Music Librarians on the Road:
Demonstrating Basic Music Skills
to Public Librarians in a Successful
Outreach Campaign
presented by
Darwin F. Scott
Assistant Director for Research & Instruction Services,
Creative Arts & Humanities
Brandeis University
and
Erin Mayhood
Music Librarian
University of Virginia
for the pre-conference workshop “Train the Trainer”
MLA Annual Meeting, Newport, RI
February 20, 2008
The Plan
 Build on NEMLA’s strong history of outreach by
proactively reaching out to public librarians at their
annual state or regional library meetings.
 Why?

NEMLA visits to library school career forums had reached
some new librarians but not those already on the front
lines.

1998 assessment on the state of music collections in
Connecticut revealed a keen need for help.

Many generalists in public libraries were working as music
librarians in all but name only for their communities.

MLA perceived a strong need and desire by generalists in
public libraries for reliable information on all aspects of
music.
Tactics
 Meet the librarians on their own turf by
offering sessions at annual meetings of
state and regional library associations.
 Make the sessions both engaging and
informative.
 Provide practical information.
 Present ourselves as friendly, enthusiastic
colleagues willing to help and genuinely
interested in public libraries.
 Plan to spend time at the meeting; attend
the lunch and freely engage in conversation
beyond the session.
More Tactics
 Promote NEMLA and that New England
music librarians are eager to share their
subject expertise with the public library
community of the region.
 Inform about the Music Library Association
and its important resources, particularly the
copyright Web site and MLA-L (including
archive).
 Include at least one public library music
librarian on the team to foster a sense of
connection.
Strategies
 Offer content that will both attract an
audience and provide practical information
and instruction.
 Relate music reference techniques to the
skills of general reference and draw upon
common expertise—i.e., engage the
audience at their level.
 Point out the different approaches required
for music reference.
 Promote an atmosphere of “shop secrets”
from the experts.
More Strategies
 Develop specialized music terminology.
 Demonstrate outstanding pathways to highquality FREE online resources.
 Show how to craft successful searches
based on the complex descriptive fields in
MARC records for music materials.
 Impart some of the shop secrets of expert
music collection development that
attendees can take back and begin using.
 Mount the slides on the NEMLA Web site for
future consultation after the sessions.
Practical Advice
 Try to get a spot on the program without significant
competition.
 Don’t rely on live Internet connections: capture
screen saves of Web pages and copy into
PowerPoint slides.
 Bring all the electronic equipment you will need
(computer, projector, cables, etc.) unless you are
absolutely certain that the conference site is fully
equipped.
 Allow time for audience engagement and be willing
to follow the tangents during question-answer.
 Expect complex and sophisticated questions: these
are colleagues hungry for information and full of
practical experience themselves.
Reference Difficulties Encountered
by Public Librarians
 Music-specific terminology (song, score, sheet
music, parts, etc.)
 OPAC searching
 Formats (scores, vocal scores, fakebooks, librettos, CDs,
videos, etc.)
 Uniform title vs. title on page
 Lack of content notes
 Or, how to effectively search these notes.
 Music subject headings (e.g., plurals for genres)
 Absence of viable reference sources at the library
Our Presentations
Name That Tune: Music Services and the Public Library
“Music Reference: Songs” (Erin Mayhood)
“A Few Basic Survival Skills for Finding Music Web Sites, Acquiring CDs and Scores, and
Coping with the Complexities of Music Materials” (Darwin Scott)
Comments on Reference and Selection at the Providence Public Library (Margaret
Chevian)
 New England Library Association, Manchester, NH, September 24, 2004
 Connecticut Library Association, New Haven, CT, April 13, 2005
 Rhode Island Library Association, Salve Regina University, Newport, RI, June 2,
2005
Get Your Library Movin’ to the World Music Beat!
“World Music in the Public Library: Collection Development Tips!” (Erin Mayhood)
“What World Music Is—And How to Locate It in Library Catalogs and Other Electronic
Resources” (Darwin Scott)
Comments on World Music at the Providence Public Library (Margaret Chevian)
 New England Library Association, Worcester, MA, October 16, 2005
 Rhode Island Library Association, Bryant College, Smithfield, RI, June 1, 2006
How Did We Do? — Assessment
Attendance
 Varied between 25 and 40 depending on the number
and subject matter of conflicting sessions.
 Last session in RI had 16 due to popular Google
session scheduled at the same time.
Audience reactions
 Nobody got up and left during the presentations.
 Engaged audience throughout.
 Lively, interactive question and answer sessions.
 Rumpus sessions after presentations to talk further.
 Great interest in NEMLA and much thanks given.
 Offers to return next year.
Evaluation
Feedback
“Very informative, well organized”
“Really enjoyed all three speakers”
“Lots of great info and different points of view”
Ratings by four attendees: one “4” and three “5's (scale: 1=poor,
5=excellent)
Evaluations from the 2005 RILA meeting
“Thanks so much for the excellent presentation you gave at the
Conference last Thursday. . . . Your talk was well organized, lively, and
you provided us with very useful handouts. We learned so much about
the wealth of information that is available to us.”
-Pam Mead, RILA Conference Committee (June 2006)
“I thought the program was very interesting and the smaller crowd
allowed a little more interaction—so glad you are willing to join us
next year. Please consider yourselves on the program!”
-Ariela McCaffrey RILA Conference Committee (June 2006)
Fasten Your Seatbelts
for a Whirlwind Tour
through Our Presentations
Note: Boxes in yellow on the slides summarize
what was said while showing each slide.
The Music Reference Interview
Focusing the inquiry in music includes:
 Format
Score
 Recording



Does the patron need the words (lyrics) only?
Are they looking for background information?
Try to draw on skills we all have in common. Here we talked about the
reference interview as a technique we all share. How would a music
interview differ? Also work in a little terminology (score/recording, etc.)
Questions to Ask the Patron:







What is the title of the song?
Who wrote the song?
Do you know the first line or any of the lyrics?
What decade is the song from?
Who recorded the song?
What style of music is it?
Where did you hear this song?
Illustrates the reference interview for a song search.
Building Terminology: Focus on
Formats
Recordings




DVDs
Compact Discs
Cassettes
LPs
Scores



Full scores
Piano-vocal scores
Fake books
Erin also showed a WorldCat search page to illustrate format limits.
Example of a piano-vocal score:
Provide something visual especially if what you are talking about is very
specialized, such as a piano-vocal score.
Example of a Full Score:
Example of a fake book:
Finding Songs:
Why Are They So Hard?



Lack of contents notes in catalog records
Songs may be part of a larger work like an opera
or a musical
Languages
Again, draw on something people can identify with—and that these are
difficult questions. Here Erin related finding a song to finding a poem.
Finding Song Scores – Essential
Print Resources

Verification Sources
Use to verify title, composer, date information
 Especially useful if you have only partial information


Song Indexes
Use to determine the titles of collections or
anthologies that include your song.
 General or genre specific

Here Erin mentioned the print bibliography of song resources we provides.
Some participants were interested in building a collection of reference
resources, but far more were intrigued by what they could get for free.
Sheet Music Resources on the Internet




Aid in verification
Searchable lyrics
Digitized copies of songs may be printable
Many institutions compile lists of recommended
sites
Erin showed an example of a finding aid site (Boston University’s)
and then an example of an actual digital collection.
People were amazed at how much “free” music was here—a lot of this
repertoire is very popular with the elderly public library population.
Charles H. Templeton Sheet Music
Collection
http://library.msstate.edu/ragtime/main.html


Contains images of over 22,000 pieces of
sheet music from late nineteenth and early
twentieth century America
Covers many genres, from the ragtime of
Scott Joplin, the Dixieland of W. C. Handy,
the smooth ballads of Irving Berlin, the
stirring patriotic anthems of John Phillips
Sousa and George M. Cohan to the early
roots of big band.
Charles H. Templeton Sheet Music Collection
– Digital Images of Sheet Music
This slide was a big hit.
Finding Music Lyrics on the Internet




Many lyric sites on the Internet.
Beware of sites with extensive pop ups.
Sites often specialize in a particular genre.
Many libraries maintain lists of selected sites.
Here we emphasized quality free sites on the Web and practical tips.
www.Leoslyrics.com
Erin did a practice search of this site.
What album contains that song?
Search on All Shook Up
We integrated the NEMLA logo
into the slides.
A Few Basic Survival Skills for
Finding Music Web Sites,
Acquiring CDs and Scores,
and Coping with the
Complexities of Music Materials
Presented by
Darwin F. Scott
Creative Arts Librarian, Brandeis University
for the Rhode Island Library Association (RILA)
June 2, 2005
Sponsored by the
New England Music Library Association (NEMLA)
Darwin poked fun at himself—long title from the academic librarian, of course.
This immediately broke any ice that I might be some stuffy academic.
Brandeis University Libraries QuickStart Guide: Music — Music on the Web
Here I pointed out the value of finding aids supplied by college and univeristy
libraries—with a little shameless self promotion.
Duke University Libraries: DW3 Classical Music Resources — Homepage
Well, this recently decease site WAS a fantastic resource in 2005.
What a terrible loss for public librarians, who were dazzled by this site.
If only MLA could sponsor something like DW3 for our outreach efforts!
Music Library Service Company (MLSC): Online Store Home Page
The public librarians were very excited about a specialized sound recording
supplier that really understood the library market and how it must do business.
Music Library Service Company: Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums
MLSC’s thematic lists of CDs attracted much interest, particularly for quickly
building a collection or an easy response to a sudden influx of funding.
Music Library Service Company (MLSC): 47th Annual Grammy Award Winnners
Music Library Service Company: A Basic Music Library — Musicals and Shows
CD HotList: New Releases for Libraries — Homepage
Librarians were attracted by the wide range of repertory here.
CD HotList: New Releases for Libraries — Country/Folk, Sept. 2004
Amazon.com: Search for CD of Wicked
Reminder: Search for CDs
under MUSIC
Our practical shopping guides for Amazon.com really engaged the audience.
It also woke them up to the idea of getting company credit cards.
Amazon.com: Search for Vocal Score of La Cage aux Folles
Amazon.com: Search for Scores of Gilbert and Sullivan Published by Dover
(searched as author: gilbert sullivan; title: score; publisher: dover)
Music Library Association Mailing List: Archive Search MLA-L
MLA-L and its archive were a revelation to the audience.
Music Library Association Mailing List: Archives of MLA-L
Music Library Association Mailing List: Archive Search Results —
on “security (CD or CDs or DVD or DVDs)”
I showed examples of then recent e-mails regarding security treatment for CDs
and DVDs. This slide led to some interesting questions about dealing with disks in
a library setting during the discussion session.
Music Library Association (MLA): Copyright for Music Librarians
MLA’s copyright site was another revelation.
Music Library Association (MLA): Copyright for Music Librarians:
Frequently Asked Questions
The New England Chapter of the Music Library Association
World Music in the Public
Library: Collection
Development Tips
Presented by
Erin L. Mayhood
Assistant Head, Music Library, Boston University
June 1st, 2006
Sponsored by the
New England Music Library Association (NEMLA)
Our 2006 focus was on World Music.
The subject really engaged the public and two-year college librarians.
Reasons to include world music
in your collection




Cultural diversity
Formal education support
Community activity support
Independent learning
Here Erin focused on community engagement via world music. Do multi-cultural
events in your town have music or dance components? Interest in the music of
another culture will increase if your area hosts festivals or celebrations from a
particular area of the world. Children can also benefit from world music
recordings: lullabies, singing games, and folk songs from around the world.
Tools for Collection Development



Websites
Reviews
Vendor catalogs
Recommended Websites

University of Washington
http://www.lib.washington.edu/music/world.html

Indiana University
http://www.music.indiana.edu/music_resources/ethnic.html

Music Selection Resources on the
WWW by Anna Seaberg
http://www.halcyon.com/aseaberg/
Erin showed the University of Washington site and also the list of record labels
available on Anna’s site—emphasizing that she was a public librarian.
Record Label List Annotated by
Anna Seaberg:
Erin emphasized that this particular list by Anna Seaberg is annotated,
making
it extremely useful. The audience thought so too.
http://www.halcyon.com/aseaberg/worldbib.html
Recording Reviews

Periodicals

Vendor Websites
• Billboard
• All Music
www.allmusic.com
• Dirty Linen
• Ethnomusicology • Multicultural Media
www.worldmusicstore.com
• Roots & Rhythm
Newsletter (online
at:
www.rootsandrhythm.co
m/roots/rr_latest.htm)
• World of Music
Erin emphasized the importance of reviews, since there are so many recordings to
choose from. She promoted these titles and sites are some of her favorites.
Vendors


Vendor websites can be useful
collection development tools
Look for sites that present items
geographically
Practical advice slide: Many traditional CD vendor do provide good coverage of
world music on mainstream labels. BUT, as your collection grows, you may want
to look elsewhere, particularly to site that present heir material geographically
rather than by title or genre.
Favorite Vendors for World
Music




Multicultural Media:
www.worldmusicstore.com
All Music Guide:
www.allmusic.com
Music Library Service Company (MLSC):
www.mlscmusic.com
Berkshire Record Outlet:
www.berkshirerecordoutlet.com
The audience loved our “favorites.”
By now they had confidence that we knew what we were talking about. Erin then
showed Multicultural Media and the All Music Guide.
MULTICULTURAL MEDIA's
www.worldmusicstore.com
What World Music Is—and How to
Locate It in Library Catalogs
and Other Electronic Resources
Presented by
Darwin F. Scott
Creative Arts Librarian, Brandeis University
for the Rhode Island Library Association (RLA)
June 1, 2006
Sponsored by the
New England Music Library Association (NEMLA)
Darwin had a few key strategies: to explain the difference between and confusion
around the terms world music, ethnomusicology, and folk music. And how to best
locate this world music recordings by taking advantage of contents notes and
subject headings.
Ethnomusicology — World Music:
What’s the Difference?
Believe it or not, the
audience was very
interested in the more
“The study of social and cultural aspects of music and
dance inpart
local
academic
of this
and global contexts.” (Grove Music Online)
presentation. These
were intelligent, wellLargely a scholarly discipline studied primarily at universities.
read and traveled
Focus tends to be on field work—and indigenous, “traditional”
music.
librarians!
Specialists are trained in music or in anthropology, sometimes in both,
but the multidisciplinary nature of the subject produces differing
interpretations.
Ethnomusicology
•
•
•
•
•
Alan P. Merriam (1923–1980), Indiana University: Defined ethnomusicology as the anthropological study of music and stressed “the
importance of cultural and social factors in any investigation of the
processes of creation, aesthetics, and the training and acculturation of
performers and audience.”
•
Mantle Hood (1918–2005), UCLA: the first scholar to offer training in
the performance of non-Western music (Javanese and Balinese
gamelan), a practice now common at most large Western universities.
He emphasized performance participation or “bi-musicality” as an
essential aspect of research.
Ethnomusicology — World Music:
What’s the Difference?
World Music – 1
•
Recent years have seen the phenomenal growth of the “World Music
Industry.”
•
A very defuse category, but there are certain traits that predominate.
•
Lacks the academic connotations or discipline of ethnomusicology.
•
Often popular music or Third World music—frequently the music of
the lower working classes and powerless members of industrialized
societies, sometimes resulting from rural–urban migrations.
•
The sound of globalization and transnationalism—an international
marketplace.
•
A blending of traditional styles with Western pop features—this
dualism challenges the integrity of native cultures and the survival of
national genres due to the overwhelming influence of popular music
recordings from the U.S. and Europe.
•
In some countries, indigenous traditional musics have grown marginal
and irrelevant to the popular youth culture; in others with stronger
native traditions in place, much more blending occurs.
•
Clash of nativism (an established national canon of music supported
by academe and/or the state) vs. creolism, creative hybridity, fusion,
and pastiche.
Ethnomusicology — World Music:
What’s the Difference?
World Music – 2
•
Transplanted Western idioms become transformed by local tradition.
•
International styles—rock music, hip-hop, disco, sentimental ballads,
easy listening.
•
Music of diasporas and transnationalism.
•
Themes include political statements, protest songs, pacifism,
transnational sentiments, religion/devotion, dancing to “world beats,”
conscious ethnic focus.
•
Delivered by commercial mass communications media (sound
recordings, radio, films, television, the Web) and concert/performance
venues (the stage, night clubs, etc.)
•
Uses amplification and electric instruments, and modified traditional
or western instruments.
•
Rise of concert artists and world music stars—not music performed
within ritual, narrative, or other cultural contexts.
•
World beat: “World music that is commercially marketed to Western
consumers with eclectic tastes” (Grove Music Online).
These
practical
slides were a
huge hit.
World Music as a Subject Term
(in the Minuteman Library Network — Boston Metrowest)
World beat (Music) starting to appear as an LCSH.
Worth Noting (as of May 31, 2006):
• World Music as sound-recording subject heading is in 2,941 WorldCat records.
• Folk Music as sound-recording subject heading is in 37,316 WorldCat records.
• Popular Music as sound recording subject heading is in 245,944 WorldCat records.
351 records in Minuteman
Library Network using World
Music as a subject heading; a
growing number also appear
with subdivisions. But not
applied consistently to world
music recordings—depends
upon decisions of catalogers
entering or editing records in
OCLC.
Sample World Music Record with Folk Music as Subject Heading
Popular music, Folk music, and World music all used as descriptors.
Specific country (here Mali) used as geographic delimiter.
A search on Africa would miss this recording.
Sample World Music Record — Thorough Subject Analysis
Includes all performers and ensembles as authors.
Extremely thorough subject analysis covers
world, folk, and popular music.
Sample Catalog Record — 2005 Cataloging, Excellent Descriptors —
One Type of Music (Music of Cape Verde)
Performer as author
Contents notes are searchable in most OPACs as keywords.
A caveat: spellings match contents given on the CD notes
(i.e., no authority control).
World music as subject heading
Popular music as subject heading
Geographic area as subheading (plus time period!)
Note: no subject reference to Africa.
Sample Catalog Record — 2005 Cataloging, Excellent Descriptors —
Various Types of Music
Performers and groups as authors
Contents note
World music / Popular music subject headings
Broad geographical descriptors
Genres / styles of music as subject headings
Sample World Music Record (No Subject Entry for Popular Music)
Popular music and Folk music not used as subject
descriptors—only World music
Sample World Music Record — Folk Music and World Music
as Descriptors (not Popular Music)
Main performer (vocal soloist) and group as authors
Very broad geographic descriptor
Folk music and World music used as subject descriptors—but not Popular music.
Amazon.com: Opening Window for Music (i.e., CD) Search
Use International for most world music.
Once more the Amazon tips were greatly appreciated.
Amazon.com: International Style = World Music
Amazon.com: Browse Africa Selections
Amazon.com: Mali Selections
283 recordings retrieved
Amazon.com: “International Mali” Keyword Search under Popular Music
Only 12 recordings retrieved!
Better to use the progressive access
for the most items:
1. Popular music
2. International
3. Africa
4. Mali
(283 recordings)
Or a keyword search directly on the
specific country (274 hits on Mali).
The Final Slide of All the Presentations
Contact Information
NEMLA: http://www.wesleyan.edu/nemla/
Erin L. Mayhood
mayhood@virginia.edu
Darwin F. Scott
dscott@brandeis.edu
Margaret Chevian
MChevian@provlib.org
Erin was
actually
working at
Boston
University at
the time.
This Workshop PowerPoint
is available online at:
http://people.brandeis.edu/~dscott/mla/newportoutreach.htm
or contact
Darwin F. Scott
dscott@brandeis.edu
for an electronic copy.