, the dean of the library, Elizabeth Titus and the interim associate dean, Cheryl Wilson greeted us on Friday morning.
Three papers were presented that morning. Pay attention to the presenter’s names and you will understand why this session was dubbed the “Morning Lories.” Laurie Eagleson and Lori Critz spoke on “The University of Arizona Integrated Learning Center: The ‘Hole Story’, Then and Now.” An Information Commons in the Integrated Learning Center gives an academic home base for freshmen at the University of Arizona, and provides them with computers, study space and classroom space. Reference librarians can magically provide help with computer hardware and software in addition to traditional reference aid. For more information, see http://www.ilc.arizona.edu . From the University of Colorado-Boulder, Laurie Sampsel spoke on “The Colorado Digitization Project and CU-Boulder’s Virtual Sheet Music Collections.” The library received $10,000 to scan sheet music, and has been able to scan more than 3000 pieces from their collection of nearly 150,000 pieces of sheet music. They have concentrated on scanning music in specific categories, such as western trails and migration songs. The web site can be seen at http://www-libraries.colorado.edu/mus/smp/index.html . Lori Stevens treated us to film clips in “A Fistful of Pasta—The Good, the Bad and the Glorious Film Music of Ennio Morricone, Pt. 1.” Participants were left with enduring memories of the coyote-howl music from the famous spaghetti western, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," complete with visions of Charleton Heston, the desert, and rugged masculinity.
After lunch, Suzanne Moulton-Gertig presented “Insanity, Stereotype, and Caricature: The Musicologist in Literary Fiction.” She read us passages from novels of Thomas Bernhard, Robertson Davies and Saul Bellow to illustrate the unfailingly negative views of musicologists in fiction. We were left saying “Hmmm,” after she noted the two typical responses to musicological papers: “Duh,” and “Huh?” Cheryl Taranto spoke on what she has done at the University of Nevada--Las Vegas to help shape music students to be information literate. Her paper was entitled: “Information Literacy for the Music Student: New Variations on an Old Tune.” Conference participants all did justice to an afternoon snack of ice cream sundaes--this after a lovely lunch and a morning break of exceptional pastries. The afternoon concluded with Gary Mayhood playing us a variety of music inspired by the Titanic, entitled “Sink the Titanic: The Last Gasp.” A banquet held in the Hilton, with music provided by a local flute choir, completed the day.
On Saturday morning, fortified by coffee and pastries, the attendees listened to two more papers. Hiromi Matsushita presented “The World is Welcome Here--in Japanese Music,” and played western-inspired music from a number of 20th century Japanese composers. Jean Jensen presented us with some local excitement in “Murder, Massacre, and Las Cruces,” and left us to mull over mysteries from Las Cruces’ past.
After a lunch of Mexican food at La Hacienda the annual business meeting was held. The symbol of leadership, in this case a spoon, was passed from Suzanne Gertig to Janet Bradford. Stephen Luttman was elected Vice Chair/Chair Elect and Lori Stevens the new Member-At-Large. Two papers were chosen to forward to MLA’s Best of Chapters Committee: the presentation by Lori Stevens, and the one by Laurie Eagleson and Lori Critz. To conclude the meeting, a small group sang a song of invitation to next year’s MPMLA meeting, to be held in Lincoln, Nebraska. The text can be read at MPMLA’s web site: http://www.library.arizona.edu/mpmla/
An outing to the Farm and Ranch Museum in Las Cruces ended the MPMLA meeting for 2002. Attendees helped celebrate the annual Fiesta de San Ysidro by watching local artisans and observing everything from dowsing to piñata busting.
Chapter Grants Awarded
Laura Dankner, MLA Vice President/President-Elect
The Music Library Association announces that four regional chapters have been awarded funding for chapter-level projects for the 2002-3 fiscal year.
The chapters, followed by a brief summary of their projects, are:
The next deadline for chapter grant proposals will be in April, 2003. MLA's Vice-President/President-Elect or Past-President is the Board member responsible for coordinating these grants, while serving as the liaison for the organization's eleven regional chapters as well.
Members’ Publications
Please send citations for items published or premiered in the past calendar
year to the column editor, Sarah Dorsey, via e-mail or snail mail at the
address below. The deadline for submissions for issue 131 is October 21, 2002.
Sarah Dorsey
Music Librarian
School of Music UNCG
P.O. Box 26167
Greensboro, NC 27402-6167
Sarah_Dorsey@uncg.edu
Book
Scott, Darwin F. (Brandeis University).
For the Love of Music: Festschrift in Honor of Theodore Front on His 90th Birthday. Ed. by Darwin F. Scott. Pisa: Antigua, 2002. [307 p. ISBN: 88-88326-01-4. $45.00]
Articles
Bayne, Pauline S. (University of Tennessee).
Article for The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., 2000 (online at: http://www.grovemusic.com): “Van Vactor, David.”
Gerstein, Christine Wondolowski (Hofstra University).
“Articles about Musical Instruments Published 1999-2000: A Selective Bibliography of Journal Literature in English.” American Musical Instrument Society Newsletter 30, no. 3 (Fall 2001): 18-28.
Award
Channan P. Willner receives Emerging Scholar Award (New York Public Library)
Channan Willner, Acquisitions Librarian at the Music Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, received the Emerging Scholar Award from the Society for Music Theory for his essay “Sequential Expansion and Handelian Phrase Rhythm” published in Schenker Studies 2 (Cambridge University Press, 1999). This study contributes to a growing literature in which Schenkerian tools are applied to rhythmic problems. The author investigates elusive Baroque phrase rhythm in which periodic and aperiodic phrase structures coexist, in which harmonies ‘share pluralistic emphasis,’ and in which various durational strata coexist and undergo successive transformations. Following ‘the shapely progress of voices in strict counterpoint below the surface,’ he traces extensions in the basic pace of sequential units in a ‘milieu of continual—and highly improvisatory—durational engagement.’ Such shifts in basic pace contribute to a sense of formal balance, anticipating Classical periodicity, albeit in a somewhat idiosyncratic way. Engagingly written and wide-ranging, the article cites theorists as diverse as Johann Philipp Kirnberger, Wilhelm Fischer, and William Caplin. It is persuasive in its call for reassessment of ‘one-dimensional and contradictory’ views of late Baroque metrics as at once irregular and relentless, and effective in the strategies it proposes for such reassessment. Willner will soon be receiving his Ph.D. from the Graduate Center of the City of New York.
The Emerging Scholar Award recognizes an author in the early stages of his or her career for a distinguished book or article that constitutes a significant contribution to the field of music theory.
Alan Asher, Art & Music Librarian and Bibliographer, The University of Northern Iowa.
Claudia Bissett, Technical Services Librarian, New England Conservatory of Music.
Bill Blair, Information Services Librarian, Music and Media, The University of Victoria.
Michael Bonnard, Catalog/Music Librarian, Brewton-Parker College.
Antonio Calvo, Fine and Performing Arts Librarian, California State University, Northridge.
Noe Carmichael, Reference Librarian I (Music Department), Boston Public Library.
Michael J. Duffy, Music Librarian, Northern Illinois University.
Harry Eskew, retired Music Librarian, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, was made a Fellow of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada at their annual meeting in July.
Sally Evans, retired Music Librarian, Amherst College, passed away August 13, 2002.
Andrew R. Gatto, Music/Reference Librarian, Phillips Exeter Academy.
Catherine Gick, Music Librarian, Vanderbilt University.
Esther Gillie, Music Digital Services Coordinator, The University of Illinois.
Anna Harriet Heyer, Music Librarian, founder of the Music Library at the University of North Texas and author of Historical Sets, Collected Editions, and Monuments of Music, passed away Aug. 12, 2002.
Lynne Jaffe, Head, At Your Service: Library Contract Cataloging.
Mary Lochhead, Head, Architecture/Fine Arts and Music Libraries, The University of Manitoba.
Kristen McConnell, Music Librarian, The University of Michigan.
Timothy Maloney, Head, Music Library, The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Campus.
Christopher Mehrens, Music Librarian, Indiana State University.
Margaret Miller, Music Librarian, New World School of the Arts/Music Division.
Erin Lee Mullen, Reference Librarian I, Boston Public Library (Music Department).
Nancy Nuzzo, Treasurer/Executive Secretary, Music Library Association.
Antoinette Powell, Music Librarian, Lawrence University.
Margi Rogal, Reference Librarian, Augustana College.
Ed Scarcelle, Director, Scherman Library, Mannes College of Music, New School University.
Lorne Shapiro, Music Scores Cataloguer, McGill University.
10-12 October 2002
MLA Southeast Chapter
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
16 October 2002
Deadline for Poster sessions
MLA Annual Meeting, Austin, Texas
17-19 October 2002
MLA Midwest Chapter Meeting
Bloomington, Illinois
18-19 October 2002
MLA New York State/Ontario Chapter Meeting
Potsdam, New York
27 October 2002
Deadline for MLA Newsletter issue #131
Deadline: 16 October 2002
Applications must be completed in full and may be submitted via email to the Session Coordinator. Selections will be made and presenters notified by the end of October.
Session Title:
Presenter(s) Name and Institutional Affiliation:
Category:
_____ Recently completed research
_____ Innovative library projects
_____ Solutions to practical library problems
Print Abstract, single spaced, in the space below. NB: The abstract must be the same when provided at the Conference, so please consider it carefully as you write.
Signature of applicant (if paper submission):
Address:
Telephone:
Fax:
Email:
Questions and submissions may be made to:
Rebecca Littman, Head
UWM Music Library
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
2311 East Hartford Ave
Milwaukee, WI 53211
phone: 414/229-5529
fax: 414/229-5687
email: rlittman@uwm.edu
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