Many of you know that my customary e-mail greeting for many years has been "Greetings from the Swamps," since I live much of the year in New Orleans. Well, to mark my very first MLA Newsletter Presidential column, it seemed like a good time for an update. I've been looking forward to the 2003 annual meeting in Austin for quite some time. I'd visited Austin a few years ago, and had some time to sightsee--hence the accompanying onsite location photo. I remember David Hunter (aka "The Hunter" and head honcho, Local Arrangements Committee) bragging then about what a great town Austin was and what a great meeting we'd have there. "Sure," I thought, "typical Texas bragging." We next-door-neighbors in Loo-see-anna are quite used to this, of course! Well, dang if the Hunter wasn't just whistling Dixie. Austin IS a great town, and it WAS a great meeting.

Even after all these years of attending MLA, I still marvel at our annual gatherings: endlessly exhilarating and exhausting, entertaining and educational. For those of us who remember the last Austin get-together, many memories surfaced. Some wonderful: then-MLA President Mary Wallace Davidson playing pool at a Texas dance hall (still one of my favorite MLA moments!). Some still painful after eighteen years: Walter Gerboth, a mentor to me and many others, so shockingly stricken and taken from us shortly after that meeting. During that first Austin go-round I was young in the profession and thrilled to find so many appropriate sessions to attend and colleagues so warm and willing to help. At Austin "the sequel" I was in a different place professionally and personally; yet, amazingly, I still found many superb sessions and wonderful, supportive colleagues. The more things change...

Here are some of the highlights of MLA, Austin, for this particular attendee. Since we were in larger-than-life Texas, forgive the corny movie titles I've used to describe this dazzling, cast-of-thousands (well, hundreds), extra-special event.

"Show me the Money" or, Strategic Financial Planning. Vitally important to all organizations, this "view from 10,000 feet" is designed to help us review and refine current initiatives and begin to discuss what we'd like to be able to offer in the future. The nature and direction of the annual meeting is actually part of this broader plan, and of course it is all linked to MLA's financial stability in the years ahead. Jim Cassaro (more about this remarkable MLA member below) has provided us with stellar Presidential leadership on this initiative. In Austin, Jim invited many MLA committee chairs to continue brainstorming on this topic, which was first raised at the Board's Fall 2002 meeting. There will surely be more to come on this essential component of organizational planning.

"Welcome to Our World." Recruitment and outreach are central to the library profession as a whole. Jane Gottlieb, former MLA President and currently our liaison to the American Library Association, has urged us to consider expanding our efforts in this area. The Board has endorsed this concept and I will be appointing a group of concerned MLA citizens to investigate ways in which we can attract the best and brightest from all segments of the population to our profession, and ultimately, to our Association.

Pre-conference Workshop, Roundtables, Plenaries, Best of Chapter and Poster Sessions; and did I leave anything or any group out? I'm sure I did. Forgive me. So much going on, so little time, so much to hear and learn.

"Excellent Exhibits." We had many interesting exhibitors: old dear friends who support our meeting in many ways, including corporate membership or other financial contributions, as well as newbies. I learn about new products and companies every year, and think this is one of the high points of attendance at our meetings. This year was no exception. If you buy from one of these fine folks, please mention your pleasure at seeing them at our annual meetings!

"Merry Marketeers." The marketing subcommittee and the development committee did their usual stellar job of raising money for MLA through the MLA Shop and Silent Auction, and by providing the easy-pay mechanism for donating to your favorite MLA endowment or other type of fund. Thanks to all that worked so hard for this important cause, thanks to all of you who gave so generously to MLA. And of course, our fundraising does not end at our annual meeting. For example: the Michael Ochs Notes Endowment Campaign continues. Please see Ruthann McTyre's article in this newsletter for more on this important effort, and how you can still help.

Jim has just stepped down after his two-year stint as MLA President. Jim has proved a true leader and has served MLA in an incredible array of positions over the years. Luckily he has one more year on the Board, this time as Past President, so that we may continue for a little while longer to enjoy his scintillating wit, his style and grace, and his incredible knowledge of all things MLA. Thank you, Jim.

PS: Did I mention how proud I am to be your President?

Best,

Laura Dankner

The large group gathered for the opening plenary session of the 2003 Music Library Association annual meeting had the opportunity to hear three wonderful speakers and some lively music, as well. David Hunter served as moderator for the session in place of Ruthann McTyre who was unfortunately unable to attend due to illness.

The first speaker, Casey Monahan, has been the Director of the Texas Music Office since 1990. He has also been a writer for the Austin media and other publications, a research analyst, and has served in various library and archive positions. Monahan provided an overview of the Texas Music Office. His entertaining presentation acknowledged the importance of librarianship as he frequently exclaimed, "Y'all know how to deal with knowledge!"

The Texas Music Office is one of only four government-sponsored offices that promote music (the others are located in Memphis, Louisiana, and Austin). The Texas Music Office, funded by the state of Texas, was opened in January 1990 to serve as a "chamber of commerce" organization for the music industry. It is a sister office of the Texas Film Commission, and both operate as part of the Office of the Governor.

The Texas Music Office provides four types of services. The office serves as a clearinghouse for information on Texas music. Its Business Referral Network includes information on Texas music industries (arranged in 96 coded categories based on standard industrial classification codes), music events, talent register, radio stations, and U.S. and foreign music contacts. The office publishes an annual directory, the Texas Music Industry Directory. It also provides referrals to business, events, and musicians in order to attract new and keep current music business in Texas. Furthermore, the Texas Music Office serves as a liaison between music business and government, and publicizes significant developments within the Texas music industry.

Monahan stressed the importance of libraries and education more than once in his presentation. After a show of hands indicated that only about a quarter of the institutions represented in the room taught a music business course to music students, he remarked that all institutions should provide such a course to their music graduates. The students need to have a full understanding of the music marketplace and how they can direct their own careers. Librarians can help with this endeavor.

In response to a question about what the Texas Music Office does specifically to sponsor or promote music, Monahan answered that the office does not sponsor specific events and more importantly, does not make any aesthetic judgments on any client's music. The Texas Music Office is very careful not to compete with the Texas Commission on the Arts. Instead, the office concentrates on its 14,000 individual clients and its business consultancy. The Texas Music Office is also involved with the Texas music license plate project, and has partnered with the Texas Historical Society to work on a handbook of Texas music.

The website of the Texas Music Office can be found at: http://www.governor.state.tx.us/divisions/music

For those who wondered, David Hunter explained that Austin's claim of being the "music capital of the world" is based on census information. There are more musicians per capita in Austin than anywhere else in the country.

The next presentation featured two speakers: David Neumeyer, Chair of the Center for American Music, School of Music, The University of Texas at Austin and Kevin Mooney, lecturer at UT-Austin and at Southwest Texas State University.

The Center for American Music at The University of Texas at Austin was founded in 2002. Three agendas have emerged for the Center-to support teaching of courses for undergraduates on popular music of all types and the history of American music, to support performance and recording of American music, and to support research in all areas and styles of American music. Future plans for the Center include adding faculty where gaps currently exist (such as jazz history), and hiring an archivist to handle the music collections.

The web address for the Center for American Music: http://www.cam.music.utexas.edu

Kevin Mooney continued the session with a brief survey of the history of Texas music. Mooney noted that it is important to distinguish Texas music from Texans in music. There were many influences on Texas music. Two "invasions"--one from the north (Amer-Indians) and one from the south (Spanish missionaries)--shaped Texas music. Around 1821, an Anglo "invasion" ensued when Moses Austin encouraged his son Stephen to colonize Texas. They went to war with the unlikely anthem "Will You Come to the Bower." The Anglo-Mexican conflict resulted in a cultural response, the corrido and conjunto music. Germans contributed much to Texas music, bringing with them their culture and music, particularly their singing societies. The upwardly mobile of society favored ballroom music and wind ensembles, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1900. Texas music was also influenced by ragtime. Scott Joplin wrote the "Great Crush Collision March," a musical representation of a Texas historical event. The blues were yet another influence, including performers such as Blind Lemon Jefferson.

David Hunter introduced Paul Glass, described as an "eclectic musician who signifies where we are at" in the 21st century. He is a mandolin player who performs many styles, including bebop, jazz, and bluegrass. Glass noted that he himself was not a Texas native, having moved to Austin around 1977 to play electric mandolin in a western swing band. Austin is attractive to many musicians because of the relatively low cost of living, the large student population that encourages diversity, and the ability to "pay the bills" as a musical performer.

Glass performed several musical selections during his presentation, including the traditional fiddle tune "Liberty," a Duke Ellington tune, and an original composition titled "Paper Bag Rag" (although regrettably without the brushes on a paper bag that gave the composition its title). The session closed with a blues tune performed by Glass and thunderous applause from the appreciative audience.

Saturday morning's plenary session, "Revolution in the Recording Industry" was moderated by Tom Moore (College of New Jersey) who pointed out in his opening remarks that the revolution is indeed, "a continuing revolution." While the transition from analog to digital formats may prove to be the most radical change music libraries have experienced thus far, the history of recorded sound has seen many changes since its inception; from cylinder, to disc, to magnetic tape, to CD, to digital sound files compressed sufficiently to allow transfer over computer networks (e.g. mp3s). Echoes of the continuing revolution were heard from each of the three presenters as they described changes that have occurred in sound recording and distribution with regard to technologies, formats and copyright.

Larry Kraman, owner of Newport Classic, used early digital recording technology (PCM to VHS) in 1985 to form what was to become a very valuable record company that was eventually sold to a major label (Sony Music). Kraman's enthusiasm, do-it-yourself ethos, and success were evidence that when new technologies become available, the potential exists for them to be used to produce and distribute sound in new ways. Kraman told the story of his venture, in which his company recorded and released previously unrecorded music by major composers on the fledgling CD format. His recording venture paid off, and now Kraman is working on a new web project, Music Play by Play.

Next up was Brenda Nelson-Strauss (Indiana University), who moved the topic into the future with her presentation titled, "Where's the Revolution?" which provided a survey of emerging consumer audio formats. These high-resolution digital audio formats "exceed the threshold of human hearing" using, among other enhancements, the 24-bit, 96 KHz (24/96) digital recording standard. Could this high-resolution standard signal the final resting place for recorded sound? Perhaps-unless one wishes to explore the world of multi-channel and surround-sound systems.

Two high-resolution audio disc formats were discussed: the Super Audio CD (SACD) and the Digital Versatile Disc Audio (DVDA). Both of these formats will require new playback equipment to achieve high-resolution sound. Fortunately, many of these newly produced discs will be manufactured as "hybrid discs," which will also allow playback on conventional 16-bit, 44 KHz CD players. This "backward compatibility" will help music libraries transition to new formats without the immediate need for new equipment. New releases may be purchased in the high-resolution format, but still played on regular CD players with traditional CD quality. When equipment is purchased that supports the new formats, high-resolution audio will be achieved. Conventional CDs will, in effect, be absorbed into the new formats offering a gradual, "seamless transition."

Also slated for inclusion with the new audio formats are several anti-copying technologies. SACDs and DVDAs will both contain dynamic copy-protection software. In the content industry, technological copy-protection measures that prevent users from copying music are part of what is known as Digital Rights Management (DRM). Technology companies are partnering with record labels in an effort to thwart those who would share music by copying and distributing sound recordings.

The final speaker was Georgia Harper (Office of General Counsel, University of Texas,) a copyright lawyer, who presented an update and refresher on copyright law, which plays an important role in how sound recordings are manufactured and distributed in the digital age.

Harper began by reminding those in attendance that the purpose of copyright (as defined by the U.S. constitution) is the "improvement of society through the advancement of knowledge." For creators, the control of copies for a limited time is meant to be an "incentive to create new works." For users, access to copies "promotes cultural wisdom and fosters creativity." In sum, "the purpose of copyright is not [only] to create profit, but to create more knowledge." Harper used the example of the fair use section of the copyright law as a clause that embodies the balance of interests between owner control and public access. Fair use provides educators, students, and scholars "breathing room" to reproduce works that could not otherwise be legally copied.

The pendulum may be swinging too far in favor of content copyright holders. The length of terms and allowable formats have steadily increased in the last few decades. For most of the twentieth century, the copyright term was twenty-eight years. It was pointed out that the volume of content that is driving the increased control of copies is miniscule, but has great commercial value compared to the greater body of copyrighted material. Also mentioned was the importance of works in the public domain as an avenue of access to our cultural heritage.

The Teach Act, U.S. Code 17 section 110(1) is a recent development that expands educators' rights to display and perform works in the classroom (brick and mortar or virtual) during a lecture. This act was an agreement between the educational community and the content industry and may be an indication that we are headed toward finding a new balance between content creators/copyright holders and content users. Further information on copyright law can be found of Georgia Harper's Copyright Crash Course web site at: http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/IntellectualProperty/cprtindx.htm

Plenary II at the 2003 MLA meeting in Austin, Texas covered a lot of territory. The session offered up-to-date news about what is happening in the continually evolving world of recorded sound. From record companies, to high-resolution digital audio discs, to intellectual property law, we were given the latest information on how the revolution in sound recording has affected our music libraries. Apparently, the "revolution" will continue and will keep music librarians busy sorting out new formats, maintaining catalogs and upgrading playback equipment as we endeavor to provide our patrons with the best possible listening experience.

Sixty-eight librarians were in attendance at the Workshop on Information Literacy, co-sponsored by the Education Committee and the Bibliographic Instruction Subcommittee on February 12, 2003. They were treated to an intensive day-long introduction to the principles and practice of information literacy.

Dr. Todaro urged the workshop participants to return to their institutions and develop profiles for information-literate patrons (general public, students, faculty, librarians). Such profiles can be used as a rationale to develop programs in information literacy, and to assess the effectiveness of existing programs.

Librarians may be coming to information literacy (IL) from a variety of perspectives, ranging from those whose institutions have incorporated IL into their missions and allocated extensive resources, to those who must be advocates with little institutional support. Certainly interest in IL continues to grow among colleges and universities, often at the behest of accrediting agencies, some of whom require schools to address IL in some fashion (NASM has no such requirement). Perhaps the most influential standards for information literacy are those developed by the Association of College and Research Libraries, available at http://www.ala.org/acrl/ilcomstan.html

Dr. Todaro presented a summary of common elements in successful IL programs, including: integration into the umbrella organization’s strategic directions, and into the continuous learning of faculty and staff; strategic planning and budgeting based on library mission and goals; a design that meets institutional and patron needs; proactive marketing; and continuous assessment.

If that sounds like a lot for a librarian to take on in a semester, take heart. One of the notable aspects of Dr. Todaro’s presentation was that she related information literacy to the standards and the big picture, but also broke things down so that individual librarians could go home with something they could use, regardless of where on the spectrum of institutional support their library falls. Such initiatives include the profiles mentioned above; partnering with particular faculty members; rewriting existing assignments, in conjunction with faculty, to incorporate IL; starting small, working in manageable two-month chunks; and borrowing best practices from other institutions. She was also at pains to point out that much of what librarians have been doing for years as bibliographic instruction can also fall under the umbrella of information literacy.

In her presentation, Deborah Pierce of The University of Washington focused on how people learn and on what brain research can tell us about this topic. Using guided imagery and a personal inventory of learning styles, Deborah explicated one of the many ways of looking at learning styles: the distinction between visual, audio and kinesthetic learners. Most people will use a combination of all three styles with one predominating. A given portion of the brain may be used for different functions by different people, and the more channels that are used to present information, the better it is likely to be retained. Teaching librarians should be aware of attention cycles, the longest of which may be 110 minutes and the shortest just several seconds.

The afternoon featured a panel of music librarians presenting their own best practices for information literacy. Kathleen Abromeit of Oberlin College was instrumental in obtaining a grant to integrate information literacy into the Opera Theater program. Working with faculty, Kathy incorporated face-to-face sessions and assignments into a two-semester sequence required of all opera theater students. Kathy’s work emphasized the interdisciplinary nature of the filed, the different types of relevant sources, and critical thinking.

Beth Christensen of St. Olaf College presented the College’s course-integrated approach to information literacy and how it manifests itself in the music curriculum. Introduction to IL and research concepts begins in the freshman year and continues through the entire curriculum. Each assignment related to IL has specific goals--knowledge or skills that the students are expected to gain. These goals build on those of preceding assignments, reinforcing concepts and adding new ones. In this environment, the library becomes integral to the experience of being a music student.

The University of Hawaii inculcates information literacy, in part, through learning communities: small groups of students who take related courses in several disciplines. Teaching in this context, Gregg Geary uses repetition and continual assessment of student progress to encourage critical thinking and an awareness of the research process.

Laurie Sampsel at The University of Colorado teaches a graduate music bibliography course in which information literacy is the Sorcerer’s Stone, transforming students interested only in completing assignments into life-long learners with critical thinking skills. The students demonstrate these skills in a research assignment consisting of an annotated bibliography and a bibliographic essay summarizing the state of research in their topic.

Dr. Todaro ended the day with a review of assessment practices. The two main levels of assessment are formative and summative. Formative evaluation happens at the individual level and answers such questions as “Did the student learn?” and “How can the librarian improve her teaching?” Summative evaluation takes place on a broader scale, and focuses on whether a program is meeting its goals and objectives. Summative evaluation grows out of the data gathered in formative evaluation. It is important to realize that assessment should be continuous and that it can apply not only to teaching, but also to every aspect of a library, from reference service to signage to tutorials. Assessment tools include pre- and post-tests, surveys, observation and research logs.

Pre-conference workshops are organized by the MLA Education Committee, and interested parties can contact the chair of that committee for more information.

As we move through the year towards the next annual meeting, if you have photographs of an MLA event (including chapter meetings!) that we might use in the Newsletter, please contact the editor (Steve Mantz).
 

MLA held a Town Meeting on Friday, February 14th, at its annual meeting in Austin, Texas. This open discussion session was intended to be the first in a series of Town Meetings that will be devoted to various strategic planning issues for the Association as we move forward from the successes of Plan 2001.

The issue discussed was the annual meeting itself: how it has become significantly busier and more complicated over the past 15 years, with more program sessions, more business meetings, more activities competing for your time and attention. The consequences (other than the exhaustion of members) have most significantly included increased meeting room demand, leaving us with fewer hotels able and willing to negotiate with MLA for a conference contract. And that, of course, limits the Association’s flexibility, both logistically and financially.

The discussion was moderated by Michael Rogan, who opened with a brief presentation derived from a study of the conference booklets from the past 15 years. The number of program sessions has risen in several jumps over that time, each due to different factors. A rise from 80 or fewer total program sessions per conference in the late 1980s to around 100 in the early 1990s was a result of having more roundtables offering more opportunities for members. Another rise in the late 1990s was seen from an expansion in committees–more committees, all having more business meetings and more programmatic sessions. Lastly, the number of program sessions per conference rose again to over 115 (!) at the turn of the millennium, when the number of meetings held by groups other than a single roundtable or committee jumped by 30%. (Such meetings were classed as “other” and include such gatherings as Ask MLA, system user groups, chapters, non-MLA groups (such RLG and IAML), and sessions sponsored by multiple groups within MLA.)

Knowing that a member had to select among only 63 program events in Eugene, Oregon, in 1987, but had to wade through and decide from 118 program events in New York City in 2001, made most people at the Town Meeting groan in recognition. (The Austin conference was just as jam-packed and fun-filled as any of late, with the Town Meeting itself competing or overlapping with 7 other simultaneous sessions!)

Four questions were posted for consideration at the Town Meeting:

• What does MLA as an organization require of its annual meeting?
• What do each of us as members expect from our conference?
• How can we achieve that vision?
• What outside factors put pressure on our conference planning?

• Why do you come to MLA? What do you value? What frustrates you?
• Why should MLA bother with holding a conference?
• What are the pressures on MLA? On you?
• What would a new prescription be for an “improved” conference?

1. how program sessions--and the conference in general--are valuable to MLA members and what shouldn't be "lost" in any planning for "improvements", while suggesting ways of making them even better, and
2. suggestions for ways of streamlining the conference to try to reduce the number of simultaneous events and the number of meeting rooms necessary.

On Saturday morning, after a coffee break following the second plenary session, a small crowd returned to Ballroom A for this year’s Ask MLA session entitled “Getting Published: Talking to the Editors.” Since Ruthann McTyre (Univ. of Iowa) was unable to attend the meeting in Austin due to illness, Jim Zychowicz (A-R Editions) moderated the session. The large panel of editors sat in a half circle in front of the room and was made up of Richard Carlin (Routledge), Mark Palkovic (MLA Index and Bibliography Series; Univ. of Cincinnati), Stephen Mantz (MLA Newsletter; Davidson College), Alan Karass (MLA Publicity Officer; Music Reference Services Quarterly; College of the Holy Cross), Jean Morrow (MLA Basic Manual Series; New England Conservatory), Linda Solow Blotner (Notes; Univ. of Hartford); Leslie Troutman (review editor for Fontes Artis Musicae; Univ. of Illinois), Stephen Wright (MLA Technical Reports Series; Northern Illinois Univ.), Mickey Koth (Music Cataloging Bulletin; Yale Univ.), Michael Ochs (editorial consultant; formerly of W.W. Norton), Suki Sommer (former editor of Fontes; New York Public Library), and Mary Jo Godwin (director of Marketing, Scarecrow Press).

The sometimes quite lively discussion, following questions from audience members, centered primarily on the different stages of a manuscript, from submitting a proposal, to the review and editorial processes, through publication. Linda Solow Blotner and Alan Karass described the blind review process used for article submissions to Notes, and the Music Reference Services Quarterly. After submissions have been reviewed, comments and suggestions are sent back to the authors, who--in most cases--are grateful to receive them. Richard Carlin, Michael Ochs, and Mary Jo Godwin represented book publishing and spoke about proposals and manuscript submissions. Since publishers publish to make money, it is important to show the potential market and readership in a proposal. While publishers might not like that people submit manuscripts to multiple publishers simultaneously, several members of the panel felt it is acceptable and sometimes necessary to do so, but asked that authors be honest to publishers about multiple submissions. Since submission guidelines can vary, it was strongly suggested to check journal and publishers’ websites before submitting proposals. Richard Carlin indicated that seeing a manuscript from the proposal through to publication is a collaborative process, not only between the author and the editor, but also with other parties such as editorial boards and marketing departments. When asked how much time editors were willing to put into a manuscript, several editors responded that it could depend on a variety of factors, such as the quality of the manuscript and other projects they have to work on, but the consensus seemed to be that if there is a great manuscript, editors are very willing to spend as much time on it as necessary.

Several suggestions were made for people who want to start writing and publishing. For younger persons in the profession and others for whom writing articles and books might seem very daunting, writing reviews or article for regional newsletters could be a more comfortable way to get started. Indexing presents another option for people to get involved in publishing. One audience member asked about the expectations of editors or publishers that authors provide camera-ready manuscripts. While some accept manuscripts in electronic form, it was mentioned that camera-ready manuscripts tend to go into print faster than if they have to be typeset by the publisher. Royalties tend to be higher with camera-ready manuscripts, but of course that also means much more work for the author. Another audience member asked to what extent authors were responsible for writing in good English. Suki Sommer and Leslie Troutman responded that in the case of Fontes there is no expectation of good English since English is not the native language for everyone and the journal accepts submissions in English, French, and German. Linda Blotner pointed out that with many journals there are timelines and tight deadlines and editors have to consider how often manuscripts are returned to authors for corrections. Another audience member voiced a concern that students tend to use print reference books less and less since many resources are available online, and suggested publishers put examples online to get students to the printed material.

Suki Sommer and Alan Karass pointed out that there are many things and topics that still need to be written about. When thinking about potential projects, one should think about what people want to read and what projects would fill a current gap. If someone has ideas but does not want to write about them, then these ideas could be suggested to other people or editors. Richard Carlin asked music librarians to protect their budgets (especially book budgets) and he indicated his willingness to write letters to deans or other administration officials in support of library budgets. Stephen Mantz urged the audience to take advantage of available writing opportunities. Alan Karass mentioned that the position of MLA Publicity Officer, for which the search has begun, provided a good opportunity for writing with a support network. Jean Morrow advised to be prepared for how much time writing and the publishing process takes, but that it was worth it. Mickey Koth mentioned that the worry about writing badly should not keep potential authors from writing. Michael Ochs suggested it might be helpful for potential authors to look at his recent article “What Music Scholars Should Know about Publishers” (Notes, Dec. 2002).

Learning to write takes writing, but it does get easier with time and practice. There are many opportunities and good places to start and all members of the panel emphasized repeatedly that they were very open to and interested in ideas, proposals, and manuscripts. They encouraged everyone to contact them with questions or possible projects. Jim Zychowicz concluded the session by thanking everyone for their participation and a very informative discussion.

Meeting Our Goal for the Michael Ochs Endowment Fund for Notes

Those attending MLA’s annual meeting in Austin proved once again that we are all part of one of the most generous organizations around. Even in difficult financial times, MLA members support our many opportunities for giving through donations to the various funds, and through purchases at the MLA Shop and the Silent Auction. I am continually amazed and heartened by how generous MLA members are.

We are so close to completing our goal of raising a matching $10,000 for the Michael Ochs Endowment Fund for Notes that I am asking for everyone’s help to complete it before we meet again in Washington next year.

Michael’s generosity has provided seed money for this endowment to ensure that the Notes editor will have the funds available to keep this important journal the vital and necessary publication that it is. Share Michael’s enthusiasm and belief in its relevance and help us meet our goal!

You may send your donation, indicating that it is for the Michael Ochs Endowment Fund for Notes, to:

Music Library Association
8551 Research Way, Suite 180
Middleton, WI 53562

You may also go to the “Giving to MLA” page on the MLA website and print out the form to mail along with your donation
(http://www.musiclibraryassoc.org/giving/gi_form.htm)

Thanks so much!

Ruthann McTyre, Chair
MLA Development Committee

A special benefit of the space we were in this year was the fact that the presenters could leave their sessions mounted through the rest of the day, for those who were unable to make it during two hours scheduled for the poster sessions. The presentations:

• Leslie Andersen (CSU-Long Beach). “Beam Me Up and Make Me Smart: New technologies + Modern Design = Exciting Instruction. The Spidell Electronic Classroom at California State University, Long Beach”
• Kirstin Dougan (UW Madison). Using Dublin Core Metadata to Describe Music Collections.
• Paula Elliot (Washington State University). A Cache of Musicians' Letters: The Kies Collection at Washington State University.
• Jean Finks (Stetson University). Preparing printed recital programs for an undergraduate school of music.
• Robert Freeborn (Pennsylvania State University). The Many Faces of Heavy Metal.
• Mary Huismann, Kristen Bergland and Stacie Traill (University of Minnesota). The Roy A Schuessler Vocal Arts Collection at UM.
• Ned Quist (Brown University). Tracking Your Tracks: a Database Solution to Documenting and Monitoring workflow for a digital audio project.

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Eero Saarinen was the architect for the Earl V. Moore School of Music Building at the University of Michigan. The design was carried out in 1956, construction began in 1962, and the building was dedicated in 1964, with the music library occupying the central part of the structure.

By the 1990s it was clear that a renovation was needed, so the planning process was begun, although without funds earmarked for the renovation. Out of stack space, the library sends around 2,500 items/year to remote storage. In 1964 the library held around 55,000 volumes; in 2002, there are 215,000 items in the library (excluding uncataloged backlogs). The library lacks group video viewing space, and its aesthetics are dated. The facility is non-ADA compliant. It consists of a main floor, a balcony, and mezzanine level, with no elevator access and narrow stairways.

Library staff members were included in the planning process and David Osler Associates of Ann Arbor was hired to prepare a two-phase program and develop an action plan. Their program calls for a three-stage process. Phase 1 focuses on interior remodeling. Special stacks adding an additional 2,500 linear feet of shelving are called for; the reference stacks are to be reconfigured; the area around the circulation desk is enlarged; the number of private offices is increased; and the lighting fixtures are to be replaced.

Phase 2 involves the renovation of space. Code violations are to be addressed; a new elevator is to be installed, altering the exterior of the building (no agreement binding the university to Saarinen's building design has been unearthed); and 3,000 square feet are to be added to the mezzanine floor area.

Now with plan in hand, the next steps in the process involve aggressive fundraising, discussions with the provost, and probably multiple trips to the university's Board of Regents for approval.

Two members of the staff of the Music Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, John Shepard, Head of the Rare Books and Special Collections, and George Boziwick, Curator of the American Music Collection, reported on the reopening of the third floor research area of the library at Lincoln Center in October 2001. Fifteen months after moving back, the assessment is generally positive, although the renovation has required some operational and physical alterations.

A major thrust of the renovation was the unification of the four public service operations (music, theater, dance, recorded sound) to the third floor research division, with a unified delivery system for print materials and a single room for the use of special materials.

The creation of additional storage was minimal in the renovation. This is alleviated somewhat by the installation of compact shelving in the basement to hold recordings and books on music, theater, and dance. In addition, there is some special collections material stored in locked basement shelving. ADA compliance was required even in non-public areas, which while increasing office space, reduced shelving capacity further. In anticipation of this and as part of a library-wide long-range plan, 70,000 music books and scores remained offsite and have since been sent to the library's remote storage facility. These included materials that were cataloged from 1972-94, and many titles duplicated in the circulating collections.

George Boziwick discussed the third floor reading room and administrative aspects of public service in the new space. The goal of the administration was to achieve both a uniform appearance and a single service scenario throughout the floor. Much of this has been achieved by having a single point of delivery for library print materials, as well as a centralized playback and electronic resources area. The Special Collections Reading Room is also a centralized operation; it is administered by a single divisional staff member with "on call" specialists advising from the other divisions.

The initial design of the third floor reading room presented some difficulties, since the floor design had to work around an immovable load-bearing wall. This put some of the divisional reference desks at an uncomfortable distance from the area where the electronic library catalogues and other resources are located. Staff must walk across the room to access the online catalogue when helping patrons, and users working behind the desk locations are not visible to the staff member on duty.

A new division of print delivery was created. Consequently, the paging staff had to be retrained to deliver materials for all divisions, each with unique locations and classmarks. This change required the professional staff to identify training needs and to carry them out, which after some study and experimentation has resulted in a successful materials delivery operation.

Over the past 15 months, the staff has been instrumental in successfully adjusting the supervision, workflow and general operations of the third-floor facility. Suggestions for physical alterations have been put forward by the staff, and those changes are currently being considered.

NYPL houses the largest circulating collection dedicated to the performing arts. Fully two-thirds of the public entering the building avail themselves solely of these circulating collections: Music, Dance & Drama, and Recorded Sound and Moving Image. The head of the Recorded Sound and Moving Image Collection, Joseph Boonin, spoke to the renovation of the first floor space housing this collection. On the cusp of retirement, Joe bluntly described the 1.5 years preceding the renovation, when focus groups and task forces were formed to make suggestions--suggestions that were not carried out by the architect or the administration. For example, the handsome 12" shelves which are not well-designed for the materials they hold (e.g., compact discs); or the fourteen listening stations which are placed too far from the reference desk to allow the necessary supervision. Their logical location near the reference desk was pre-empted by reading tables in order to present the architect's vision of "unification," wherein each floor presents a view from the elevator that matches the view from the elevator on every other floor. Subordinating work functions to design requirements has made for a challenging service situation.

Jerry McBride, Chair of the Task Force to Advise the Music Thesaurus Project, offered a brief report on the group's progress. Nearly all of the Library of Congress music-related subject headings have been deconstructed and categorized. Only a few "troublesome" headings remain. In response to a question from the audience, Harriette Hemmasi, Director of the Project, responded that she foresees the thesaurus being employed as part of a front-end application to aid users in the identification of appropriate subject-search terminology.

Ms. Hemmasi then delivered the centerpiece presentation of the meeting, in which she described the Variations2 Project at Indiana University. Referring to the V2 data model, which relates the entities of "work," "instantiation," "container," "media object," and "contributor," she discussed the role of metadata in the development of a digital music library. Comparisons were also made with the IFLA model, as outlined in the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records report (FRBR). The Variations2 homepage may be found at http://variations2.indiana.edu, while the FRBR homepage is at http://www.ifla.org/VII/s13/wgfrbr/wgfrbr.htm.

During its two business meetings, the committee discussed on-going budgetary concerns, the Association's role in setting metadata standards for music materials, as well as potential program topics for 2004.

Four of the BCC liaisons attended the annual ALA meeting in Atlanta, while due to budget constraints only two attended the midwinter meeting in Philadelphia. Each communicated the music community's perspective on various issues within the broader cataloging environment. Written reports of the meetings, including those of the Authority Control in the Online Environment Interest Group (ACIG), Media Resources Committee (MRC), Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access (CC:DA), Machine-Readable Bibliographic Information (MARBI), and Subject Analysis Committee (SAC), are available on the BCC website at http://www.musiclibraryassoc.org/BCC/bcc.html, along with annual reports from the Library of Congress and OCLC representatives.

There was only one BCC personnel change this year, as Terry Simpkins (Middlebury College) resigned his position as Chair of the Authorities Subcommittees. The Committee wishes him well in all of his future pursuits.

This past year, two terms were modified in the “Types of Compositions” document maintained by Mickey Koth: siciliana/sicilianas and salterello/salterellos. Mickey mentioned that the streamlined procedure for discussing terms adopted last year was working well and we agreed to continue it. The subcommittee members responsible for the initial discussion of terms with Mickey are Marlena Frackowski, Ralph Papakhian, Terry Simpkins, and David Sommerfield.

Last year, we provided comments on the Interim Report of the PCC SCS Task Group on the Function of the Authority File (available on the Web at http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/tgauthrpt.html). The report advocates expanding the maintenance role of the national authority file, and suggests ways to do this. The chair of that committee, Manon Théroux, acknowledged our comments and recently sent us a "draft" Final Report, due to the PCC Standing Committee on Standards in April. We have been invited to comment on the draft version of the report before the final version is submitted.

The subcommittee has contacted Sherry Vellucci, who has agreed to speak at our 2004 open meeting in Washington on some, as yet undetermined, aspect of authority control for non-MARC data.

Future projects: A subcommittee member voiced concern over a recent change to the authority record for NAR no97-081207 (Schubert, Franz, 1797-1828. Liederzyklen). This is a collective title, not the title of a work, and it was felt that such titles should be formulated in English. However, an examination of AACR2 and the LCRIs indicated that there is nothing to prevent such titles from being formulated in languages other than English. It was proposed that this might be the subject of a rule proposal, possibly in consultation with the Descriptive Subcommittee. Action: We discussed the matter with Nancy Lorimer, chair of the Descriptive Subcommittee, and she asked us to wait until she had seen a draft of the upcoming revision to AACR2 Chap. 25, in hopes that the matter might be addressed there.

Mickey Koth proposed the formation of a joint MOUG-Authorities Subcommittee group to investigate whether or not the Types Document could be used to assist automated authority control vendors with developing a suite of standard, automatic flips that would be made regardless of the absence of a specific 4XX field in the authority record (e.g., all headings of the form "Trio-sonatas" might be flipped to "Trio sonatas"). This would hopefully improve the quality of the automated authority services. Action: I asked Mickey to write up a proposal, primarily to make sure we understand the issues thoroughly, and we would begin discussions with MOUG to form such a group.

A subcommittee member proposed investigating, through CPSO, the possibility of allowing NACO contributors to use public notes in name authority records (680 field) to assist patrons. Situations where this would prove especially helpful would include headings for: deceased persons with open dates ("bibliographic undead"), people who were active in more than one field; and people with common names where, for example, the persons role or occupation might be known, but not his or her dates. This proposal was greeted with support in conversations I had following the open meeting. Sue Vita, LC liaison to BCC, expressed her opinion that there might not be active opposition to the idea within LC Special Materials. Action: This seems to be an excellent idea and we will begin work on it.

With regard to subcommittee membership, Jeannette Thompson's term has finished. Many thanks to her for her work on the committee the past four years. I am stepping down as chair of the subcommittee, but am actively working with BCC to find a replacement.

Nancy Lorimer highlighted items of interest to music catalogers from her CC:DA Midwinter meeting report. She reported that by March 25, JSC was expecting submissions on the following topics: an interim report by the Task Force on the Reconceptualization of Chapter 9 (by March 1), a report from the Format Variation Working Group of JSC on suggested revisions to Chapter 25 (Uniform titles) in light of FRBR; multiparts rules; a new report from Pat Riva on incorporating FRBR terminology in AACR2; changes in main entry terminology; and on “conventional terminology” or “terms in common use” in Chapters 6 & 7. Nancy also reported that the formerly titled “Appendix on Major and Minor Changes” will be released as a separate publication by ALA Editions within the next year. Nancy’s full report will soon be available on the BCC web page at http://www.musiclibraryassoc.org/BCC/bcc.html.

Nancy then related what had happened with conventional terminology over the past year. In the summer, the Canadian Committee on Cataloging submitted a rule change proposal to JSC to introduce conventional terminology into Chapters 6 & 7, and in keeping with a pending change to Chapter 9, to make conventional terminology the rule, rather than an option. The Subcommittee of Descriptive Cataloging of MLA, on behalf of the Bibliographic Control Committee, submitted to CC:DA a detailed response rejecting the proposal. The Subcommittee also submitted a counterproposal, developed by Joe Bartl and David Sommerfeld of LC, in which the current SMDs would be maintained but further uncontrolled information could be put in parentheses to supplement the SMD. Because of our response and counterproposal, CC:DA rejected the CCC proposal.

The response from JSC at their September meeting came as a surprise. It seems that while ALA considered “conventional terminology” to be uncontrolled vocabulary, the other constituents intended it to be controlled vocabulary, that is, a list of controlled terms that would supplement and/or replace the current SMDs. JSC thus rejected the MLA counterproposal “because they were not interested in controlled vocabulary.” The subcommittee is now looking at acceptable terms and hopes to present them either as a rule change proposal or a counterproposal in the near future.

There was some audience discussion about the terms SDC is thinking of adding to AACR2 (these being compact disc, DVD-audio and super audio compact disc). There was a suggestion that DVD-audio should be DVD-audio disc, to which there was general agreement. There was also agreement that we should keep the SMDs as general and flexible as possible and that systems requirements notes would be more often necessary with the new formats.

Lastly, Nancy reported that JSC had formed the joint ALA/BL Task Force on the Reconceptualization of Chapter 9. This task force is charged with rethinking the scope of Chapter 9 (Electronic Resources) and for introducing potential rule changes to other chapters in Part I of AACR2 to cover electronic manifestations. Nancy is on this task force, and has been assigned to suggest potential changes to Chapters 5 & 6, along with an as yet unnamed representative from the British Library. She pointed out that these changes would necessitate the addition of new SMDs to the two chapters.

After formal reports, the meeting continued with open questions from the audience. There was a question regarding the future of ISBD punctuation and whether it could be replaced by some sort of encoding. This resulted in a discussion on the relationship of AACR2 and MARC. Another question was about how to catalog CD-R’s that had been made as preservation copies of analog tapes. This raised the further question of what constitutes a reproduction for cataloging purposes.

More information of the activities of the subcommittee will soon be available on our website at: http://www.musiclibraryassoc.org/BCC/Descriptive/Descriptive.html. We welcome comments and concerns about descriptive cataloging issues at any time.

Paul Cauthen summarized MARBI activity for the past year. Among the changes to MARC21 implemented by the Library of Congress Dec. 21, 2002: 1) a new code for the 007 field to represent items in DVD format; previously, DVDs had to be coded as laserdiscs; 2) codes for languages in the 041 field must now be “unstacked,” while the use and order of the codes remains the same, but the subfield marker must be repeated before each language code used; 3) the 508 field, the note field used to record the names of producers, directors and other non-performers, is now repeatable.

Approved by MARBI, but not yet implemented by the Library of Congress were the following. 1) A number of new codes were created for the 007 field to assist in the tracking of sound recordings with special preservation needs. Among the materials that can now be so identified: acetate with ferrous oxide and aluminum with lacquer. 2) As part of the merger of UKMARC with MARC21, two new positions were created in the 008 or fixed field to accommodate existing data in UKMARC records: one to indicate the presence of parts, the other to indicate that a work is an arrangement or transposition. There is no indication that current MARC21 users will be required to start using these codes.

Currently under discussion by MARBI is a proposal to start recording certain standard numbers in authority records, among these: the ISWC--the International Standard Musical Work Code. The potential uses of such codes, such as the linking of headings between bibliographic and authority records or for the exchange of authority data between systems or among cataloging agencies have yet to be evaluated.

Paul also reported that the Subcommittee has begun working with representatives from RISM to develop a MARBI proposal for additions and changes to MARC21 to accommodate RISM data. Among the fields under discussion is one for the recording of musical incipits using existing alpha-numeric encoding systems, such as Plaine & Easie Code.

The meeting concluded with a presentation by Steve Yusko (Library of Congress) on the MARC Holdings Format. The presentation was followed by an open forum discussion during which members of the audience posed questions and shared the own solutions to MARC holdings issues related to music.

The main topic of discussion was the proposed pre-conference on LCSH for next year’s annual conference in Washington, D.C., to be sponsored jointly by the Music OCLC Users Group (MOUG). Martin Jenkins from MOUG and Linda Blair from the Education Committee attended and participated in the proceedings. Geraldine Ostrove distributed an outline of topics that might be covered, from which the subcommittee chose three. Preliminary plans now call for a morning session of approx. 3 hours that will cover subject analysis, LCSH, and subject cataloging tools. We will ask Lynn El-Hoshy of the Library of Congress to lead this morning session. Two sessions in the afternoon will focus more specifically on the music instruction sheets in the Subject Cataloging Manual: Subject Headings and Subject headings and subdivisions for musical works, emphasizing the use of patterns to construct headings containing medium of performance. In response to MOUG’s agreement to co-sponsor the event, we will design the workshop to be appealing to all music librarians, including catalogers as well as those who work directly with end users.

In addition, the subcommittee decided to sponsor a session on SACO in its open meeting during the conference.

It is obvious that there is a great deal of duplication of terms in LCSH due to pre-coordination, but we found it a little surprising how few unique form/genre terms are actually present in the subject heading list. In our final lists there are 734 form/genre terms, 550 instrument headings, and more than 400 languages represented in this selection from LCSH consisting of tens of thousands of headings.

There were many issues raised in the course of this exercise that turned out to be quite thorny ones, with which the Task Force is still wrestling. One such example is whether terms such as "orchestral music" or "choral music" are form/genre terms or are they more statements about the medium of performance? Are terms such as "Jewish music" or "Taoist music" to be represented in the form/genre facet or would such terms more properly be handled by a facet dealing with ethnicity or religious aspects of music? These are questions the group has not yet thoroughly resolved and could be part of future deliberations.

At the February 2003 meeting, Keith Jenkins from Simmons College presented work that he did independently of the Task Force but was similar in its methodology. Again using LCSH as a source, he created a thesaurus of terms related to musical instruments. The data is coded in XML and is available on a web site. His listing contains 1483 terms. Of these, 629 are authorized forms of the terms and the remainder are cross references.

The lists developed by the Task Force still require further review to resolve some of the questions that arose. Through this process it should be possible to further refine the definitions of form and genre and allow us to include terminology from other sources to enrich the vocabulary that we now have.

The subcommittees of RAPS again presented four wonderful programs in Austin. Three of the subcommittees, Reference Performance, Electronic Reference Services and Information Sharing, focused on chat reference. The reports of their sessions follow below. The Bibliographic Instruction subcommittee partnered with the Education Committee in sponsoring the Information Literacy Pre-Conference Workshop. Presenters included: Julie Todaro (Austin Community College), Kathy Abromeit (Oberlin Conservatory), Beth Christensen (St. Olaf College), Gregg Geary (University of Hawaii), Deborah Pierce (University of Washington), Laurie Sampsel (University of Colorado at Boulder). A report on the workshop can be found elsewhere in this Newsletter.

Reference and Performance Services (RAPS) met in Austin and began assessing the creation of a packaged program designed for MLA chapters on the training of music library support staff. At this point we have decided to issue a call to the MLA membership regarding the approaches being used currently, as well as what people would like in this area. Stay tuned for more information! This project dovetails nicely with the WOREP (Wisconsin-Ohio Reference Evaluation Program) Project being done by the Reference Performance Subcommittee. Libraries interested in learning more about the WOREP Project should contact Mary DuMont at Rice University.

During its business meeting, the subcommittee also contemplated creating a workbook with various training modules in it, which could be used to train both staff and students. The newly approved WOREP (Wisconsin-Ohio Reference Evaluation Program) working group of the subcommittee also had a meeting to discuss the status of the project and to recruit new libraries.

The session also featured a "bonus" presentation from Mark Majzner of Naxos, who demonstrated a service that will make any or all of its recordings available to libraries and their patrons. Libraries can choose between acquiring a hard drive containing all the Naxos recordings (automatically updated as new recordings are released), or linking to individual sound files on the Naxos Web site. Use of the sound files is possible as long as the library maintains a subscription with Naxos; subscription rates are based on the number of sound files the library makes available to its patrons. The service is expected to become available in Fall 2003. For more information, contact Mark Majzner (mark@naxos.se).

Robert Kosovsky of the Music Division of New York Public Library closed the session with his presentation, “Reflections on EAD and Music.” Robert discussed the general nature of Encoded Archival Description and its suitability, or lack thereof, for handling detailed descriptions of music scores. He noted the need for flexibility in working with music scores in the context of archival collections, possibly including item-level cataloging of the scores in a bibliographic database as a necessary adjunct to listing score titles within a finding aid.

How well is academic computing supported in your institution? As expected, the replies ranged from having one overworked, but responsive, information technology (IT) person serving the entire institution, to having a whole staff supporting the organization, to having a staff overseeing hardware but the library managing the software. All attendees agreed that our institutions need more IT staff, and there are ways of fostering better relationships with our current support people. One lucky institution’s IT person has a Ph.D. in music and is an avid library user. Another librarian is on a committee that oversees the IT department. Being involved in the planning and strategy-making of an institution’s computing program improves the rapport between the library and IT staff.

Our next discussion centered on our archives. What is collected? How is e-mail handled? Those with archives have not tackled an organized plan for retaining critical e-mail. Perhaps guidelines could be included in our current preservation plans and then distributed to the various offices? It seems that having an archive in a conservatory is a rather recent notion. Some institutions have no archive, and the administration sees no need to create one. Librarians in these places usually have been setting aside materials in the hopes that a collection will begin at some point. Other institutions have an archivist housed in the library, but usually this person is paid by the institution and not the library. Even institutions with full time archivists believe that much more assembling and organization are needed. The impetus for beginning an archive often originates with alumni or their families. Supplying needed information for genealogical or historical purposes is very good public relations and fosters donations of both materials and capital.

In keeping with the topic of archives, we shared information of how our institutions handle concert recordings. Practices were, sadly, mixed. One conservatory acquired a $2 million grant to digitize recordings back to the 1940s. What a model to which to aspire! Because of copyright issues, some libraries have difficulty in collecting and preserving recordings, especially by people now deemed famous. On the other hand, one library is the repository for the only copy of a concert, so CD burners are provided and patrons can make unmonitored reproductions. One librarian was contacted when workmen found recordings, some by notable people, in a closet that was being reclaimed. The librarian gathered them in the hope that an archive and concert recordings collection will begin. Formats for recordings in our libraries varied from open reels, open reels transferred to DATs and CDs, cassettes, cassettes transferred to CDs, and original CDs. Some libraries have full catalog access, even loading them to OCLC, while others have no access at all except by date.

Another question from an attendee was how music for large ensembles is handled. Again, situations vary. Most conservatories have separate performance libraries that administer all rentals and purchases. However, others collect and even catalog the music, with the orchestra managers and student assistants marking and distributing the parts.

Our last agenda topic was to consider combining with another roundtable for next year’s meeting. The coordinator will contact the group soon when the matter has been settled. As can be seen with the topics discussed in this meeting, there is a wide variety of practices across our group. The discussions, therefore, usually enable us to learn diverse methods of managing our collections, and working out solutions to both large and minute problems. Sharing information and meeting contacts with knowledge of particular areas are the goals of our roundtable.

Mark Rubin started off and told of how, growing up in Oklahoma, he did no hear much Jewish music. He played country, folk and bluegrass music. He started learning about Roma music forms, and from that began studying other Eastern European music. As a result, he wound up interested in klezmer music and today is a staff instructor at Living Traditions KlezKamp, the premier educational venue of klezmer music. He has also performed around the world with some of the greats in the field of klezmer, such as Michael Alpert, Henry Saposnik and Frank London. Mark explained about the history of klezmer, its roots in Eastern Europe and it’s lowly folk beginnings. The story he told showed how this folk tradition has grown from humble beginnings and very few practitioners (given the Holocaust and age of the few performers left in the US) into a cutting-edge music subculture of the Jewish community in the United States and around the world.

Cantor Neil Blumofe, on the other hand, having a degree both in Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages, and being an associate editor of The Journal of Synagogue Music, is an invested cantor. He studied with great cantors such as Spiro Mahlis, Noah Shaul, Max Wohlberg, Joseph Ness and Jackie Mendelssohn. Neil explained the origins of the Jewish modes and how these are still present in the music of the klezmer musicians. Cantor Blumofe is interested in the preservation of that tradition. Cantor Blumofe demonstrated some of the various modal styles by singing them.

Both Mark and Neil went back and forth with examples, playing samples of music from various non-Jewish traditions that have a give and take with Jewish klezmer music, such as Roma, Greek and Turkish music, and explaining their relationship to the Jewish music traditions. Cantor Blumofe and Mark Rubin also spent time explaining the importance of performance practice to this style of music. Within the klezmer world, not only are there special modes, cadences and music structures, but the performance practice of musical ornamentation is extremely important. They demonstrated the kretkhs and a few other style characteristics of klezmer music. Both Mark and Cantor Blumofe emphasized that the thread of tradition is still to be found in Jewish music today, be it liturgical or authentic klezmer music.

At the end, the roundtable participants received handouts with lists of recordings to collect, and websites of interest in Jewish music.

Marian Ritter, Music Librarian at Western Washington University, Bellingham, spoke on her Friends of the Music Library organization. The group was founded to raise funds specifically for WWU's Music Library acquisitions, and has grown over the past eight years from two members to 265, with a 13-member board. Membership dues run from a $15 student level to $1,000, and include corporate matching gifts. To date, the Friends have funded the acquisition of 200+ volumes of composers’ collected works.

The Friends hold regularly scheduled receptions in the WWU Music Library. The major reception takes place in the fall featuring student performances and a display of the new materials funded by the Friends. Marian discussed the importance of exhibiting these new acquisitions so that Friends can see something tangible for their efforts. The President of WWU gives a speech, and Music Department dean and faculty attend as well.

At library receptions, Friends can sign up for trips to area music concerts. The Friends also travel to Seattle and Vancouver for opera, symphony, and chamber music performances, and have even sailed to Alaska on a music cruise. The opportunity to sign up for these trips is a major incentive for the Bellingham community to join the Friends.

The arrangements for receptions and the organization of trips are done entirely by the Friends. The Friends also run an annual book sale featuring over 30 tables of books, scores, and recordings. They search gifts-in-kind donated to the Music Library, and they produce a newsletter, High Notes : http://www.wwu.edu/depts/musiclibrary/highnotes.html.

Having a friends group specifically for the Music Library has allowed WWU to raise money from donors and patrons who are interested particularly in music, and who would not necessarily have joined a general library friends group. For more information, see the Friends of the Music Library page: http://www.wwu.edu/depts/musiclibrary/friends.html.

John Anderies, Music Librarian at Haverford College, spoke on the project for which he won MLA's 2002 Walter Gerboth Award, "Developing a core integrated digital music collection: a Tri-College initiative."

The libraries of Haverford College, Bryn Mawr College, and Swarthmore College form a consortium with a shared catalog, shared borrowing, and shared collection development projects. Each school has a small number of music majors, but a large number of students enrolled in music courses-- for example, nearly 25 % of Swarthmore's 1,500 students take music courses. Together, the music holdings of the three schools form a substantial collection. The Tri-College Consortium has received grant funding, most notably from the Mellon Foundation, to develop cooperative services for intra-library deliveries, virtual reference, video conferencing, staff training, collection development and electronic resources tracking.

The goals of the digital music project include digitizing a core collection of standard musical works, selected by music faculty and librarians, and bringing together multiple instantiations of audio, score and text of these works online within a flexible, easily navigable interface. The project supports course reserves, as well as classroom teaching and learning, and uses out-of-the-box software whenever possible.

Specifically, musical works are selected for digitizing in response to course use, with an emphasis on works with general and future applications. The digitizing process is streamlined and fairly quick; Haverford students digitize the scores and recordings, and enter metadata into a template. Scanned scores are displayed as DjVu files, a format advantageous for its small file size. Audio is digitized with SoundForge, compressed with Helix Producer, and streamed via RealAudio; score and audio versions of a work are not yet synchronized. Passworded access is provided to class members from a course Web site, via Blackboard software.

Presently, a central server at Haverford supplies all three campuses. John provided a detailed handout to follow the process and understand how the digital collection functions. ,P. The remainder of the session was devoted to our business meeting. We discussed the possibility of a joint meeting with another roundtable, and concluded with an invitation to suggest future roundtable topics and presentations.

Carl Rahkonen, Music Librarian and Professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, opened the program with "The Real Songcatchers: American Women Pioneers of Ethnomusicology." His jumping off point was the 2002 film The Songcatcher, which brought to light the fact that many of the early pioneers in the field of ethnomusicology were women. Carl described the lives and work of 19th- and early 20th-century pioneers Alice Cunningham Fletcher, Frances Densmore, Natalie Curtis Burlin, Helen Roberts, Laura Boulton, Ruth Crawford Seeger, and Sidney Robertson Cowell. These women were among the first ethnographers to go into the field and live with their informants, recording, transcribing and analyzing their informants' music. All were prolific in their output of research, as well as politically active in support of minority rights at a time when it was unpopular to do so. In support of his discussion of the current state of research and publication about these pioneers, Carl distributed two informative handouts, one a bibliography of works by and about these women, the other a sketch of their training and work, interests and research, and publications and collections.

Susan Jackson, a visiting scholar at The University of Texas at Austin with her Ph.D.from The City University of New York, spoke about "Buchtrucker(in): Women and the Book Trades in 16th-Century Nürnberg." Sixteenth-century Nürnberg was one of the centers of Renaissance printing and book production, especially important for music and theology. Approximately 5% of the professionals registered in the book trades -- printers, type cutters, booksellers and scriveners -- were women. This number excludes wives, daughters and other family members who customarily worked alongside their male relatives in Nürnberg's merchant houses. Susan consulted Nürnberg's city records as part of her dissertation research, discovering that women in 16th-century Nürnberg were active in business, including publishing, contrary to what she had been led to believe, namely that Renaissance women were illiterate. She discussed the lives and careers of women active in the publishing trade, in particular Katherina Gerlach and Elizabeth Ott. Susan's discussion of the place of women in Renaissance Nürnberg society sheds new light on the issue of the power of a woman's voice in the transmission of knowledge. Examination of these women's lives raises important questions about female literacy, professionalism, and influence in shaping the taste of the buying public, not only among Nürnberg's merchant classes, but throughout literate Renaissance Europe.

Kevin Mooney, lecturer in musicology at The University of Texas at Austin and Southwest Texas State University, closed out the Roundtable session with his presentation, "In Her Own Words: Documenting the Musical Life of Mary Austin Holley." Holley (1784-1846), cousin of Stephen F. Austin and author of the first English-language history of Texas, has been acknowledged as a valuable source of firsthand information on early Texas. What has been overlooked is what her writings tell us about her thoughts on music. After discussing Holley's correspondence and the extent to which she wrote about music, Kevin persuasively argued that her writings provide rare documentary evidence of a woman's perspective on the role of the arts and music in the lives of both women and men in the early 19th-century United States.

Beisswenger, Drew (Southwest Missouri State University).
Fiddling Way Out Yonder: The Life and Music of Melvin Wine. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2002. [xvi, 230 p., ISBN 1-57806-441-4].

Articles and Chapters

Bucknum, Mary Russell (Library of Congress).
"Music Sound Archives in the United States." Fontes artis musicae 48:4 (Oct.-Dec. 2001), 381-390.

Campana, Deborah (Oberlin Conservatory).
"Music Libraries Supporting Comprehensive Schools of Music." Fontes artis musicae 48:4 (Oct.-Dec. 2001), 353-361.

Coral, Lenore (Cornell University).
"New Facilities, New Potentials: Recent Developments in American Music Libraries." Fontes artis musicae 48:4 (Oct.-Dec. 2001), 391-397.

Davidson, Mary Wallace (Indiana University).
"Trends and Issues in Digital Technology." Fontes artis musicae 48:4 (Oct.-Dec. 2001), 398-410.

Fairtile, Linda B. (New York Public Library) and Karen M. Burke (New York Public Library).
"Music Collections in American Public Libraries." Fontes artis musicae 48:4 (Oct.-Dec. 2001), 327-341.

Gibbs, Jason (San Francisco Public Library).
"'The Best Music at the Lowest Price': People's Music in San Francisco," Music Library Association, Northern California Chapter Newsletter 17, no. 1 (Fall 2002), 5-8.

"Hanh trinh Pham Duy qua dong lich su," Van 69 (September 2002), 61-69.

Hassen, Marjorie (University of Pennsylvania).
"The Early Development of American Music Libraries Serving Academic Departments of Music." Fontes artis musicae 48:4 (Oct.-Dec. 2001), 342-352.

Hunter, David (University of Texas) and Dell Hollingsworth.
"Music in the Collections of the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center." Fontes artis musicae 48:4 (Oct.-Dec. 2001), 376-380.

McBride, Renée (University of California, Los Angeles).
"LeBaron, Anne (1953- )," in Women and Music in America Since 1900: An Encyclopedia, ed. by Kristine H. Burns (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002), vol. 2, 370-371.

Moore, Tom (The College of New Jersey ).
Ronai, Paulo, "How I Learned Portuguese." American Translators Association Chronicle XXXI, 10, (October 2002), pp. 52-55, translated by Tom Moore.

Ronai, Paulo, "The Languages I Didn't Learn." American Translators Association Chronicle XXXII, 2, (February 2003), pp. 37-39, translated by Tom Moore.

Ostrove, Geraldine E. (Library of Congress).
Ostrove, Geraldine E., comp. and ed. "Recent Publications in Music." Fontes artis musicae 48:4 (Oct.-Dec. 2001), 411-456.

Turner, J. Rigbie. (Pierpont Morgan Library).
"Music Collections at the Pierpont Morgan Library." Fontes artis musicae 48:4 (Oct.-Dec. 2001), 367-371.

Zager, Daniel (Eastman School of Music).
Fontes artis musicae 48:4 (Oct.-Dec. 2001), guest editor.

The 61st annual meeting of the Midwest Chapter of MLA met in Bloomington, Illinois from October 17-19, 2002. Nearly 70 members attended the conference, held at Illinois Wesleyan University.

The conference began Thursday afternoon with chapter committee meetings. Two important outcomes of the these meetings were: 1) the reorganization of visits to library schools to inform students of the opportunities in the field of music librarianship and the value of MLA to those who may be in more general library situations, and 2) the plans to update the chapter oral history project are moving forward. In the evening, Robert Delvin and Kristin Vogel presented an interesting and informative history of the libraries at the host institution of Illinois Wesleyan University.

The Friday sessions were held in the new Ames Library on campus and the morning was dedicated to technology. First, there was a discussion of the changing expectations and challenges in public service with panelists Catherine Saum (Dominican University), Joy Calico (Illinois Wesleyan), and Ruthann McTyre (University of Iowa), moderated by Laura Probst (Penn State). This was followed by Brad Short's (Washington University) and Deborah Davis's (University of Chicago) discussions of digital image databases.

Holling Smith-Borne (Depauw University) finished the morning session by discussing virtual reference, including chat room reference. Holling and the attendees responded to a chat request that came in during the presentation. An excellent example of how it works in the real world.

The afternoon began with an excellent presentation by Kathryn Deiss (Chicago Library System) on planning the work within your environment. Then Glenn Patton gave an update on what is happening at OCLC. A tour of the new library, a reception and a wonderful organ recital by Ann Marie Rigler (Penn State) closed the evening.

Saturday morning began with a look at disaster preparedness. Beth Schobernd (Illinois State University) took us through the process of writing a disaster plan and Sue Stroyan discussed how an actual disaster was handled at Illinois Wesleyan University. The final session featured Andrew Leach (Columbia College) with a reference refresher on Bluegrass/Old time music. This brought the meeting to a successful conclusion.

At the Chapter Business meeting, the announcement was made that Robert Delvin was elected to the position of Chair elect. Next year the chapter will meet in Ames, Iowa.

Pauline Bayne is Professor, Head of Music and Media Services, and Head of Library Special Projects at the University of Tennessee. Ms. Bayne has also served as Professor and Interim Associate Dean of Libraries, and Assistant to the Director of Libraries, for Library Relocation at the University of Tennessee. She received an M.S.L.S. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, an M.M. in music history and literature from Northwestern University, and a B.Mus.,summa cum laude, from Milliken University.

Ms. Bayne has served as a member of the MLA Development Committee (1997-2001), the MLA Statistics Subcommittee (1990-1996), the Publication Awards Committee (1991-1993; Chair, 1993), the Reference and Public Services Committee (1982-1983), and the Basic Music Collections Committee (1973-1982; Chair, 1975-1982). She is also active in the Southeast Chapter of the Music Library Association. She is the author of numerous articles including “Delivering Instructional Media: A Library-IT Partnership” in Proceedings of the International Association of Technical University Libraries (June 2002), “Digital Audio Reserves: A Collaborative Project at the University of Tennessee”, with Chris Hodge, in Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Information Supply 11 (December 2001), and, “David Van Vactor” in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2d ed., 2001). She was also an editor for the first and second editions of A Basic Music Library: Essential Scores and Books (American Library Association, 1978 and 1983).

Richard LeSueur is the Music Specialist at the Ann Arbor District Library. Mr. LeSueur has previously served as Music Cataloger at the Detroit Public Library. He earned a B.M. in music history from the University of Michigan and an M.S.L.S. from Wayne State University.

Mr. LeSueur is currently a member of the MLA Membership and Public Library Committees. He has served on the Midwest Chapter’s Membership and Cataloging Committees, and is currently that chapter’s chair. He is the author of Art Songs with Obbligato Instruments (Vocal Arts Information Services, 1982), eighteen entries in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2d ed., 2001), and a contributor to Index to CD and Record Reviews 1987-1997 (G.K. Hall, 1999) and the Companion to Schubert’s Schwanengesang (Yale University Press, 2000). He has written book reviews for Notes and CD reviews for the ARSC Journal.

Renée McBride is Humanities and Music Cataloger at UCLA. She previously served as Music and Fine Arts Cataloger at the University of Oklahoma and as Cataloger for the State Historical Society of Iowa. Ms. McBride earned a B.M. in music theory from Baylor University and an M.A. in library and information science and an M.A. in music theory from the University of Iowa.

Ms. McBride has served as a member of the MLA Personnel Subcommittee (1994-98; Chair 1997-98), Local Arrangements Committee (Co-Chair, 1997-99), and as a Co-Coordinator of the Women in Music Roundtable (1997-2000). Ms. McBride is currently a member of the Subject Access Subcommittee (1999-) and is the MLA Liaison to the International Alliance for Women in Music (2001-) and the MLA Placement Officer (2001-). Ms. McBride is also active in MLA’s Southern California Chapter and has been that chapter’s Board Member-at-Large (1995-97), Newsletter Editor (1999-2001), and Program Committee Chair (2001). Ms. McBride’s publications include reviews in Notes, Sonneck Society Bulletin, Counterpoise, Broadside, and Reference Reviews Europe Annual. She is an abstractor for Reference Reviews Europe Online (Casalini Libri, 1995-), and was Associate Editor of Counterpoise (1999-2000).

Ms. Nuzzo is currently the director of the Music Library at the State University of New York at Buffalo, an institution where she has also served as interim director (1999-2001) and as cataloger/reference librarian (1980-1999). She received her M.A. in music history from the University at Buffalo, and holds the M.S.L.S. from Case Western Reserve University and the B.A. in music from Bemidji State University. In 2001, she was the recipient of the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Librarianship.

She has served the Music Library Association in many capacities, most recently as chair of its Publications Committee (1988-1990; 1999-2002) and as Recording Secretary on its Board of Directors (1990-1994). During her tenure as chair of the Publications Committee, she has led MLA's involvement in several important projects, including Project Muse and JSTOR, as well as facilitating important discussions of MLA publications, including the one on an electronic version of the Membership Handbook. She has served on several search committees and is also a past editor of the MLA Newsletter (1984-1988). Ms. Nuzzo has also served the New York State/Ontario Chapter of the Music Library Association as Secretary/Treasurer (1983-1984) and Treasurer (1982-1983).

The grant will be awarded to support costs associated with the research process. These may include travel, lodging, meals, supplies, and photocopy or microfilm reproduction of source material. There are no restrictions as to applicant's age, nationality, profession, or institutional affiliation. All proposals will be reviewed entirely on the basis of merit.

Applicants should submit the following documents:

1. A summary of the project
2. A preliminary budget
3. A current vita
4. The names of three references

The deadline for receipt of applications is June 15, 2003. Applications received after that date will be considered for funding in 2004. Recipients will be notified by October 15, 2003 and announced at the MLA annual meeting in Washington, DC, February, 2004.

Applications should be submitted to:

In the statement announcing the award, the Board of Directors wrote: "Proactive in raising the visibility of the profession and the Association, most notably as its Placement Officer and as its Representative to the American Library Association, her most important contribution came during her term as President (1999-2001). With a conscientious sense of duty, clear thinking, character, moral fiber and love for the Association, she confidently led MLA … without her fortitude and singular vision, this organization might not now exist."

Ms. Matthews is currently the Arthur Mendel Music Librarian at Princeton University. She previously served as Associate Director and Music Librarian of the Bates College Library. Other prior positions were at Colby College; Columbia University; the Boston Public Library; the Yale Center for British Art, where she served as Assistant Curator for Prints & Drawings and Rare Books; Openbare Muziek-bibliotheek in Utrecht, the Netherlands; and, the Iowa City Public Library, where she was the Assistant Children's Librarian. She was educated at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, the University of Iowa, Rijksuniversiteit (Utrecht, the Netherlands), and Columbia University. She is member of a wide variety of professional associations, including MLA, ALA, ACRL, AMS, the Society for American Music, ARLIS and the Theatre Library Association. Ms. Matthews has been a frequent speaker and often serves as an institutional consultant.

Ms. Matthews’s publications include: Formal Planning in College Libraries. (Chicago: ACRL, 1994); editorial work on Gabriel Muenter: from Muernau to Munich. (Cambridge: Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 1980); Cottage of Content; or Toys, Games and Amusements of 19th England. An Exhibition Catalog. (New Haven: Yale Center for British Art, 1977); various articles and translations for Muziekbibliotheek en Fonotheek Niews, the Dutch music library periodical; "The Music Library Association's Plan 2001: A Final Report." Notes 58 (December 2001): 272-290; and, "Oliver Strunk's Contribution to Music Libraries and Music Collecting" in a volume of essays in Strunk's memory, forthcoming winter 2003, published by the American Academy of Rome and Princeton University.

The Music Library Association Citation is awarded in recognition of significant contributions to, or support of, the profession of music librarianship over an extended period of time. Recipients of the citation become honorary lifetime members of the Association. The Association’s Special Achievement Award recognizes extraordinary service to the profession of music librarianship. This is the first time that both awards have been given to a single individual at the same time.

The Vincent H. Duckles Award for the best book-length bibliography or research tool in music published in 2001 was given to Horst Leuchtmann and Bernhold Schmid. Their book, Orlando di Lasso: seine Werke in zeitgenössischen Drucken, 1555-1687. Orlando di Lasso: Sämtliche Werke: Supplement was published by Bärenreiter. In selecting this book, the Publications Awards Committee commented: "This three-volume catalog of the compositions of Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594) represents a singularly impressive bibliographical achievement by two leading Lasso scholars. Published as a supplement to Bärenreiter’s monumental edition of Lasso’s complete works, the catalog includes a detailed chronological list of the known early editions, from 1555-1687 (vols. I-II), as well as a number of highly useful indices and appendices, including a valuable index of all other composers appearing in collections that contain Lasso’s compositions (vol. III). In addition to serving as a model of research and scholarship, Leuchtmann and Schmid’s work underscores Lasso’s prominence among Renaissance composers and his important place in Europe’s transition to a culture of printed music during the sixteenth century."

The Richard S. Hill Award for the best article on music librarianship or article of a music-bibliographic nature published during 2001 was given to Teresa M. Gialdroni and Agostino Ziino for their article "New Light on Ottaviano Petrucci’s Activity, 1520-38: An Unknown Print of the Motteti dal fiore” in Early Music 29 (November 2001): 500-532. In nominating Gialdroni and Ziino for the Hill Award, the Publications Awards Committee commented: "Rigorously argued and meticulously documented, Gialdroni and Ziino’s article represents a significant contribution both to Petrucci research and the field of early music printing. Their analysis of the Tenor and Bassus partbooks of a previously unknown collection printed by Petrucci and Bartolomeo Egnazio in 1538 is a model of analytical bibliography. Following a thorough discussion of the physical state of the partbooks the authors argue convincingly that Petrucci continued working and printing up to the end of his life, though less intensively after 1520."

The Eva Judd O'Meara Award for the best review published in 2001 in the organization's journal, Notes, was given to Mark Germer for his review of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2d ed., edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan; New York: Grove’s Dictionaries, 2001). The review appeared in Notes 58 (December 2001): 320-325. The Publications Awards Committee remarked: "Mark Germer in his review of the second edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians places seasoned criticism of this monumental reference work in the context of an eloquent essay on encyclopedic information. In evaluating the most widely-known music resource used by all manner of musicians, scholars, and enthusiasts, Germer provides commentary that is poised, yet critical and carefully considered. Within a relatively succinct article, he discusses convincingly the issues surrounding the work complemented by excerpts and other illustrations."

Mr. Boomhower is Assistant Music Librarian at Princeton University’s Mendel Music Library. He has also worked in the Modern Languages and Linguistics Library, and the Sousa Archives for Band Research at the University of Illinois Library, and as a Reference Assistant at the Thomas Library at Wittenberg University. Mr. Boomhower earned an undergraduate degree from Wittenberg University, and an M.S. in library and information science from the University of Illinois. He is currently pursuing an M.M. at the University of Illinois, with an anticipated award date of May 2003.

The goal of his project is to examine the publication of music by and writings about Johann Sebastian Bach originating in the early- to mid-twentieth century from the German music publisher Bärenreiter-Verlag. The chronological parameters for the study span from 1923--the founding year of the firm, to 1954--the year in which the initial volume of the Neue Bach Ausgabe was published. Mr. Boomhower’s plan is to investigate changes in the firm’s publishing program and its reflection of contemporary music interests during this period, specifically the firm’s development from a publisher of songs for the Jugendbewegung to the principal scholarly publisher of music editions and criticisms. Mr. Boomhower’s goal is to understand the consequences of mid-twentieth century history on present day musical scholarship and culture. In the context of his research, Mr. Boomhower is examining all of Bärenreiter’s Bach publications within the specified timeframe. The Gerboth award will support his travel to the publisher’s archive in Kassel, supplementing the research he has thus far conducted in the U.S. library collections.

Walter Gerboth (1925-1984) founded the music library at Brooklyn College, and at the time of his sudden death was assistant director of its Conservatory. He was a much-loved former president of the Music Library Association, and devoted mentor of new members.

WALTER GERBOTH AWARD (2004): CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

Ayden Adler is a doctoral student at the Eastman School of Music. She was granted the Epstein Award to study the cultural conflicts underlying the phenomenon of pops concerts, viewed as an attempt to provide orchestra music