Music Librarians on the Road:
Demonstrating Basic Music Skills
to Public Librarians
Presented by
Erin L. Mayhood
Head, Music Library,
University of Virginia
and
Darwin F. Scott
Creative Arts Librarian
Brandeis University
Music Library Association
Society for American Music
Joint Conference
Pittsburgh, PA
March 3, 2007
The Beginning…
 NEMLA has a strong history of outreach.
 Library school career forums reached new
librarians but not those already on the front lines.
 1998 assessment on the state of music collections
in Connecticut
 Many generalists in public libraries working as
music librarians in all but name for their
communities.
 The Public Libraries Roundtable and the Education
and Outreach Committees perceived a strong need
and desire by generalists in public libraries for
reliable information on all aspects of music.
Boston Public Library Front Lines
Massachusetts Library of Last Recourse mandate:
“to provide access for all residents of the
Commonwealth to the resources of a public
research library.”
In practice:
 many music questions from public libraries
throughout Massachusetts and New England
 many questions could have been answered by
generalists with a little guidance
NEMLA Connecticut Survey Results
Barriers to acquiring/maintaining music
collections:
 budget constraints
44%
 inadequate space/shelving
28%
 lack of expertise about music
17%
 lack of music cataloging expertise
11%
 lack of patron interest
8%
 lack of staff interest
3%
1998 Survey Results continued…
Who selects music materials in your library?
 library director
48%
 staff member with specialization
24%
 general staff
16%
 other
6%
 volunteer
3%
1998 Survey Results continued…
Interest in resources (such as training, workshops, etc.) to assist public librarians in the
following areas of music:
 collection development / acquisitions 63%
 cataloging and processing
41%
 circulation and shelving
28%
 music reference
28%
 other areas
2%
Reference Difficulties Encountered
 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
 Music subject headings (e.g., plurals for genres)
 Absence of viable reference sources at the library
NEMLA Public Libraries Outreach Team
 Large academic library supporting a broad range of music
programs, including performance:
 Boston University, Erin Mayhood
 Focus: Reliable Web resources, terminology, reference
interview, handouts
 Smaller academic library supporting graduate music research,
plus varied undergraduate study (often interdisciplinary):
 Brandeis University (Waltham, MA): Darwin Scott
 Focus: Collection development, understanding catalog
records for music materials
 Large public library with broad music collections:
 Providence Public Library: Margaret Chevian
 Focus: leading discussion at end of presentations;
experience of a practicing public librarian; audience sees
“one of us” is on the panel, not just academic librarians.
Goals
 Be present at conferences frequented by
public librarians.
 Provide practical information that
engages the audience.
 NEMLA is an information resource that
librarians can all draw upon.
 Music librarians are wonderful and make
great colleagues.
Strategy
 Relate music reference to the skills of general
reference and draw upon common expertise.
 Point out the different approaches required for
music reference.
 Develop specialized music terminology.
 Provide pathways to high-quality FREE online
resources.
 Explain how to craft the best searches based on the
information in MARC records for music materials.
 Impart some of the shop secrets of expert music
collection development.
 Mount the slides on the NEMLA Web site for future
consultation after the sessions.
Presentation Content and Venues
Name That Tune: Music Services and the Public Library
“Music Reference: Songs” (Erin)
“A Few Basic Survival Skills for Finding Music Web Sites, Acquiring CDs and
Scores, and Coping with the Complexities of Music Materials” (Darwin)
Comments on Reference and Selection at the Providence Public Library (Margaret)
 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)
“What World Music Is—And How to Locate It in Library Catalogs and Other
Electronic Resources” (Darwin)
Comments on World Music at the Providence Public Library (Margaret)
 New England Library Association, Worcester, MA, October 16, 2005
 Rhode Island Library Association, Bryant College, Smithfield, RI, June 1,
2006
Evaluation and 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
 Extremely interactive in 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 and Assessment
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)
The Future
 Financial cutbacks have negatively
impacted the hiring of subject specialists in
public libraries—a national crisis that will
continue to have drastic effects on
collections, staffing, and programs.
 Launch of MLA National Outreach program
to non-music specialists
Fasten Your Seatbelts for a
Whirlwind Tour through
Our Presentations
The New England Chapter of the Music Library Association
Music Reference:
Songs
Presented by
Erin L. Mayhood
Assistant Head, Music Library, Boston University
April 13th, 2005
Sponsored by the
New England Music Library Association (NEMLA)
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?
Questions to Ask:

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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?
Building Terminology: Focus on
Formats
Recordings



Compact Discs
Cassettes
LP’s
Scores

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Full scores
Piano vocal scores
Fake books
Example of a piano-vocal score:
Example of a Full Score:
Example of a fake book:
Finding Songs: Why Are They So
Hard?

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Lack of contents notes in catalog records
Songs may be part of a larger work like an opera
or a musical
Languages
A Sample Catalog Record Lacking Content Notes
Example of a record with contents notes.
These notes are keyword searchable.
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

Sheet Music Resources on the Internet

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
Aid in verification
Searchable lyrics
Digitized copies of songs may be printable
Many institutions compile lists of recommended
sites
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
Finding Music Lyrics on the Internet

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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.
www.Leoslyrics.com
What album contains that song?
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)
Brandeis University Libraries QuickStart Guide: Music — Music on the Web
Duke University Libraries: DW3 Classical Music Resources — Homepage
Duke University Libraries: DW3 Classical Music Resources — Classical Music —
Composer Homepages
Duke University Libraries: DW3 Classical Music Resources — Browse
Resources — Classical Music — Composer Homepages — Early
Twentieth Century
Duke University Libraries: DW3 Classical Music Resources — Browse Resources
— Classical Music — Composer Homepages — Early 20th Century —
Olivier Messiaen
Music Library Service Company (MLSC): Online Store Home Page
Music Library Service Company: Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums
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
CD HotList: New Releases for Libraries — Country/Folk, Sept. 2004
Amazon.com: Search for CD of Wicked
Reminder: Search for CDs
under MUSIC
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
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)”
Music Library Association (MLA): Copyright for Music Librarians
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)
Reasons to include world music
in your collection
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Cultural diversity
Formal education support
Community activity support
Independent learning
Tools for Collection Development
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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/
Record Label List Annotated by
Anna Seaberg:
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
Vendors


Vendor websites can be useful
collection development tools
Look for sites that present items
geographically
Favorite Vendors for World
Music

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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
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)
Ethnomusicology — World Music:
What’s the Difference?
Ethnomusicology
•
“The study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local
and global contexts.” (Grove Music Online)
•
Largely a scholarly discipline studied primarily at universities.
•
Focus tends to be on field work—and indigenous, “traditional” music.
•
Specialists are trained in music or in anthropology, sometimes in both,
but the multidisciplinary nature of the subject produces differing
interpretations.
•
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).
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.
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