Although several colleagues have informed me that I did not experience a "real" upstate New York winter (I tell them that I grew up in Minnesota and do understand winter), I still am enjoying the onset of spring in Ithaca. Crocuses and daffodils are blooming, students have moved outside into Cornell's arts quad to study and play Frisbee, and the breezes have become mild. Your association has continued to move forward, too: no post-annual-meeting doldrums!

Spring also means that membership renewal season is upon us. When you receive your renewal letter, please respond promptly. This will help insure that you will not miss any issues of Notes, that you will have ongoing access to the members-only section of the Web site, and you will help the association save a few dollars in second-notice postage.

As I announced via MLA-L, for several years the Music Library Association has been actively considering options for updating or revising A Basic Music Library. MLA's Music Resources for Libraries Task Force had assumed leadership in discussions about this project. As reported in the March-April Newsletter, the MLA Board agreed to the Task Force's proposal that an editor be appointed to continue the process of bringing about a new edition of A Basic Music Library, and appointed Daniel Boomhower (Kent State University) to fill this role. Since then, Edward Komara (SUNY-Potsdam), Amanda Maple (Penn State) and Liza Vick (Harvard) have joined Daniel as associate editors. The group will collaborate in determining the organization and inclusion of content, investigating publishing options, and soliciting and managing contributions to a new edition of A Basic Music Library. Daniel, Ed, Amanda, and Liza are committed to keeping all of us informed as the work of developing a new edition progresses. As Dan has indicated, this may include soliciting advice and, when the time comes, will certainly include soliciting contributions. Daniel invites questions and comments; please send them to him at dboomhow@kent.edu.

I am pleased to announce that contributions to our association's various funds from 1 January through 15 March have exceeded $8,000.00. To all who contributed to our 75th anniversary campaign, thank you! If you have not yet contributed, or if you have not decided how to spend that tax refund, please consider MLA and how membership in our association has benefited you.

The Board is scheduled to meet at our business office in Middleton, Wisconsin from 22-25 May, where we will enjoy the hospitality of Pat Wall, Jim Zychowicz, Matt Grzybowski, and the rest of the staff of A-R Editions. We will be reviewing reports and recommendations from Special Officers, Editors, and Committee Chairs. We should be hearing a report from our Convention Managers on their trip to San Diego, where they will be meeting with staff at several hotels to see if we are able to negotiate a contract for our 2010 meeting. In addition, the spring meeting agenda includes setting MLA's operating budget for the year. This is always a slightly stressful series of discussions, as requests for funding generally exceed the amount available to allocate. Nonetheless, we will do our best to insure that each request receives careful consideration.

As spring moves into summer, I do hope that each of you finds time to sit back and relax during the coming months.

If this summary seems somewhat stream-of-consciousness at times, then I will have been true to the spirit of a Hot Topics session. The Hot Topics session of the MLA 2006 Annual Conference was moderated by Ruthann "Oprah" McTyre, Head, Rita Benton Music Library, the University of Iowa. At the top of the show, Ruthann anticipated a topic to follow by noting that the one billionth iTune had recently been downloaded.

Laurie Sampsel (University of Colorado at Boulder) distributed the handout "Information Literacy Instruction Objectives for Undergraduate Music Students," compiled by the Bibliographic Instruction Subcommittee of MLA, approved by the MLA Board, and endorsed by ACRL. The objectives will be published in the March 2006 issue of Notes, and will also be available via the Web sites of the MLA 2006 Annual Conference (http://exlibris.memphis.edu/music/mla/) and ACRL (http://www.ala.org/ACRLTemplate.cfm?Section=acrl).

The session was organized around questions submitted to Ruthann prior to the conference. In addition to the questions being directly addressed, many related topics emerged from the discussions generated by the questions. Following is an attempt at capturing the many issues raised by the very lively Hot Topics attendees.

Sebastian Derry (University of Montana): How are libraries handling recordings of local productions, performances, recitals?

Illinois Wesleyan University keeps two copies on CD, one archival, the other circulating. A straw poll indicated that among those libraries with circulating copies, circulation is low.

The University of South Carolina keeps bibliographic records for such recordings in a database separate from the OPAC, because students tend to confuse them with commercial recordings. Another straw poll indicated that few institutions fully catalog such recordings.

Darwin Scott (Brandeis University): How are libraries dealing with bound journals and print subscriptions for journal titles they now subscribe to electronically?

Haverford College is a member of the Tri-College Library Consortium with Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore Colleges, and each institution commits to being the archival institution for various JSTOR titles, leaving the other institutions to deal with those titles as they wish.

Washington University cancelled their subscriptions to the print versions of titles in IIMP Full Text and JSTOR as a condition of subscribing to those databases.

The University of Hawaii reduced spending on print journals by about 30% in return for online subscriptions.

The University of North Texas noted differences in time coverage among different databases (e.g., EBSCOhost, ProQuest, and JSTOR) as they dealt with a 15% cut in their serials budget. They also observed that IIMP has spotty coverage of earlier issues of their titles, and that libraries should not depend on that database alone to replace their print holdings of those titles.

Some librarians have protected their serials budgets by reminding their administrators that music journal subscriptions cost much less than science subscriptions, so that whereas a 15% reduction in the science serials budget might result in the cancellation of one title, such a reduction would result in the cancellation of several titles in music. The University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee has successfully used this argument twice so far.

DePaul University looked at their most expensive titles in dealing with their serials budget cuts. One of these was Gramophone, which they chose to keep despite its cost, because internal usage studies showed that it was heavily used within the library.

In response to a question about how many institutions circulate their bound journals, many attendees responded affirmatively.

As this topic drew to a close, the observation was made that print journals are often necessary when images are important to the researcher. If you don't hold the print journal needed, you either need to have excellent technology to deal with electronic versions of such publications, or you need to use ILL.

Judy Tsou (University of Washington): What are others doing with Big Pipe?

Silence met this question. Judy is a pioneer! Big Pipe refers to megabit Internet connections with which one can stream videos.

Indiana University has been doing some video streaming. Jenn Riley (Metadata Librarian, Indiana University) related some technical details of their activities. For more information, contact Jenn at: jenlrile@indiana.edu.

Judy noted that Harrassowitz has been planning to put out-of-print contemporary composers' music online, and that she has suggested that they consider putting chamber music (parts) online as well. Judy observed that students could then download parts and mark them up, instead of the parts held by the library.

Bob Follet (Peabody Institute): How are people using wikis in their libraries?

Reference was made to the Information Sharing Subcommittee's session on Feb. 23, 2006, "How'd They Do That?: Technological Solutions to Traditional Public Services Problems," at which Jon Haupt (Iowa State University) spoke about using wikis in public service contexts. At Iowa State University, wikis are being used for internal project management, as a place to collection information about faculty publications and creative work.

A number of people submitted questions having to do with electronic audio reserves, iPods, podcasting, and iTunes, so a large portion of the Hot Topics session was devoted to these concerns.

Ray Heigemeir (Stanford University) began by talking about Stanford's audio e-reserves project, which relies on iTunes U, a free, hosted service for colleges and universities that provides easy access to a broad range of audio or video content, and CourseWork, Stanford's course-related web development and distribution service. Stanford on iTunes, which provides access to a wide range of Stanford-related digital audio content via the iTunes Music Store, is described at: https://www.stanford.edu/group/adci/.

Stanford iTunes in CourseWork is the preferred method of delivering audio content for course reserves because it allows copyrighted material to be streamed (but not downloaded) only to students registered in a particular course. iTunes provides a simple procedure for uploading audio content. Please note that Stanford iTunes for CourseWork is still in the development stage.

Faculty (or their TAs) download audio or video files (from their personal or the library's holdings) via the iTunes interface, then upload the files to CourseWork. Students access the files through CourseWork, which serves as the gatekeeper, restricting access to audio files to students registered for the course. The version of iTunes linked to the course page allows for streaming only; the downloading option is disabled.

Ray noted that faculty don't mind doing this themselves, they find it fairly easy to use, and there is very little production work on the library's part. Although faculty bypass the library in creating their reserves files, they make Ray an administrator in case his help is needed. The library also provides a workstation in the technical services area where faculty and TAs can digitize tracks from LPs.

Files are stored on the Apple server. The Apple server is not, at present, the ideal space for long-term file storage; faculty need to maintain files for future re-use on their own computers. One cannot return to the Apple server later and retrieve files. Sha Towers (Baylor University) noted that iTunes U is a distribution model, a vehicle for downloading files, requiring individual institutions to maintain their own information.

Stanford is one of six institutions currently involved with this type of project. The others are Brown University, Duke University, the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, the University of Missouri School of Journalism, and the University of Wisconsin at Madison. You can read more about iTunes U in the Chronicle of Higher Education: Young, Jeffery R. "Apple releases free 'iTunes U' software to colleges for coursecasting." Jan. 25, 2006.

Sha Towers (Baylor University) discussed Baylor's circulation of iPods with audio reserves on them. They have 12 iPods that circulate for 12 hours at a time, i.e., for the life of the iPods' batteries. There is competition among Baylor's 450 music students for the iPods, but audio reserves are also available in other formats. Baylor does not allow students to download the files on their own iPods. In answer to a question about whether the students could download the files on their personal computers, Sha said there are ways, but it would require third-party hacker software.

Sha's discussion engendered further consideration of how various institutions are using iPods:

• Harvard University employs one iPod to provide access to a fragile collection of world music LPs.
• The University of Missouri at Kansas City is planning to give iPods to incoming freshmen.
• MIT has five iPods on which they put samples of new CDs, promoting their CD collection. No losses have occurred.

Duke University's distribution of iPods to students for educational use is described at http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2005/04/ipodfinal.html. The program was launched in Fall 2004 and has been fine-tuned since then. Challenges addressed include difficulty using the Duke Page on iTunes; inability to share files directly between iPods; inadequate mechanisms for storing and disseminating MP3 content; and difficulties obtaining copyright permissions.

Duke's iPod distribution program is part of the Duke Digital Initiative (DDI), a major instructional technology program focused on experimentation, development, and implementation of digital technology in an academic environment. Over a three-year cycle, the DDI will incorporate digital audio, images and video, collaboration tools, and tablet and hand-held computing. Among other aspects of this initiative, Duke has formed a partnership with Public Radio International to provide public radio reports as digital audio files for use in Duke courses. Information about the DDI is available at http://www.duke.edu/ddi/.

To the chagrin of some, David Gilbert (UCLA) noted that attendees at the Hot Topics session covered a broad range of ages. This observation led to David's interesting question of how many attendees own iPods or MP3 players. About half of the attendees responded affirmatively, and ownership didn't appear to be linked to age.

Mary DuMont (Rice University): Have libraries subscribed to digital streaming/download services aimed at college students, e.g. Ruckus (http://www.ruckus.com/)? Is it a contender with more "respected" services like iTunes?

Comments about Ruckus included describing it as a jukebox, an entertainment center of music and video, and a toy for dormitories. It was also noted that Ruckus has poor authority control and consistency in its bibliographic information and, on the plus side, that it decreases illegal downloading by students. None of the Hot Topics attendees are using Ruckus at their institutions.

Brad Short (Washington University): How are people dealing with renovation projects planning to incorporate new technologies, e.g. what will your listening area look like?

The University of Montana includes a multimedia corner in their library, and they have a technician available in the library to provide help and troubleshooting.

An aside about the University of Montana's experience relates to the previous topic of iPods. The University of Montana bookstore negotiated with Apple to arrange for iPods to be given to students in one music class. The iPods contain the 6-CD set Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music : Classic to Modern being used in the class. Students had to be registered in the class, and had to buy or own this set in order to be issued an iPod. The campus bookstore negotiated permission with Norton to allow the recordings to be loaded onto the iPods. This is a trial-run during the Spring 2006 semester, with the university's IT folks taking the lead. They are surveying the students during and after this pilot phase for feedback to gauge the usefulness of the project, and for suggestions for possible future directions and projects.

Returning to the renovation topic, a few institutions mentioned that they purchased multifunction LCD monitors, which multitask and can be used for word processing and other text-based functions, viewing television and video, and listening to audio, thus saving space by having one piece of equipment that performs many functions.

SMU has LCD monitors, as well as two stations for viewing and listening to older technologies. They also circulate iPods.

The University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee removed half their carrels and added comfortable chairs and wireless. The students love it

Emory University opened a new library in 2001 and aimed for flexibility in their planning. They employed a modular approach to carrel construction; each carrel accommodates both AV and computer equipment. They also purchased multiregion DVD players.

In closing, it was noted that all this interest in iPods, podcasting, iTunes, and iTunes U might make for a popular and useful plenary session at the 2007 MLA Annual Conference in Pittsburgh, PA.

Readers of ALA publications are being reminded of music librarianship. The American Libraries April 2006 issue has a "Special News Report" on MLA's annual meeting in Memphis, pp. 22-23, a summary article with three pictures. Also, an excerpt from Paula Elliot's introductory chapter in Careers in Music Librarianship II: Traditions and Transitions (MLA Technical Report #29) has been included in The Whole Library Handbook 4, pp. 257-260, with a citation to the entire MLA publication. This handbook is the new fourth version of ALA's popular encyclopedia of librarianship and "librariana."

The preconference workshop, "Digitizing Music," was a day-long meeting providing the 114 registrants with tools, policies and procedures for dealing with the digitization of music materials. A panel of four experts presented a variety of information that was useful to both beginners and those more experienced with digital media.

Starting off the day was Amy Moroso-Hatcher, Project Coordinator for the Illinois Digitization Institute (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), speaking about how to plan a digitization project. Amy noted that digitization can save wear and tear on items, may help prevent theft and provides a backup in a catastrophe, but that it is not preservation in the traditional sense. She suggests that originals be retained, not discarded.

Walking the session participants through the different issues to be considered when planning a project, Amy provided an overview that set the foundation for the following presentations. Among the issues she touched on were: evaluating the collection and its users; intellectual property; costs of a project; equipment needed; standards; and staff training. Although much of the presentation was geared towards digitizing print materials, the concepts covered apply to most digitization projects.

Amy Moroso-Hatcher advised participants to plan for the future migration of data: digital documents do not last forever and technology changes.

Brandon Goff (Rhodes College) led a session, "Test Driving the Technology," giving practical, "hands on" advice on digitizing music. Although providing information on the digitization of scores, the focus of his presentation was on converting an LP to a CD. With basic equipment, Brandon demonstrated the necessary steps, dividing them into three general areas: "Making the Connection," centering on the equipment needed and how to connect them properly (errors are common!); "Land of Conversion," discussing audio editing software and how to digitally record the LP; and "Edit and Burn," exploring how to "upgrade" the quality of the LP recording, divide it into tracks, and burn the files or store them in a digital format. The presentation demystified the digitization process for many of those in attendance.

After lunch, Mike Casey, Associate Director for Recordings Services, Archives of Traditional Music, Indiana University, presented "Risk Assessment for Audio Collections: Using the Field Audio Collection Evaluation Tool (FACET) to Prioritize Preservation." FACET is a tool for ranking audio collections according to their levels of deterioration and risk. When coupled with an evaluation of the research value of a collection, FACET provides a strong justification for the preservation of a collection.

Mike demonstrated how the points-based tool worked, showing how to assign or subtract points according to several factors, such as stability of the recording medium, damage to the items, and availability of preservation masters. A collection with a score under "2.0" is in good shape and is at little risk, while a collection with a score of "5.0" or higher is at serious risk and needs attention soon. Many attendees were surprised to learn that collections with digital audio tapes (DAT) often receive high rankings, because the format is becoming obsolete.

A software version of FACET is being developed and will be released to the public in the summer of 2006. It will be available for the Sound Directions Web site at http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/projects/sounddirections/.

Maureen Whalen, Associate General Counsel for the J. Paul Getty Trust, discussed "Copyright Issues in a Digital Environment." The session reviewed copyright law and provided a framework to help librarians identify the issues and ask the right questions. The topics Maureen spoke about include identifying and locating copyright holders, determining if permission is needed and how to seek permission when it is necessary. She emphasized the need to request permission, even when it is difficult to obtain, and to document those permissions.

Some of those attending the workshop were surprised to learn that sound recordings created before 1972 are not covered by federal copyright laws; state laws govern these materials. At this time, there is no single analysis of all the states' laws, so determining the laws in an individual's state can be challenging.

Section 108 of the copyright law, which governs the reproduction of materials by libraries and archives, does not apply to musical works or sound recordings. Maureen noted that a "Section 108 Study Group" is currently examining the law and will be making recommendations as to changes. Music librarians need to be aware and participate in this process.

This continuing education workshop was sponsored by the Education Committee and Preservation Committee.

Memphis was the perfect place for my first MLA meeting. I heard about it only by chance at a Brown University Library holiday party to which I got an impromptu invitation because I had been working there that afternoon on an archival project in the Sheet Music Collection. My initial interest in that collection was the uncataloged African American sheet music of some 6,000 items, and here was a chance to go to Memphis, the "Home of the Blues," and hear specialists discuss "Blues and Africa," "All that Jazz and More: African American Song," and "Blues in and around Memphis." Naturally, I wanted to go.

This trip was at my expense because my job did not concern music. The meeting's Web site stated that first-timers might be able to register at a lower fee in exchange for assisting with registration and other tasks. I inquired and was cordially accepted. I also had a free ticket on Southwest that got me to Little Rock. From there I took a Greyhound bus to Memphis—the best way to enter Memphis, I'm sure—and it was truly an authentic blues experience, complete with transmission failure on the Union Street hill coming up from the Mississippi, five blocks from the Peabody Hotel. This delayed our arrival by about an hour. The driver flatly refused to let us off the bus until we got to the bus station.

Registration tasks are great for a first-timer. Most first-timers probably know few attendees if any, and the registration table was a natural setting to meet people and start conversations. I was glad to have this part to play. Things were well organized. Later I spent some time standing and talking with Annie Thompson on the "speed bump" covering the exhibit hall power cables, warning people so they would not fall flat on their faces.

Another reason I attended MLA was to find out what was involved in music librarianship and whether I could possibly work in this field in the coming years: what should one learn, what courses should one take, what skills does one need to be able to contribute to music scholarship somehow, some day? Would there be work that meshed with the archival training I recently acquired at Simmons? I expected it could take a few years to acquire enough background, and that was confirmed, certainly for major positions. But could one learn some of it on the job? I found the Résumé Review Service to be extremely helpful. Jennifer Ottervik went through my current résumé and graciously gave me perspective on how I might eventually transition into music librarianship from corporate librarianship. Many other MLA members had suggestions and were supportive as well. For me, MLA was one grand informational interview.

The MLA meeting has nicely complemented the Music Librarianship course I have taken with Jean Morrow at Simmons this semester. My MLA meeting notes and experiences provided background in many areas, for instance, regarding current major projects such as Variations and RIPM. Every student taking music librarianship courses would benefit greatly by attending MLA meetings.

The New Members Forum and the First-time Attendees Reception especially helped orient us first-timers so we could take full advantage of the meeting. I attended as many presentations as I could, but there were several simultaneous sessions I was sorry to miss. We were also encouraged to sit in on roundtable and subcommittee business sessions. I wanted to observe some of these but it was difficult to fit any in.

I am not a music librarian (yet), but perhaps I am in the vanguard of the paraprofessionals and generalist reference librarians MLA should attempt to reach, as Joseph Boonin urged in Wednesday's Plenary Session. There is a sharp distinction made between librarians with and without degrees in music, and rightly so, given the complexities of music and the skills required to deal with music collections. It was awe-inspiring to meet MLA members and hear of their outstanding scholarly achievements, put faces with names, and get a sense of the human dimension of music librarianship.

However, the sharp distinction between highly trained musician-librarians and generalist librarians is a double-sharp-edged sword. It's true that accidentals in music do not belong in the key of a composition. But they are not mistakes. Accidentals enrich the music measurably. Was attending MLA/Memphis just a professional interlude, or might it be an overture to making a professional contribution in music librarianship? Getting up to tempo will be a daunting task. Perhaps for me it will be all development without a coda? I'm staying tuned! MLA hospitality is contagious—I'd like to welcome MLA newcomers to Newport in 2008.

Susan Korté was an editor and indexer of college-level texts and scholarly books before becoming a librarian (Simmons '94). She was a reference librarian in a public library, and for the past eleven years was a corporate librarian. She is currently completing a project at Brown University, describing about 70 categories in the Sheet Music Collection, and digitizing and creating metadata records for selected examples.

Welcome to all our new members!!

Abigail Jacinth Al-Doory, Tufts University

Peggy Alexander, UCLA Music Library

Matt Appleby, University of Wisconsin

Bags Unlimited, Rochester, NY

Grover C. Baker III, Middle Tennessee State University

Elizabeth Besteder, Washington, DC

Elaine Braithwaite, Interboro Institute

Heather Marie Brown, Maplewood, NJ

Shelley A. Bylica, Ashland, OH

Hunter David Capoccioni, Waterloo, IA

Sally Carroll-Ricks, Texas Lutheran University

Erica G. Charis, Minuteman Library Network

Jean Chelich, Hobart, IN

Catherine Anne Cooper, University of Southern California

Elizabeth Crownfield, Astoria, NY

John Fossett, Kitsap Regional Library

Laura Jeanne Furman, Wayne, PA

Patricia E. Gorby, Kent State University

Denise Smith Green, Kent State University

Michelle K. Hahn, Bloomington, IN

Michelle Renée Hammond, Silver Spring, MD

Lindsay Joan Hansen, UCLA Music Library

Jessica S. Harvey, University of North Carolina

Kate Reed Herndon, Louisville, KY

JoLynn Marie Holcomb, Eaton Rapids, MI

Michael L. Hurley, Pittsburgh, PA

JSTOR, Ann Arbor, MI

Jason Imbesi, Arlington, MA

Susan Korté, Providence, RI

Tom D. Lord, Lord Music Reference Inc.

Mary Ann Lucas, University of Missouri Kansas City

John B. McGowan, McElhattan, PA

Cynthia F. Miller, University of Alabama

Vincent J. Novara, University of Maryland

Michelle Lynn Oswell, Haverford College

Gustavo Paredes, University of Houston

Theodore Presser Co, King of Prussia, PA

Cynthia L. Rucci, Smith College

Roderick L. Sharpe, Western Illinois University

Alexander Silbiger, Durham, NC

Linda Dianne Tietjen, Auraria Library

Jennifer Lynne Wochner, The University of Iowa

If we take a few moments to reflect upon the formative experiences at the beginning of our careers, most of us will probably remember an important event or person that hooked us on music librarianship as a profession. The Music Library Association has a unique recruiting tool in the Kevin Freeman Travel Grant. It not only supplies the seminal event in the form of assistance for attending the recipient's first national MLA meeting, but it also offers the opportunity to meet people who will become important mentors in developing careers. A number of young, active MLA members point to winning the Freeman Grant and the networking opportunities that opened to them at that first MLA meeting as the key event in starting and shaping their careers in music librarianship.

Michael Duffy (2002 Award Winner), Music Librarian at Northern Illinois University and member of the Outreach Subcommittee and Personnel Subcommittee, says, "I have made many connections by playing trumpet in the MLA Big Band. I would like people to know that the Freeman Award absolutely made the difference for me in 2002. Without it, I would not have been able to attend the Las Vegas meeting, and my professional networking would not have begun when it did."

Kirstin Dougan (2003) is Interim Head and Public Services Librarian at Duke University Music Library. In addition, she serves on the Board of SEMLA. "My first meeting," she says, "was in 2003 in Austin. I distinctly remember how happy I was to finally be able to put names with faces for people I'd 'known' for years via MLA-L and from publications in the field. It was amazing to me that many of these individuals were so accessible and willing to give advice to a newcomer. The setting gave the opportunity to make useful connections with others."

Echoing the value of networking early in a career is Susannah Cleveland (1997), Music Recordings and Digital Resources Librarian at the University of North Texas. "Mostly, I remember meeting what seemed like every member of MLA. I was astounded by how friendly and inviting everybody was. I am still grateful for the opportunity to have become involved with MLA when I was a student rather than having to wait until I had a professional position to be able to afford to attend the meeting. Attending that first meeting gave me a really thorough overview of the profession and convinced me that music librarianship was undoubtedly the most fascinating branch of librarianship." Susannah is giving back to the profession by serving on the Preservation Committee and past participation on the Information Sharing Subcommittee.

Other Freeman Grant recipients note that the networking opportunities opened up their avenues for professional activity. D.J. Hoek (2000), Head of the Music Library at Northwestern University, served as Coordinator of the Bibliography Roundtable (2001-2005), a member of the Descriptive Cataloging Subcommittee (2000-2004), a member of the Personnel Subcommittee (2004-present), a member of the 2007 Program Committee, and chair of the 2008 Program Committee. He also has published reviews in Notes and is completing a new edition of Wenk's Analyses of Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Music, which will be published in the MLA Index and Bibliography series.

Daniel Boomhower (2000), Performing Arts Librarian and Head of the Music Library at Kent State University, likewise has found professional opportunities through the association. He currently serves as editor of the new edition of A Basic Music Library and is a member of the Resource Sharing and Collection Development Committee. Daniel is the former chair of the Music Resources for Libraries Task Force and former search committee member for the Treasurer/Executive Secretary.

These five examples illustrate that we are all beneficiaries of the Freeman Travel Grant, for our willingness to befriend and mentor newcomers draws them into our profession and results in energetic professionals who share in the work of our organization and ensure a future for the Music Library Association. Plus, they're great people to know and inspire all of us. More information about Kevin Freeman and the grant named in his memory is available through the MLA Web site at http://www.musiclibraryassoc.org/awardsandgrants/freeman.shtml. Please consider making a gift through the 75th Anniversary Campaign to build the endowment for this award so that it can become self-sustaining. Donation information is available at http://www.musiclibraryassoc.org/about/howtogive.shtml.

The Education Committee of the Music Library Association supports the presence of poster sessions at national meetings. The underlying purpose is to allow additional presentation opportunities and create networking opportunities for MLA conference attendees. Programming at the national meeting is often difficult for the simple reason that MLA members have so much to share. Poster sessions offer a great way to present a range of topics, and in some instances, the format is ideally suited.

Poster sessions place an expert about a given topic directly in front of conference attendees, many of whom will find great value in being able to speak with the presenter. Creating the opportunity for conversation is the main goal of any poster session. There is no limit to the range of subjects that can be presented, and any topic can be arranged and displayed in a visually interesting manner. To help understand the importance and place of poster sessions, consider the following:

Some ideas are best presented as posters. Poster sessions can provide for a clearer process of presentation by displaying connections between related ideas, such as in a flow chart.

Those who are most interested in a given topic have the opportunity to speak at length with the presenter. The real benefit of a poster is that it sets aside time for those interested in the topic to speak with the presenter. Group discussions have been known to occur at poster sessions, with several interested parties contributing to the conversation as well as the presenter.

Presentations requiring graphic components will be better conveyed. Often in panel or paper presentations, graphics are displayed for a short period, sometimes less than 10 seconds. A poster allows for audiences to spend the time necessary to gain meaning from graphics.

A well-created display and prepared presenter can deliver a rewarding and memorable experience. This is true for both the presenter and the audience. Consider presenting your research, innovations and projects as a poster at the next national meeting.

Poster Sessions at Memphis
The rewards were indeed many for those MLA '06 attendees who found their way to the poster sessions. From library renovations to ePortfolios, there was something of interest for everyone. Below is the list of presenters and their poster titles.

• Jenny Colvin. "ePortfolios for Music Librarians"
• Andrew Gatto. "From Plymouth Rock to Classic Rock: A History of Music in New England"
• David Hursh and Nara Newcomer. "Good Medicine and Good Music: The Virtual Life of Mrs. Joe Person at East Carolina University"
• Deborah Morris. "The Trials and Tribulations . . . of Library Renovations"
• Deborah Pierce. "Dousing Slow Burning Fires: A Dewey Scores Preservation Project"
• Lynn Weber and Jessica Schomberg. "Access Plus Security: Compact Disc Classification and Packaging at Minnesota State University, Mankato"

Members gathered around posters such as this one by Debbie Pierce
(Courtesy Darlene & Leonard Bertrand, Tulane Univ.)

• Recently completed research
• New and innovative library or music library projects
• Imaginative, systematic efforts at resolving library or music library problems

For more information, contact:
Greg MacAyeal
Poster Session Coordinator, MLA Education Committee
gmacayea@roosevelt.edu

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

Applications should be submitted to:

A grant may be awarded to support research in archives or libraries (both nationally and internationally) on any aspect of American music. There are no restrictions as to applicant's age, nationality, profession, or institutional affiliation. All proposals will be reviewed entirely based on merit. Awards may be presented to an individual applicant or divided among multiple applicants. At its discretion, the committee may choose not to award a grant during any particular year. An applicant who has not received an Epstein Award for the first year of application may resubmit a proposal in the two following years for any one project. An applicant may receive only one award for any one project.

Applicants must submit the following documents:

1. A brief research proposal (under 10 pages) that includes:
   1. a description of the project
   2. a detailed budget for the project, indicating:
      1. the amount of funding requested (capital purchases such as computer equipment and furniture are ineligible.)
      2. justification for the funding
      3. additional sources of funding
   3. a demonstration of how the applicant's research will contribute to the study and understanding of American music.
2. A curriculum vitae of the applicant.
3. Three letters of support from librarians and/or scholars knowledgeable about American music.

Please send the required documentation to the chair of the Dena Epstein Award Committee at the following address:

1. A description of the project and a statement about its significance.
2. A detailed total budget, specifying the amount of funding requested from MLA (to a maximum of $1000) and its purpose (capital purchases are not eligible). Indicate any other sources of funding you may have already secured.
3. Two letters of recommendation—one for the project and one for yourself.
4. A curriculum vitae that also names additional references.

Send applications to:

Recipients receive gratis conference registration and a cash award of up to $750 for travel costs (transportation and accommodations at the convention hotel at half of the double-occupancy rate).

Applicants must be:

• members of the Music Library Association;
• attending their first Music Library Association Conference.

• in the first three years of their professional career,
• a graduate student in library school (by the time of the conference, 26 February–3 March 2007) aspiring to become a music librarian, OR
• a recent graduate (within one year of degree) of a graduate program in librarianship seeking a professional position as a music librarian.

• Encourage new memberships
• Encourage new members to attend their first national conference
• Give support to members who will become active and productive members of the association
• Help grantees understand their first meeting, make contacts, and have a successful conference

Applicants must submit the following by July 15, 2006:

• A letter of application which includes:
  • The outcomes for you and the organization that you hope to achieve by attending the MLA Annual Conference
  • Information about why you are a good candidate for this grant
  • A justification of financial need
  • A budget for travel costs to attend the MLA Annual Conference
  • Information about any other grants, matching funds, institutional support you may also receive to cover costs to attend the MLA Annual Conference
• A current vita
• Two letters of support under separate cover (e-mail is acceptable)

For more information, contact the chair via e-mail: joseph.hafner@mcgill.ca. Recipients will be notified by October 15, 2006 and announced at the MLA 2007 Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, PA.

Application checklist:

• Application letter
• Budget
• Current Vita
• Two letters of support
• Current Membership in MLA

Misti Shaw, Music Librarian (Leave Replacement), St. Olaf College

Jenny Colvin, Music Librarian, Furman University

George Boziwick, Chief, Music Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Recordings
Lehrman, Leonard J. (Long Island Composers Archive )
   The Marc Blitzstein Centennial Concert CD. Featuring the complete 1937 radio song play I've Got the Tune in the 1970 adaptation by Leonard Lehrman. Georgetown, CT: Original Cast Records, 2005. [OC 6127]

   A Diamond Jubilee: Even Though the World Keeps Changing: 25 songs by David Diamond. Helene Williams, soprano; Leonard Lehrman, piano. Albany, NY: Albany, 2005. [TROY817].

Articles and Chapters
Moore, Tom (University of Rio de Janeiro)
   "Biennial Festival of Brazilian Contemporary Music 2005." Brazilmax, published on November 26, 2005. (http://www.brazilmax.com/news5.cfm/tborigem/fe_music/id/1)

   "Baroque Flute in Brazil, an Interview with Laura Rónai." Flute Talk 25:5 (January 2006): 6-10, 29.

Moulton-Gertig (University of Denver)
   "The Art of Harp Performance in Late Eighteenth Century America: Avocation, Economic Necessity, and Questions of Authentic American Repertoire." The American Harp Journal 20:2 (Winter 2006): 33-39.

At this year's MLA conference in Memphis, the Education Committee held two business meetings and sponsored several events, including the "Hot Topics" session and the poster sessions. During the business meetings the committee explored ways in which the Education Committee and subcommittees (Outreach and Librarian School Liaison) overlap with other MLA committees such as the Membership Committee, the Personnel Subcommittee and the Placement Officer. It was agreed that we would like to see better communication between these committees and resolved to share committee reports and news with these groups.

Two other topics were discussed. 1) The conflicting meeting dates between the Music OCLC Users Group meeting and the MLA preconference workshop. We explored options for changing the dates and times of the preconference workshop to avoid this conflict. 2) A potential preconference workshop that originated in the Outreach subcommittee business meeting and would be offered at the 2008 Newport, RI meeting. The committee is pursuing a preconference workshop targeted to: 1) Paraprofessionals as learners and 2) MLA chapter members as teachers-in-training. Anticipating that MLA will have a new paraprofessional membership category (to be voted on in Fall 2006), paraprofessionals would be invited to attend, with the goal of building their skills in music cataloging, reference, collection development, and customer service. MLA chapter members would be invited, with chapter sponsorship, to train as teachers for these skill-building sessions, which the chapters could then deliver on their own to their regions.

Most of the Memphis business meeting of the Subcommittee on Music Library Facilities was devoted to reviewing a draft of the new online version of the Music Library Facilities Construction Report Form. A revised final draft will be completed by mid-April for final comments by subcommittee members. Once the new form is completed and posted on the subcommittee web page, MLA members will be able to submit a standardized report on their contruction or renovation projects by saving the form as a Word document, completing it online, and then sending it to the subcommittee as an e-mail attachment (or printing it out, completing manually, and sending via regular mail). Completed forms will then be sent to the MLA Webmaster, converted to PDF format, and posted on the subcommittee's Web page, where they can easily be accessed; it is hoped that the submitted information will be especially useful to those who are in the planning stages of renovation or new construction at their institutions. (The form contains a waiver by which submitters can give or deny permission to post their completed form on the web for public access.)

The Bibliography on Music Library Facilities, an ongoing project of the subcommittee (accessible on our Web page), was last updated in 2004, and will be updated again this year by Alicia Hansen. Once the update is complete, it will be announced on MLA–L.

We also thanked Rachel Crane for her four years of service on the subcommittee.

Our second presenter was Amy Schreifer, who has served as the managing editor for Smithsonian Global Sound (SGS) since its beginnings in February of 2005. As editor for this Alexander Street Press online service, Amy coordinates the content of the site, manages interaction with current archival partners, and contacts archives around the world to establish additional partnerships. At this time, for example, negotiations are in process with sound recordings archives in New Delhi as well as Mexico, and arrangements have been made with UNESCO to make its recordings accessible through SGS. Further, a cooperative relationship with the International Library of African Music, located at Rhodes University in South Africa, has brought many African field recordings to the Web site, among them several tracks that had never been pressed to LP. Currently, there are approximately 40,000 tracks on the site, making the service something of an ethnographic version of iTunes. In keeping with the topic of the roundtable, Amy took us first to an audio/video file featuring the blues guitarist, Elizabeth Cotton. Located on Global Sound Live, a companion site to SGS, this cut was filmed and recorded by Pete Seeger in 1957. Next, Amy took us to the principal SGS site to search for blues related material. Searching under various categories such as genre, performer and label, we located and listened to tracks by Furry Lewis, Willie Dixon, Leadbelly, and Memphis Slim. The presentation ended with a brief mention of the newest Alexander Street Press online publication, African American Song, which offers historic tracks of blues, jazz, gospel, ragtime, and folk song.

I attended the Chamber Music America annual conference in New York City 12–15 January 2006. There were many interesting sessions, most astonishing among them Bruce Adolphe's "diagnosis"—with the aid of the Daedalus Quartet—of Beethoven's Serioso quartet as a patient with Tourette Syndrome. His presentation was followed by a panel discussion on "how to develop creative entry points into works to use in education and outreach situations" (quotation from the conference program).

There were also many exhibitors, including music publishers whose brochures are helping me develop the chamber music collection at Rutgers. But I was also very much aware that no one there was representing out-of-print (and out-of-copyright) chamber music. I was wondering if there might be a role MLA could play in raising awareness among CMA's members about music libraries as a source for performing repertoire. (I recall especially the vast collections of nineteenth-century chamber music parts at the New York Public Library.)

As it happens, a member of the CMA Board is David Stam, formerly University Librarian at Syracuse, and before that Director of the Research Libraries at NYPL (and sometime before that a bassoonist). I discussed the issue of out-of-print performance materials with him, and he invited me to write a statement about the issue which he could bring to the attention of the CMA Board. I ask for the MLA Board's permission to do so, and—if granted—for the Board members' advice about the form and content of the statement.

I can imagine something as modest as participating in CMA's on-line discussion forums or as grand as an information clearinghouse about out-of-print performance materials, somehow facilitated by cooperation between CMA and MLA. I envision a benefit for MLA in more awareness of MLA among CMA members, with the possibility that they might join MLA or—at the very least—get involved with local MLA chapters. (By the way, the editor of CMA's magazine Chamber Music has asked me to write an article about out-of-print chamber music in libraries.)

Other issues I have discussed informally with CMA's Membership Director Gregory Evans are the possibility of CMA exhibiting at the MLA annual meeting (and vice versa), and the idea of MLA helping to make its members aware of CMA's chamber music residency program, in case librarians in institutions with performing spaces might wish to host a resident ensemble.

On Friday, we heard from Elizabeth Schaff and Brad Saylor of the Peabody Archives, who gave a talk about the Charlie Byrd Collection, followed by Jorge Amareo's performance of some guitar pieces by Barrios that Byrd would have enjoyed. Dr. Mark Katz, the chair of the Musicology Department at Peabody, followed with a fascinating talk entitled "File Sharing as a Tool for Living." His recent book, Capturing Sound: How Technology Has Changed Music, exemplifies innovative approaches to musicology. After a thorough bibliographic rundown on the topic of performance anxiety by chapter member Lisa Woznicki (Towson State), we had an impressive tour of Peabody. This was followed by a lovely wine and hors d'oeuvres reception in the library, accompanied by a quartet of Peabody singers, who gave a stinging performance of "The Bee," a Renaissance piece. Afterwards we headed out into the rain towards several of the nearby restaurants and brewpubs.

After a breakfast in Peabody's boardroom on Saturday morning, we heard Steven Gerber (George Mason, basketball powerhouse) analyze William Henry Fry's short Civil War-era dramatic symphony, "The Dying Soldier," followed by another Peabody musicologist, Dr. Susan Forscher Weiss. She delivered a talk on a specialty of hers, marginalia in Renaissance books as evidence of musical literacy. At the chapter business meeting that closed our program, we elected Mary Prendergast (UVA) as the chapter chair-elect, and Kristin Heath (Carnegie-Mellon) as our new secretary-treasurer. Next year's meeting will be held at the Van Pelt Library of the University of Pennsylvania, with Dick Griscom volunteering as chief henchman.

On April 6th, NEMLA held its spring meeting at historic Symphony Hall in downtown Boston. We were welcomed by site host Bridget Carr, Archivist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Tony Fogg, Artistic Administrator. The program included a presentation by Arthur Moorhead (New World Records) on the Database of Recorded American Music, http://dram.nyu.edu/; an open rehearsal of the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos, conductor, and Gil Shaham, violin soloist, in an all Mozart program; small group tours of the BSO Archives; the NEMLA annual business meeting; and an update from Sarah Adams and Dave Ackerman (Harvard University) on the Sound Directions Project, http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/projects/sounddirections/.

At the business meeting, Patricia Fisken welcomed two new board members: vice-chair/chair-elect Darwin Scott (Brandeis University), and member-at-large Erin Mayhood (Boston University).

Special thanks are due to Ned Quist (Brown University) and Bridget Carr for organizing the program.

Further details of the two presentations will appear in a forthcoming issue of New England Quarter Notes.

Greater New York Chapter
Officers:
Gisele Schierhorst, Chair
Peter Hirsch, Vice-Chair
Mi-Hye Chyun, Secretary/Treasurer
Jon Stroop, Webmaster
Meetings: Brooklyn Public Library, Nov. 1, 2005; Spring meeting: location to be announced
Awards/Grants: N/A
Chapter Projects: Membership recruitment (ongoing)
Chapter Web site: http://lib-terminal.princeton.edu/music/gnymla/index.html
Members: 125
Annual dues: $10.00/year

Midwest Chapter
Officers:
Laura Gayle Green, Chair (to 10/07)
Robert Delvin, Past Chair (to 10/06)
Michael Duffy IV, Secretary-Treasurer (to 10/07)
Gregory Fitzgerald, Newsletter Editor
Rebecca Littman, Webmaster
Meetings:
Lexington, KY (October 20-22, 2005); Milwaukee, WI (2006); Cincinnati, OH (2007); Kansas City, MO (2008)
Projects:
Membership recruitment (ongoing). Publications Committee continues to work on an online membership directory and the chapter, oral history project.
Awards/Grants:
Midwest Chapter, MLA Retiree's Scholarship for Student Members: Amy Pennington, (University of Missouri-Columbia). Leslie Troutman Scholarship for Library Paraprofessionals and Support Staff: Marlys Scarbrough (UIUC). The Midwest Chapter awarded $1000 towards the 2006, National MLA meeting in Memphis, TN.
Web site: http://www.mlamidwest.org
Members: 155
Annual dues: $8.00
Submitted by Robert Delvin, Past-Chair

Mountain–Plains Chapter
Officers (to May 2006):
Stephen Luttmann (University of Northern Colorado), Chair
Cheryl Taranto (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), Vice Chair/Chair Elect
Janet Bradford (Brigham Young University), Past Chair
Daryll Stevens (Colorado College), Secretary/Treasurer
Rachel Crane (Wichita State University), Member-at Large
Laurie Eagleson (University of Arizona), Chapter Archivist, Chapter Webmaster
Meetings:
May 20-21, 2005, Reno, Nevada; Rick Anderson (University of Nevada, Reno) host. Suzanne Moulton-Gertig (University of Denver) will host the 2006 meeting at her home institution next May.
Projects:
We are surveying the MPMLA region, by state, for librarians who have music responsibilities and would benefit from MPMLA membership.
Awards/Grants:
Grant money (received in 1998 for a purpose that is now obsolete) has been re-purposed for travel grants to our regional meetings in an effort to boost attendance. The first award was made in 2004. Two awards were given in 2005 to two students: Amy Hunsaker of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; and to Steve Nordstrom of Brigham Young University (who subsequently went on to Indiana University for further study). Both students presented well-received papers at the May meeting.
Web site: http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/mpmla/
Electronic Discussion List: MPMLA-L@du.edu   Listserv manager: Suzanne Moulton-Gertig
Newsletter: Conventional Title, 2 issues per year. Jean Jensen, Editor.
Members: 42
Dues: $10.00
Submitted by Stephen Luttmann

New England Chapter
Officers:
Patricia Fisken (Dartmouth College), Chair (through May 2006)
Edwin Quist (Brown University), Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect (through May 2006)
Roy Rudolph (Longy School of Music), Past Chair (through May 2006)
Shelley Osterreich (Central Connecticut State University), Secretary-Treasurer (through may 2007)
Beth Sweeney (Boston College), Member-at-Large (through May 2006)
Amy Harrell (Trinity College), Newsletter Editor
Alec McLane (Wesleyan University), Web Page Editor
Standing Committees and Roundtables:
Bibliographic Instruction/Reference Roundtable (Sonia Ensins, Boston College, Chair); Education & Outreach Committee (Beth Sweeney, Boston College, Chair); Membership Committee (Shelley Osterreich, Central Connecticut State University, Chair); Nominating Committee (Roy Rudolph, Longy School of Music, Chair); Program Committee (Ned Quist, Brown University, Chair); Publications Committee (Linda Solow Blotner, Chair); Technical Services Roundtable (Vera Deak, Brandeis University, Chair)
Meetings:
Spring 2005 (April 29, 2005) at NELINET, Southborough, MA; Fall 2005 (October 21-22, 2005) at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY (joint meeting with NYSO Chapter);
Spring 2006, Symphony Hall, Boston Symphony Orchestra. Plan to meet in Newport, RI before MLA 2008 in Newport.
Projects:
The Publications Committee (Linda Solow Blotner, Chair, Amy Harrell, and Alec McLane) is continuing to work on the migration of the Directory of Music Libraries and Collections in New England to a Web-based format that will be linked to the NEMLA Web site. Funding has been earmarked for a redesign of the chapter Web site.
Awards/Grants:
The $800 grant from MLA received by NEMLA and NYSO jointly went to program support for the joint Fall 2005 meeting and to travel support for the meeting.
New Initiatives/Events:
The Education and Outreach Committee continues to offer well-attended presentations at other library organizations in New England. Most recently, Darwin Scott, Erin Mayhood and Margaret Chevian gave a presentation on World Music at NELA (New England Library Association), and subsequently have been asked to present again at RILA (Rhode Island Library Association).
Web site: http://www.wesleyan.edu/nemla/
Members: 99 personal members; 4 institutional members. For current list of members, see http://www.wesleyan.edu/nemla/members.htm
Dues:
$12.00 (individual), $6.00 (student/retired), $16.00 (institutional). Three-year option for regular members: $36.00

New York State-Ontario Chapter
Officers:
Jim Farrington (Sibley Music Library, Eastman School of Music), Chair
Suzanne Meyers-Sawa (University of Toronto), Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect
G. Dale Vargason (Sibley Music Library, Eastman School of Music) Past Chair
Sandy Lemmon (Sibley Music Library, Eastman School of Music), Secretary/Treasurer
Gerry Szymanski, Sibley Music Library, Eastman School of Music, Newsletter Editor
Meetings:
NYSO–NEMLA Fall 2005 Joint Meeting: Friday/Saturday October 21-22, 2005, Vassar College
Chapter Projects: N/A
Awards/Grants:
Rebecca McCallum, Eastman School of Music, Travel grant for Fall 2005 meeting
New Initiatives/Events during 2005: N/A
Web site: http://www.fredonia.edu/nyso/
Members: 16 (including 1 student member)
Dues: $10.00 US; Students, $5.00 US

Northern California Chapter
Officers:
Jason Gibbs, Chair
Laura Moody, Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect
Rhonelle Runner, Past Chair
Nancy Lorimer, Secretary-Treasurer
Manuel Erviti, Newsletter Editor/Webmaster
Meetings:
San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco (June 10, 2005)
Chinatown Branch, San Francisco Public Library (October 28, 2005)
Joint meeting with Pacific Northwest and Southern California Chapters, at San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco (April 28, 2006) and University of California, Berkeley (April 29, 2006)
Projects: Joint 2006 meeting with Pacific Northwest and Southern California chapters
Awards/Grants: none.
Web site: http://www.mlancc.org or http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MUSI/mlancc/
Members: 31
Dues: $10.00
Submitted by Jason Gibbs, San Francisco Public Library

Pacific Northwest Chapter
Officers:
Leslie Bennett, Chair (to 4/2006)
Betty Woerner, Vice Chair/Chair Elect (to 2007)
Beverly B. Stafford, Secretary/Treasurer (to 2007)
Terry Horner, Newsletter Editor (appointed)
John Gibbs, Web site Editor (appointed)
Anna Seaberg, Nominating Committee Chair (appointed)
Meetings: Seattle, Washington (April 22-23, 2005)
Projects:
Collected Editions/Monuments of Music union list for the Pacific Northwest (preliminary stages); Directory of Music Collections in the Pacific Northwest (ongoing)
Awards/Grants: None
New Initiatives/Events: None, other than planning for the 2006 West Coast meeting (a joint meeting of the Pacific Northwest, Southern California and Northern California chapters of MLA)
Web site: http://www.lib.washington.edu/music/pnwmla/pnwmla.html
Members: 28, 1 institutional, 1 honorary member
Dues: $10.00

Southeast Chapter
Officers:
Lynne Jaffe (At Your Service: Library Contract Cataloging), Chair
Diane Steinhaus (UNC Chapel Hill) (2007), Past Chair
Kirstin Dougan (Duke University) (2007), Secretary/Treasurer
Robena Cornwell (University of Florida) (2006), Member-at-Large (Nominating Chair)
Catherine Gick (Vanderbilt University) (2007) Member-at-Large (Program Chair)
John Leslie (University of Mississippi), Newsletter Editor
Lynnea Jacobson (Jacksonville Public Library), Webmaster
Lee Richardson (University of North Florida), Archivist
Meetings:
Annual meeting: Memphis, TN, Oct. 27-29, 2005.
Interim meeting: Vancouver, British Columbia, Feb. 17, 2005
Future meeting: Columbus, GA, Oct. 12-14, 2006
Projects: We are currently raising LAC money for MLA in Memphis, TN (2006). A special aspect of this is SEMLA's responsibility for raising half of the fee for a commissioned orchestral work to celebrate MLA's 75th birthday. The Chapter By-Laws were amended on May 20, 2005 to increase chapter dues. An update of the Directory of Music Collections in the Southeast United States is in progress. We have spent a lot of time following up with members affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Awards/Grants:
We awarded 2 SEMLA Travel Grants, one to Cassidy Sugimoto, a library school student, and one to Caterina Bristol, a recent library school student graduate, to attend our annual chapter meeting.
Web site: http://jpl.coj.net/semla/index.html
Members: Individual: 95; Institutional: 5
Dues: $10.00 (students $5.00)

Southern California Chapter
Officers, 2005-2006:
Blair Whittington (Brand Library and Art Center), Chair
Eunice Schroeder (UC Santa Barbara), Vice-Chair/Chair Elect
Ken Calkins (UC San Diego), Past Chair
Sharon Benamou (UCLA), Secretary-Treasurer
Verletta Kern (University of Redlands), Member at Large for Publications
Frank Hoppe (Pasadena City College), Member at Large for Membership
Meeting:
The meeting was held October 28, at the Music Center in Los Angeles, featuring a tour of the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a program session at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Speakers included the librarians of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Opera; Lance Bowling, owner of Cambria Music; and opera composer Daniel Catan. Program Chair: Eunice Schroeder. Local Arrangements: Blair Whittington.
Projects:
Chapter Handbook revision (ad hoc committee); Bylaws Revision (ad hoc committee); Southern California music periodicals indexing project; Updating the Directory of Music Collections in California; Planning a joint meeting of the three MLA West Coast chapters (Pacific Northwest, Northern California, and MLA/SCC) at the UC Berkeley Music Library and San Francisco Public Library April 28-29, 2006.
Awards/Grants:
Lindsay Hansen is the recipient of the chapter travel grant for the April 2006 three-chapter joint "West Coast MLA" meeting
New Initiatives/Events:
A music cataloging workshop held at CSU Northridge Library April 4-5, 2005 co-sponsored by the Southern California Technical Processing Group. It was taught by Mark Scharff Music Cataloger at Gaylord Music Library, Washington University in St. Louis.
Web site: http://www.bol.ucla.edu/~louisxiv/mla-scc/mlascc-home.html
Members: 50
Dues: $10.00 Individual ; $8.00 Institutions; $8.00 Retired; $6.00 Student; $6.00 Supporting (non-regional); Sustaining: $25.00-$49.00 Sostenuto; $50.00-$74.00 Ottava Sopra; $75.00 & above: Con Forza.

Texas Chapter
Officers:
Mary Du Mont, Chair (to 10/06)
Sha Towers, Vice Chair/Chair-Elect
Bruce Evans, Past Chair (to 10/06)
Keith Chapman, Secretary-Treasurer (to 10/06)
Sha Towers, Webmaster
Meetings:
Baylor University (October 20-21, 2005); University of North Texas (2006)
Projects:
Membership recruitment (ongoing), chapter oral history project.
Awards/Grants: N/A
Web site: http://www3.baylor.edu/MLA/tmla/index.html
Members: 33
Dues: $10.00
Submitted by Mary DuMont, Chair

22-28 June 2006
ALA Annual Conference
New Orleans, Louisiana

18 August 2006
Deadline for Submissions
MLA Newsletter no. 146