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The height of the COVID-19 public health emergency saw libraries conducting collection audits of their materials, including their print music collections. The trend in contemporary public libraries in the United States is one which emphasizes generalization in its workforce regarding domain specialty knowledge and skills. This has necessitated an influx in inquiries delivered to the Music Library Association’s Public Libraries Committee on the topic of print music collection development from public library staff who lack the necessary training and experience. In response, the Public Libraries Committee created a document focusing on best practices in print music collection development that recommends 250 print music titles for public library acquisition. Selecting Printed Music in Public Libraries was produced using strategies similar to focus group research methods and addresses a novel dilemma found in public libraries – library workers tasked with managing music collections without the knowledge, skills, and abilities to effectively do so. This article is framed as a case study and offers an overview of the development of the Public Libraries Committee’s (PLC) document, Selecting Printed Music in Public Libraries. Additionally, this article describes the content included within the PLC’s document and offers recommendations for how to improve it moving forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing war of aggression by Russia in Ukraine has brought international attention to the conflation of Ukrainian and Russian cultures and identities. Such conflation exists in various forms, at its most dangerous in weaponized distortions of history and pretexts for violence. These two distinct cultures can also be misunderstood unintentionally in ways that appear harmless, even in music libraries. Cataloging the Ukrainian music materials contained within the Margarita Mazo Collection at Indiana University has necessitated an examination of the historical relationships between Ukraine and Russia in general and the influence of the Soviet Union on music publications in particular. Best practices for catalogers, such as appropriate use of controlled vocabularies and accurate transcription of text, are expanded upon to promote understanding and appreciation of Ukrainian music and to ensure access to users who search in the Ukrainian language – perhaps the users for whom these materials are most vital. Librarians must be critical and well-informed to understand Soviet publications of Ukrainian music, intrinsic to which are state control, censorship, and the manipulation of cultural expression for ideological purposes. Here lies a crucial opportunity for reparative cataloging, in which music catalogers can provide authentic representation in bibliographic and authority records. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Local/Independent Music Initiative of Texas (LIMIT), an ongoing project to collect, preserve, and disseminate music from Texas, meeting a need in the Denton music community. The University of North Texas (UNT) Libraries possess the necessary skills and resources to preserve local music history, including pertinent recordings and archival materials. This study discusses innovative ways of connecting with potential donors through outreach and programming, initially supported by a grant-funded project. The project team actively participated in the local music community, organizing events and attending others, seeking out music for the collection, making connections with potential donors, and championing LIMIT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the Aaron Cohen Collection of Japanese Madame Butterfly Materials at the Music Library, University of South Carolina. Topics include the collection's contents, the collaboration between Aaron Cohen and Kunio Hara in acquiring the materials, and insights into the life and career of Tamaki Miura, a Japanese soprano associated with Madame Butterfly.

Countless academic libraries are unable to commit staff time to handle the multiple workflows required by a music library, such as ordering, procurement, and cataloging. Music librarians often rely on support from staff in other departments with limited musical backgrounds. Drawing from resources offered by the central library, a University of Tennessee music cataloger created guidelines for training non-musical library staff in identifying various musical formats. The training was meant to improve the workflow of music materials from acquisitions, cataloging, and processing departments. The training focused on illustrating the differences between a variety of commonly found musical score formats. The goal was to increase staff effectiveness and reduce errors in ordering and processing music materials. Ultimately, the training enabled library staff to identify best options and apply sound judgment when fulfilling order requests. These guidelines included illustrations with examples of different formats with cover images, title pages, music notation pages, and a brief bibliographic description of MARC fields 100, 245, 240, 250 and 300. By evaluating bibliographic records from WorldCat and showing physical examples of various musical manifestations, non-musical library staff were able to contribute more effectively to the operations of the music library. Furthermore, during the process of training and following up with staff, it became clear that the need for basic music training was greater than initially perceived and that numerous other units within the library needed this training. This paper offers guidelines for music library training from both the University of Tennessee and the music library literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interview with Callie Holmes, music collections librarian, and Matthew Vest, music inquiry and research librarian at the UCLA Music Library, is presented. They talk about the UCLA Music Library, the emergence of California as the first state in the nation to issue a statewide shelter-in-place order, and the first steps they took to ensure that students and faculty had access to Music Library services and materials.

The article focuses on working in a cultural institution such as a music library or archives that is providing access to and caring for collections, comprised of local copies of items which may be available to anyone with the budget to acquire them, as well as unique items either created for or deposited in collections.

Medium of performance is a valuable way to find music materials, but it is challenging to search by medium in library catalogs. Songs for specific voice types are especially difficult to look for using legacy metadata such as subject headings. This article describes a project to add terms from Library of Congress Medium of Performance Thesaurus for Music to records for scores for songs with piano in an academic library catalog. Appropriate terms are identified by examining subject headings and uncontrolled fields in the records. Adding these terms can enhance discovery and enables deeper analysis of the collection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of streaming services and decline of analog media have affected academic music libraries in their traditional role as a resource of listening materials. This study examines the listening-source preferences of college-level music students across multiple institutions through a survey in which students compared electronic commercial streaming services and both electronic and analog library multimedia collections to determine the factors that lead to the use of one source over the other. Findings indicate a strong preference for commercial streaming services over library materials, emphasizing the importance of convenience. However, the perceived quality of library materials remains high among participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is one of the "big three" style guides currently in use. The seventh edition was published in October 2019. Since the previous edition was ten years old, the update represents a major revision for those who use and/or teach APA Style. The purpose of this article is to synthesize the major changes in the new edition for instructors of music bibliography courses. An overview of major changes is provided, including those to writing style, language, paper formatting, citation, and more. Both reference list entries for commonly-cited music materials and in-text citation examples are included, as are tips designed for students. Lastly, a set of recommended resources helpful for teaching APA is provided, along with a few possible citation assignments. This article suggests resources for music faculty new to APA Style as well as those who are updating from the sixth edition, specifically those who teach citation as part of a graduate music bibliography course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While popular with music publishers, spiral and comb bindings for music scores are problematic for music libraries for many reasons, especially long-term preservation. While recommendations exist for how libraries should treat these scores, only a few outdated research studies detail actual binding practices. This article summarizes and analyzes findings from a 2018 survey of 50 libraries of various sizes and budgets in the United States and Canada, describing common ways libraries deal with spiral- and comb-bound scores, the main perceived problems with these types of bindings, and the diversity of decision workflows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid evolution of distribution models for recorded music has challenged libraries in a new way over the last decade. Music libraries in particular have struggled to collect, preserve, and lend recordings as the CD has become obsolescent, and with it the ownership of recordings as physical objects. This article reviews the literature on the problem of collecting digital music downloads, analyzes areas of agreement and disagreement between experts, and sorts proposed solutions into "top-down" (or authority-driven) and "bottom-up" (or grass-roots) categories. We then describe a practice developed at University of Denver for collecting downloads, and discuss its limitations and possibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although several studies have looked at the perceived level of copyright knowledge among various types of librarians, none have looked at the actual copyright knowledge of U.S. music librarians. This project used a survey with two parts: The first asked music librarians about their perceived knowledge of copyright law, and the second included a copyright quiz of 13 questions. Seventy nine music librarians completed the entire survey, and results show no clear connection between perceived and actual knowledge of copyright. The results have implications for future training of music librarians in copyright issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2018, the University of Tennessee at Martin sought to expand its music degree programs, leading to the development of a satellite music library on campus. Prior to this time, the music library consisted only of a small, closed-stacks band music collection with no cataloged holdings. Due to the author's background in cataloging and her liaison role to music and fine arts, she used the band library as a foundation for expanding the music library collection. This article will discuss steps taken in the process, which may be of interest to readers for whom music cataloging is a new endeavor. Areas discussed include choice of classification for media, space considerations, funding, and the process of forming partnerships on campus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2016, the music librarian at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, MI launched a project to transcribe approximately 2,000 letters by twentieth-century American composer Blythe Owen into typed, keyword-searchable documents. The goal of the transcription project is to make these letters more accessible beyond their current archival setting, and thereby lay the foundation for further inquiry into Owen, her works, and the people she knew – among them pianist and pedagogue Rudolf Ganz, African-American composer Florence Price, and composition teacher Nadia Boulanger. Managing such a large project has proven challenging, but worth the effort. This article describes the methodology, successes, challenges, and current progress of the Owen letter transcription project, including the employment of two graduate assistants in the transcription process over the past four years. The benefits of involving student assistants in the research process in an archive outweigh the challenges of mentoring and supervising the creation of the transcription documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines music library practices regarding School of Music recordings in the Big Ten Academic Alliance. The most significant difference among libraries is between those which accept deposits (a majority) and those which do not (a significant minority). Reasons for not collecting include having an effective system outside the libraries and the amount of labor involved. Arguments in favor of the service include the view of the recordings as a vital part of the university record and world heritage; a pedagogical resource; a key expansion of library services; a source for fundraising; and a demonstration of disciplinary equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This multi-institutional research study used hourly sweeps and patron surveys to examine patron behavior at three institutional libraries catering primarily to performing arts students. Researchers examined: (a) areas visited, (b) technologies used, (c) types of work, (d) stay duration, and (e) work accomplished alone or together. Study areas were most popular, followed by computer labs. Patrons frequently used print and electronic technologies, often in combination. Patrons frequently worked alone. UMKC's library (within the main library) experienced longer visit length and fewer personal/leisure visits than KSU and ECU's libraries (within performing arts buildings.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Music librarians want to include digital scores in their collections, made available to patrons as digital files or printouts of those files. However, difficulties with the processes of discovery, cataloging and file maintenance can hinder successful collection development of the digital format, when compared to printed scores. Effective management of the workflow and a unified attempt by music libraries to establish best practices for digital scores are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study uses document analysis to explore the description of archival music materials in 35 online finding aids for music collections, including single-level and multilevel finding aids. A group of 29 codes was developed and applied across the sample to determine the characteristics related to music materials that were most frequently described. Findings include "date" as the most frequently described characteristic, with format of materials being the second. Regarding differences between description of sound recordings and notated music, this study also finds that date was more frequently described for notated music and format more frequently for sound recordings [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to share suggestions on how music library staff can create a welcoming and inclusive environment for library users who are transgender or gender fluid. This user population often encounters barriers such as language usage, accommodations, name and pronoun usage, and identity disclosure when using libraries. The focus of this article is on the practical aspects of assisting transgender and gender fluid individuals in instructional settings, during reference transactions, at outreach events, or in mentoring students and student employees. Nine suggestions are given to help library staff build cultural competency and confidence in serving this user population. Although this article is centered on music libraries in academic institutions, many of the suggestions can be transferred to a public library setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines that libraries are impacted by copyright law, but the questions music libraries grapple often be complex due to the nature of their materials and the needs of their user communities. Topics include considered that it replicate the conference experience virtually, as many organizations have Carla Myers and Miami University Libraries instead organized a webinar series on the subject.

Music libraries continue to dedicate money and space to the physical CD, and yet usage of those collections is winding down. This article attempts to draw a holistic picture of the current state of audio recordings with a particular focus on how music recordings are accessed, with the goal of acquiring a better understanding of whether traditional collection development practices still make sense. Through a combined review of music industry reports and several music library user studies, it is revealed that traditional music recording collecting practices do not fulfill user needs and expectations and are at risk for failing to meet institutional needs, as well. Indeed, the current trajectory of today’s music library audio collections is pointing towards a future life as a warehouse of things. The data clearly suggests that a new model for acquisitions and access for music recordings must be developed if music libraries intend to fulfill the basic tasks of providing access and preserving recorded heritage. This article concludes with a few observations of the challenges ahead as libraries realign their collecting policies and methods to meet the needs of today and tomorrow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With all its intricacies and unique set of concerns, film preservation lies at the far end of the library preservation “frontier.” Because of the costs involved and the required expertise, films are often given short shrift in favor of paper-based media as far as conservation is concerned. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of literature on the basics of film preservation in music library settings. This article aims to improve that situation by presenting the history of a medium-scope film preservation project in an academic library environment. Rather than a scholarly essay on the topic, this article navigates through the process of managing such a project by presenting the collection, describing inventory and assessment efforts, talking about the client/vendor relationship, and generally addressing the many challenges faced in leading such an endeavor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes a project designed to improve reference service to music students at a large metropolitan university. When faced with student and faculty complaints that the library and its resources were located too far away from the building where music study takes place, the Performing Arts Librarian took services and research assistance directly into the arts building. Focus is given to the design, implementation, and evaluation of the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which author discusses articles on topics including focuses on disaster planning and management in music libraries and examines it affect women and minorities, especially during the recent epidemic.

Photo elicitation, a form of ethnographic journaling, provided insights into university music and dance student needs in library and campus spaces and services. In this case study, subjects took a photo for each of 20 prompts related to their daily lives as students and performing artists, then discussed their own photos in a one-hour individual interview. Researchers qualitatively analyzed the gathered data. This article reports findings related to discovering and obtaining music and dance works, study spaces and sound levels, forces of habit and the implications for student library use, and library-related findings regarding practice rooms and classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether supporting scholarly or more profit-driven research, librarians need to provide reference services on music business. A variety of sources support this process: music databases to which most music libraries subscribe; business databases to which their institution may already have access; specialized databases aimed at the academic and/or professional markets; free resources on the Web; and print books, directories, and periodicals. Understanding the techniques to make the most of these tools and their limitations will help librarians tackle the toughest music business reference questions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Student and faculty users of the Florida State University music library were asked how they look for and use materials, which formats they value and prefer, and under what circumstances. A majority preferred digital journals and physical scores; print books were more popular than digital, but there was not a majority opinion. Users with conditional preferences were the next largest group. Their explanations for their choices indicate they often value quite different things about print and digital materials, and furthermore that functionality they consider important for one material type may not be important to them in others. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Loanable technology in libraries is not a new phenomenon and libraries have for many years made laptops and other items available to students and faculty for their research and class projects. However, tablets are a newer technology that presents new challenges for libraries wishing to loan them to patrons. This article explores the process by which one music and performing arts library implemented a loanable iPad program. Issues regarding setup, device control and management, applications, marketing, and circulation procedures, policies and problems are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A renovated facility provides a new home for an outsized branch music library and an underutilized language lab in a new partnership on campus. A committee is formed, compromises are made, and the project is realized in less than a year and a half. The timing of the planning and processing, the justification for maintaining a collection of printed scores, the incorporation of language materials, staffing, and shared governance are all discussed to provide a precedent and guidance for future academic mergers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the academic world, research is primarily seen through the scientific approach of collecting and interpreting scientific or numeric data, or the humanistic approach of comparing and interpreting texts. However, in the performing arts fields, academics see themselves on a spectrum between scholar and artist. Artistic scholarly research activities are often driven by the same requirements as humanities research. However, as artists, research often takes the form of listening to or watching performances. In this approach, performances and recordings are research data to these academics. How can libraries support this method of research? What are the implications for data curation in libraries? These and other questions will be explored in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article reports the results of efforts to promote music library resources. Selected new books and CD recordings were promoted using a service desk display. Circulation statistics for those items were compared with other new items that were not promoted. The display proved to be very effective. Two literature databases and two audio databases also were promoted using multiple methods. Usage statistics from the promotion period were then compared with those for the previous two academic years. A slight increase in use was observed for one database, while overall usage declined for the other three. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An interview with Andrew Freris, founder and chairman of the non-government organization Chopin Society of Hong Kong, is presented. He discusses his experience of discovering and rescuing the archive recordings from Servicio Oficial de Difusión Radiotelevisión y Espectáculos (SODRE), an independent institute established in 1929 to organize radio transmissions, and later on expanded to television transmissions, for the purpose of fostering arts and culture in Uruguay.

Classical Guitar Music in Printed Collections is a new, open-access, online index to the contents of published score collections for classical guitar. Its interlinked, alphabetized lists allow one to find a composition by title or composer, to discover what score collections include that piece, to see what other works are included in each collection identified, and to locate a copy in a library collection. Accuracy of identification is guaranteed by incipit images of each work. The article discusses how this index differs from existing bibliographies of the classical guitar literature, its structure and design, and technical details of its publication. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An interview with Matthew Naughtin, Music Librarian at San Francisco Ballet is presented where he describes the unique job responsibilities and career role of the Music Librarian. Topics covered include his music studies at age 11 with violin as his first instrument, his duty of taking care of all the music library functions for the orchestra as the Music Librarian at the San Francisco Ballet and how he prepares for a forthcoming season by first finding out the repertoire for the coming season.

In the library world, the demand for modern catalog systems has long been articulated. The library of the University of Music and Drama Leipzig (Germany) installed a new VuFind-based discovery system, called “MT-Katalog,” in 2012. In this context, we reflected intensely on the demands for and opportunities offered by music discovery. By analyzing, exploring, and enriching the existing metadata, we optimized the ease of use for our patrons. By integrating selected external music resources, we succeeded in extending the search scope in a patron-focused way. For optimizing music discovery any further, more collaborative efforts are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article recounts the collaboration between a music librarian and a music history professor, who worked together to craft a challenging historiography assignment for music majors. We shared two goals: getting the students to perform new and advanced research using sources and techniques previously unknown to them, and teaching them that the reception of a piece or composer changes over time and place. This project and its outcomes may serve as a useful model for integrating research into music history classes, making students aware of how history gets written, and forging a successful collaboration between librarian and professor. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The recently completed Simon Bucharoff Collection at the University of North Texas provides an effective example of how music special collections support the educational mission of the university and facilitate original research. Organizing the Bucharoff Collection has also filled in many gaps in his biographical information, and uncovered a dramatic story of a promising artist frustrated at nearly every turn. This article outlines the collection's provenance and arrangement, offers an updated and expanded biography, and discusses the description of and access to the collection. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Traditional approaches to gathering the data necessary to make informed decisions aimed at improving library services begin with librarians identifying issues they think may be in need of investigation. The ethnographic approach, on the other hand, allows the actions of library patrons to identify the issues of importance to their specific patron population. For this to occur, librarians must become participant observers, carefully recording what patrons do and then using the mixed methods approach to verify the findings. In this study, investigators based the methods they employed on the “sweeps” concept—an observation technique gaining popularity in current-day patron observation studies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article addresses several ways in which music librarians and libraries can assist researchers conducting fieldwork. Using survey responses from field researchers and librarians, I investigate what resources and assistance researchers need to conduct high-quality fieldwork and what librarians have to offer, from electronic tutorials to contacts with experts in a variety of fields. I conclude that music librarians can better serve field researchers by creatively using skills and knowledge we already possess. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The music library and archive literature suggests that ethnomusicological field recordings can have significant value to users not associated with the institution holding the material. This study gathered data from the websites of seventeen United States sound archives in order to determine what levels of physical and intellectual access to field recordings are currently available to different users. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study analyzes circulation trends of physical media materials (CDs, LPs, DVDs, and VHS tapes), as well as usage data of subscription online streaming media databases at the University of Louisville for the ten-year period of 2002–2011. As patron use of the library's subscription online streaming media databases such as Naxos Music Library and Alexander Street Press Classical Music Library has increased each year over the past decade, the circulation of physical media items has decreased significantly during the same time period. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In August 2005, the Maxwell Music Library along with several other collections in Howard-Tilton Memorial Library were submerged under nine feet of water due to Hurricane Katrina. While many print items were restored, the sound recording collection was completely destroyed. This article describes our experiences of rebuilding the sound recording collection in terms of collection evaluation, vendor evaluation, and selection. Our experiences in rapidly building a rigorous, comprehensive collection of sound recordings may provide insights into collection development for other libraries seeking to quickly build a robust sound collection as well as assist librarians new to collection development of sound recordings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Libraries are exploring the use of Quick Response (QR) codes, to market to and connect users with libraries' services. The University of the Pacific has been experimenting with QR codes in an innovative way: to introduce first-year music majors to the physical music library materials via a QR code scavenger hunt. This article discusses the library literature on QR codes and scavenger hunts, as well as the University of the Pacific's QR code scavenger hunt from creation to assessment. Additionally, recommendations are given for designing a similar pedagogical tool at your library. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Library and Archives located in Cleveland, Ohio. Particular attention is given to the library's design, educational aspects, and collections. Details are provided for specific archival collections at the library focusing on record executive Mo Ostin, music journalist Michael Ochs, and papers from manager Art Collins. Also included are interviews with library director Andy Leach and head archivist Jennie Thomas.

Making decisions about gift donations to the library can be overwhelming when you accept your first professional music librarian job. The authors provide insight into their academic institutions and offer practical advice based on personal experience and a review of the literature. The goal is to help newer music librarians explore ideas and documents they can implement at their institutions and to give more experienced librarians an opportunity to revisit their gifts policies and procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study investigates three e-resources supported by the Music Library at the University of Toronto aimed at course integration—Blackboard, Naxos Music Online, and Turnitin.com—with a goal of measuring their usage rate, how effectively they meet instructor needs, and how well the library supports their use. It further highlights efforts made by library staff to facilitate integration of these resources into classroom settings. Through a qualitative and quantitative analysis, this study determines that resource usage has increased for two products and decreased for the third, reinforcing the library's understanding of where its finite resources are best deployed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Chapman University's Performing Arts Librarian Scott Stone presented solo euphonium lectures recitals in February 2010 and March 2011. During these recitals Stone, the present author, briefly talked about what library resources he utilized to obtain scores, sound recordings, and basic reference sources to study each piece in a proper historical context (2010) and basic resources for writing program notes (2011). During the months after the first recital, Stone saw a marked increase in interaction with music students and faculty members as shown by an increase in reference consultations and other informal relations. [Supplementary materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Music Reference Services Quarterly for the following free supplemental resources: a handout from the 2010 recital which provides information on the resources discussed during the program, and a recital program from the 2011 recital which provides information on using music library resources to write program notes] [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Dissertations continue to be useful publications both for the information they present and for the formatting guidance they offer to dissertators in progress. The process of identifying and accessing dissertations has changed as they evolve from print to electronic as their primary format. This article examines the inclusion rates of musicology dissertations in four research tools (Music Index, RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, Doctoral Dissertations in Musicology, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses). It also investigates issues specific to the findability and accessibility of music dissertations as they move to electronic form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the Marian Anderson Collection at the University of Pennsylvania. It presents the biography of Marian Anderson and describes the scope of her collection such as entire music library, collection of sound recordings, and her photographs. The categories of the Marian Anderson Collection include general correspondence, management correspondence, and financial correspondence. An interview with curator Nancy Shawcross, about the collection and her work within it is also included.