Music Cataloging

In Directions in Music Cataloging, ten of the field’s top theoreticians and practitioners address the issues that are affecting the discovery and use of music in libraries today. Anyone who uses music in a library—be it a teacher, researcher, student, or casual amateur—relies on the work of music catalogers, and because these catalogers work with printed and recorded materials in a wide variety of formats, they have driven many innovations in providing access to library materials. As technology continues to transform the discovery and use of music, they are exploring ways to describe and provide access to music resources in a digital age. It is a time of flux in the field of music cataloging, and never has so much change come so quickly. The roots of today’s issues lie in the past, and the first part of the volume opens with two articles by Richard P. Smiraglia that establish the context of modern music cataloging through research conducted in the early 1980s. The second part explores cataloging theory in its current state of transition, and the concluding part looks to the future by considering the application of emerging standards. The volume closes with a remembrance of A. Ralph Papakhian (1948–2010), the most prominent music cataloger of the past thirty years—a figure who initiated many of the developments covered in the volume and who served as a teacher and mentor for all of the contributors.

Discussions are designed to expand the music cataloger's understanding of publishing practices peculiar to sheet music. While much of the content emphasizes the description of the music, there are also sections devoted to subject access to illustrations, first-line/chorus/refrain text, illustrators, engravers, and publishers, and extensive reproductions of title pages from the 18th through mid-20th centuries, accompanied by examples of the cataloging, are also included.

Music Description and Access: Solving the Puzzle of Cataloging is both a textbook for students and a handbook and reference source for practicing catalogers. The bulk of the book is a step-by-step guide to cataloging music materials, with dozens of examples showing images of published scores or audio recordings. Content and encoding are treated separately, using RDA and MARC21. Interspersed in the chapters on practical cataloging are short Historical Asides, essays putting particular devices or conventions into context. These essays supplement a chapter on cataloging history, which follows an introductory chapter that sets the stage for the task at hand. The book ends with a chapter by Maristella Feustle on describing and providing access to music special collections, using both archival and rare-music-cataloging standards. Aids in navigating the book include an index plus multiple lists and tables. A bibliography and a list of cataloging tools that are available online are also given.

Addresses the cataloging of videos and films of multifaceted performances and presentations where music is an important component of the production.

In Cataloging beyond the Notes: Annotating Bibliographic Records for Music Effectively in RDA, authors Ralph Hartsock and Peter Lisius present examples illustrating the effective use of notes in the description of music, and this is especially important with RDA. Since RDA has increased granularity in the description of music, whether in score, recording, video, or data formats, the expert direction offered in Cataloging beyond the Notes makes it a key reference for music cataloging. Bibliographic records are presented using MARC21. An essential resource for practicing music catalogers, Cataloging beyond the Notes begins with a comprehensive introduction, including instructions on how to use the book, and presents examples of the granular data that informs users about specific details. In addition, the examples are augmented by the authors’ commentary, so that the result is expert guidance in a single, highly accessible publication. More than that, navigation to and from the newer RDA format is facilitated by an appendix keyed to specific RDA details. Frequently used and related terms are also covered in a glossary specific to this volume. Taken as a whole, Cataloging beyond the Notes belongs in every music library and on each cataloger’s desk.

A retrospective bibliography of the literature of the bibliographic control of music in libraries with author, title, and topical indexes. A bibliographic review essay setting the historical and philosophical context is included.

Recent changes in both cataloging rules (AACR2) and MARC coding standards (MARC21) mean that for catalogers to create or edit records effectively, they need new up-to-date guidance. In a unique one-stop guide, cataloging expert Fritz provides the hands-on cross-references between AACR2 and MARC21 required for easy online cataloging. The 2006 Cumulation brings the second edition up-to-date with the inclusion of the 2004, 2005, and 2006 updates. Designed to streamline the process and avoid errors, the book is organized in order of MARC tags. Following this step-by-step guide, users can: Identify the rules that govern each MARC field Match resources to records Edit records Create new records easily Clone records for different editions Make individual MARC records "play well" with others in the database. Beginning catalogers can use this guide to create simple records while experienced catalogers will be able to identify specific rules. Fritz also helps copy catalogers pick better matching records, and systems librarians understand the content of records at the core of their collections. Providing clear, practical, easy-to-use guidance, this authoritative reference is the premier resource for students and instructors as a basis for creating and editing consistently good MARC records. Available in loose-leaf format to fit in a standard 3-ring binder.

Cataloging Collaborations and Partnerships provides the reader with many examples of successful methods in which libraries have collaborated with each other to achieve common goals. Addressing a variety of cataloging and managerial challenges in national, public, academic, and international libraries and other organizations, it will be enlightening to readers who are investigating new ways of meeting their patrons’ needs. The collaborative efforts described in this book fall into a number of broad categories: cooperative cataloging and authority initiatives, cataloging partnerships, merging and migrating online catalogs, development of training and documentation, and collaborative approaches to special projects. Included are four chapters that address collaborative projects in Europe, the West Indies, the Galapagos Islands, and South Sudan. Catalogers, managers and administrators will find inspiration in these important, and in some cases, historic collaborations. They will understand how collaborations and partnerships in cataloging will help them achieve more by sharing resources and expertise, sharing the burden of new projects and initiatives, and fostering innovation and new ways of thinking. This book was published as a triple special issue of Cataloging and Classification Quarterly.