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No. 135 November–December 2003 ISSN 0580-289-X

N E W S L E T T E R

Washington, D.C. Convention and Tourism Corporation (WCTC)

Experience Washington D.C.

Laura Dankner, MLA President

Greetings from the West Coast, East Coast and Swamp Coast

As I write this, I’ve just returnedfrom the fall Board meeting in

Davis, California, and am writing upmy post-Board-meeting “To-Do” listshere in New Orleans as I prepare fora quick trip up north to my belovedBerkshires and a very brief taste of“real” fall—the kind with maple treesand crisp Macintosh apples.

Even though I’m writing to youin autumn, the upcoming annualmeeting at the Crystal GatewayMarriott (suburban Virginia, literally asubway stop or two from Washing-ton D.C.) is very much on my mind.Please come!

I know that this is a time of frus-tration for many of us: lack of fund-ing for our libraries, lack of fundingfor travel, lack of personal fundingfor those of us not in traditional jobs.Believe me, I fit into the latter cate-gory myself these days.

But attending an MLA meeting isso very important, for a myriad ofpersonal and professional reasons,that I really hope that you will beable to join us, even if it is a stretchfinancially. You will find colleagueseager to share strategies in hardtimes, glad to extend a welcome tonewcomers, delighted to see oldfriends, eager and willing to carry onthe business of this venerable profes-sional organization. . . . The list couldgo on and on. Be there, and sharewith us.

Of course there are so manyprogram highlights (as well as awonderful continuing educationworkshop) that I won’t go into de-tails here. But I do look forward toseeing many of you on Friday morn-ing following the first plenary ses-sion, at the first (annual?) Coffee with the President. Although I don’tknow that latte or cappuccino will

be on themenu (ourconventionmanagersare pretty strict about cost contain-ment!), this will be my chance to sayan informal hello to anyone whomay be stopping by the MLA exhibitand shop table. It’s really my chanceto thank you all for your support ofMLA as much as it is your chance totell me—albeit briefly—what youlike, what you don’t, and how you’dchange it!

Another innovation at the up-coming annual meeting involves theincredibly jammed schedule of meet-ings and the lack of time for folks toeither meet informally or just relaxand have a nice peaceful evening atleisure. The Board discussed thisduring our Davis meeting, and de-cided that there would not be a Presi-dent’s reception this year, providingsome additional free time duringthese hectic few days. However, wealso felt strongly that all memberswho come to our annual meetingshould be thanked for their dedica-tion to our organization. In honor ofyou all, I’m delighted to report thatthe funding formerly allocated to thePresident’s reception will insteadhelp defray the costs of our Saturdayevening banquet—the party for all ofus! Join me there for a Valentine’sevening toast: my love letter to all ofyou for all you do for MLA.

If you’d like to know moreabout Board decisions at our fallmeeting, please check the draft webminutes that are loaded on the website. And come to the business meet-ing in February for late-breakingnews as well.

Looking forward to seeing yousoon,

Laura

PS: Don’t forget to vote in the MLAelection!

2 M L A Newsletter • No.135

President’s Report MUSIC LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONBOARD OF DIRECTORS

Officers

LAURA DANKNER, PresidentEmeritus, Loyola University, New Orleans

JAMES P. CASSARO, Past PresidentUniversity of Pittsburgh

NANCY NUZZO,Treasurer/Executive SecretaryState University of New York, Buffalo

MICHAEL COLBY, Recording SecretaryUniversity of California, Davis

Members-at-Large 2002–2004

JOSEPH BOONINNew York Public Library/Performing Arts (ret.)

VIRGINIA DANIELSONHarvard University

ALAN GREENOhio State University

Members-at-Large 2003–2005

PAULINE BAYNEUniversity of Tennessee

RICHARD LESEURAnn Arbor District Library

RENÉE MCBRIDEUniversity of California at Los Angeles

Typeset by A-R Editions, Middleton, WI.

MLA NEWSLETTERStephen Mantz, Editor

The Newsletter is published four times a year:September–October, November–December, March–April, and May–June, by the Music Library Association,c/o A-R Editions, Inc.; 8551 Research Way, Suite 180;Middleton, WI 53562, and is issued to its membersfree of charge.

The purpose of the Newsletter is to keep themembership of the Association abreast of events,ideas, and trends related to music librarianship. Allcommunications and articles are welcome. Addresscorrespondence to:

Stephen MantzMusic Librarian

Davidson CollegeP.O. Box 7200

Davidson, NC [email protected]

The deadline for submitting copy to the editor for is-sue number 136 (March–April 2004) is March 1, 2004.Submissions in Microsoft Word sent via email attach-ment are preferred, but paper copy (double spaced)via USPS accompanied by 3.5� disk is acceptable.

Catherine Dixon and Jane Edmister Penner,Local Arrangements Co-Chairs

The Atlantic Chapter of MLA cor-dially invites you to the nation’s

capital for the 73rd Annual Meeting,February 9–15, 2004. Founded in1790, Washington, D.C. was de-signed by Major Pierre CharlesL’Enfant around 1791. The District ofColumbia is 67 square miles and isdivided into four quadrants: North-west, Southwest, Northeast, andSoutheast. The U.S. Capitol buildingmarks the center where the quad-rants meet. Washington is a great cityfor visitors because it has placeswhere our nation’s history was made,and others where history is madeevery day. Our muse-ums are first-rate (andmany are free), ourscenery is astonishing,and our monumentsare beyond compare.

The conferencehotel, the Crystal Gate-way Marriott in Arling-ton, Virginia, is conveniently locatedat the Crystal City Metrorail stop, onestop from Reagan National Airport.The rooms offer high-speed Internetaccess, in-room coffee makers andcomplimentary weekday newspa-pers. Both non-smoking and ADA-accessible rooms are available.Exercise facilities include a swim-ming pool, whirlpool and sauna, astate-of-the-art health club, andnearby jogging paths. The hotel isconnected via underground walk-ways to Crystal City Shops, a galleriaof over 150 specialty shops, cafesand restaurants.

Transportation between the hoteland the District is safe, quick andeconomical. Metrorail, the subwaysystem serving Washington, D.C.,

Maryland and Virginia begins serviceat 5:30 a.m. weekdays and 7:00 a.m.weekends, and closes at midnightSunday to Thursday. On Friday andSaturday nights, it stays open until3:00 a.m. Fares range from $1.20 to$3.60, depending on the distancetraveled. You can plan your metrotrip with “The RideGuide” athttp://rideguide.wmata.com.

While in D.C. you can visit themagnificent Capitol Building andWashington Monument, marvel at the Lincoln Memorial and see theDeclaration of Independence at theNational Archives. The District ofColumbia’s neighborhoods, people,history, and culture truly representthe American experience—fromDuke Ellington to John Phillip Sousa

and from the Civil Warto civil rights. Easternmarket, a gathering offood vendors and arti-sans, was built as partof a larger, city-widepublic market system toprovide an orderly sup-ply of goods to urban

residents, and has served as a centerof activity in the revitalization of theCapitol Hill area, making it onceagain a “town center.” The DupontCircle neighborhood catered to thewealthy and social elite of the 19th

century. Huge mansions, many ofwhich have been converted to embassies, accentuate the tree-linedstreets of Massachusetts Avenue.Dupont Circle is now a sought afterarea known for its gourmet markets,restaurants, sidewalk cafes, privategalleries, and urban lifestyles. TheAdams Morgan neighborhood is ablend of multi-ethnic cultures thatcombine their foods and crafts toproduce at least 40 different tastesfrom around the world. TheKennedy Center for the Performing

Arts overlooks the Potomac Riverand is the focal point of the FoggyBottom neighborhood with its bricksidewalks and historic houses. Thisunusual name describes the mist andfog from the Potomac River. TheConvention Center/MCI Arena areaincludes the historic Chinatown dis-trict. Situated between Capitol Hilland the White House, this businesshub is overflowing with new shops,restaurants, nightclubs, and galleriesto accommodate the demand gener-ated by the new Convention Center.

The Local Arrangements Com-mittee has arranged for a variety oftours on Tuesday and Wednesday,including the Library of Congress,the Clarice Smith Performing ArtsCenter at Maryland, and the Smith-sonian Folkways Offices. In addition,an Organ Crawl organized by theOrgan Music Roundtable will be of-fered. At the Library of Congress wewill see “all things music,” includingthe Flute Collection, the PerformingArts Reading Room, the ConservationDivision and the Recorded SoundReference Center. Check the registra-tion mailing for details.

Musical events during the con-ference include a performance ofmusic from Mali by “the griot of DC”Cheick Hamala Diabate, accompa-nied by percussionist Bruce Penner.“The President’s Own” United States

continued on next page

M L A Newsletter • No.135 3

Cover Story

A Variety of Events Await in Washington, D.C.

Contents:President’s Report . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Cover Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3How Things Work . . . . . . . . . . . 6Committee Reports . . . . . . . . . . . 7Chapter Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8New Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Washington D.C.:where our nation’s history was made,and where historyis made every day

continued from previous pageMarine Band Chamber Ensemble willopen the first plenary session with amusical prelude. The Coolidge Audi-torium in the Thomas JeffersonBuilding of the Library of Congresswill be the site of this year’s LocalArrangements Concert at 7:30 p.m.on Thursday, February 12. In a com-mand performance for MLA mem-bers, the Ensemble da Camera ofWashington—Anna Balakerskaia, pi-ano; Claire Eichhorn, clarinet; andRicardo Cyncynates, violin—will pre-sent a program of works from thespecial collections of the Music Divi-sion of the Library of Congress, in-cluding Carl Maria von Weber’sGrand duo concertante, Amy Beach’sSonata for Violin and Piano, andNed Rorem’s The End of Summer.Attendees who sign up for the con-cert will receive Metrorail cards intheir registration packets for round-trip transportation between theCrystal City and Capitol South Metro

stops. Following the banquet onSaturday, February 14, Armand Ntep& The Afro-Jazz Explosion will enter-tain us. Originally from Cameroon,vocalist and composer Armand Ntephas been impressing audiences on three continents for 15 years.Blending jazz, Afro-Cuban, andAfrican influences, The Afro-JazzExplosion has made its mark on theD.C. jazz scene and performs regu-larly at Twins Jazz on U Street.

A wide variety of entertainmentoptions await MLA attendees whowant to check out the sights andsounds of the city. The NationalSymphony Orchestra with the ChoralArts Society of Washington, con-ducted by Leonard Slatkin, will per-form Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 inthe Concert Hall of the KennedyCenter, Thursday–Saturday, February12–14 at 8:00 p.m. The MillenniumStage, located in the Kennedy Center’sGrand Foyer, offers free concertsevery day at 6:00 p.m. As part of the

“Concerts from the Library of Con-gress” series, for which tickets are required, the Díaz Trio with LuzManríquez, piano, will perform worksby Ysaÿe, Beethoven, and Sierra(world premiere of Kandinsky) onFriday, February 13 at 8:00 p.m. inthe Coolidge Auditorium, Library ofCongress. The Artemis String Quartetwill perform works by Janácek,Piazzolla, and Bartok on Friday,February 13, 2004 at 8:00 p.m. in theJoseph and Alma Gildenhorn RecitalHall, Clarice Smith Performing ArtsCenter at Maryland. The Local Ar-rangements website at http://www.lib.jmu.edu/org/mla2004/ will in-clude updated information aboutevents going on at local music clubs,in addition to a restaurant list andother tourist attractions.

All of us in the Atlantic Chapterlook forward to welcoming you to the D.C. metropolitan area inFebruary 2004.


Cover Story

Rick McRae, Program Chair

This year, MLA’s 73rd AnnualMeeting program offers another vastassortment of presentations, work-shops, discussions, tours, poster ses-sions, working groups, and perform-ances, as we have come to expectover the years. The plenary sessionsfocus on two of the strongest aspectsof the nation’s capital: the enormityof treasures housed in the area’s li-braries and institutions, and the cen-ter of national legislature and poli-tics. A rousing prelude from a U.S.military ensemble will kick off thefirst plenary session: “Music at the

Library of Congress.” Diane NesterKresh introduces us to the three pre-senters and their topics: Peggy A.Bulger will speak on The AmericanFolklife Center Archive, which shedirects; Gregory Lukow of theMotion Picture, Broadcasting, andRecorded Sound Division of LC introduces the National Audio-VisualConservation Center; and the Chiefof the LC Music Division, JonNewsom, along with Karen Lund,will discuss the “I Hear AmericaSinging” project. The second plenarysession, “Librarians Lobbying CapitolHill,” moderated by Gordon Theil,will highlight the importance of po-litical involvement. The three speak-

ers to guide us are: Mary Alice Baishof Georgetown University, KayGuinane from OBM-Watch (Office ofBudget and Management-Watch) andPatrice McDermott, of the ALAWashington Office.

Prior to the meeting, the Con-tinuing Education Workshop will fo-cus on Library of Congress subjectheadings, with two sessions to be of-fered: one at the Library of Congresson Wednesday and a second at theconference hotel on Sunday. Con-sider applying early for this, as itshould prove to be very popular.The Best of Chapter session offerspresentations on Ernst Bacon (given


A Variety of Events . . .

MLA Sessions Go to Washington

Jim CassaroMLA Past President

At our annual meeting in Austin,the first of a series of town meetingsfocused on strategic planning issueswas held. This session, moderated byMichael Rogan, was devoted to theannual meeting program, and wasdesigned to address solutions to ourovercrowded meeting schedule.While the MLA Board is acting uponsome of the recommendations of

Michael’s work on this issue, strate-gic planning on other topics contin-ues. Indeed, at our upcoming meet-ing in Crystal City, Virginia, anothertown meeting will be held to addresslong-range financial planning for theAssociation. This session, entitled“Strategic Planning II: FinancialIssues,” is scheduled for Saturday,February 14, 2004 from 11:00 a.m. to12:30 p.m.

The discussion of long-range fi-nancial planning began at the Octo-ber 2002 MLA Board of Directorsmeeting in Columbus, Ohio, wherethose involved prepared a templateof issues that needed to be ad-dressed. This template was sharedwith MLA committee chairs, specialofficers and editors, as well as long-time members of the organization. Aspecial session held in the Presi-dent’s Suite in Austin allowed thissegment of our membership to addto the template, and to provide im-portant input into this issue. Now itis the larger membership’s turn toadd their ideas, expertise, and valu-able comments to the mix.

At the town meeting in CrystalCity, the basic tenet of our discus-

sions will be that strategic planningproduces positive results, and shouldremain a focus of the Association’sefforts. Further, one proviso must bestated: many of the issues discusseddo not, on the surface, seem to relatedirectly to financial planning. We willaddress several questions, amongthem:

1) What is the best organiza-tional structure to reflect our profes-sion in the 21st century?

2) How do we increase ourmembership numbers in an era ofeconomic insecurity?

3) How can we use current andfuture technology for financial gain?

4) What is the optimal adminis-trative structure for our Board ofDirectors?

5) How do we construct a long-range development plan for theAssociation?

So put on your thinking caps,come with an open mind, and let theAssociation benefit from yourthoughts, comments and constructivecriticisms. I do hope that all of youwill attend this important session atour upcoming meeting.


Cover Story

continued from previous pageby G. Dale Vargason) and the JohnAddison Collection at the BrighamYoung University Film Archives (pre-sented by Janet Bradford). The MLAtown meeting will continue to dis-cuss strategic planning, this time onfinancial matters. Questions beforethe floor will include organizationalstructuring to reflect our professionin the 21st century, increasing mem-bership numbers in economically in-secure times, using current technol-ogy for financial gain, managementstructuring for the MLA Board ofDirectors, and constructing a long-range development plan. The othersessions will again highlight elec-tronic reference products and ser-vices, collections, bibliography, andother topics of interest to public andtechnical service music librarians.And of course, please don’t neglectto share a coffee break with ourPresident following the first plenarysession.

We look forward to seeing youinside the Beltway in February, for astar-spangled bonanza of interestingand exciting program events.

MLA Sessions . . .

Strategic Financial Planning Session To Be Held in Crystal City

Writers Needed!

Are you attending the MLA annual meeting in Washington D.C.? Areyou yearning to see your name in print in the MLA Newsletter ? Then youare in luck! We are looking for individuals to write reports on programsessions for the newsletter. If you are interested in volunteering, pleasecontact Steve Mantz ([email protected]), the newsletter editor.

And if you are bringing a camera to the meeting, please considersharing your photos! We are always looking for pictures to include inthe newsletter: pictures of the annual meeting, of chapter meetings, orof an important event at your music library.

By Thomas H. Pease

In public radio, they are calleddriveway moments. That news seg-ment or that piece of music thatkeeps you transfixed in your car un-til it is over. Radio has long been asource of discovery for both musiclovers and musicians. Perhaps it wasa performance of “A German Re-quiem” that caught your attention, orthat thirty-second snippet of theBulgarian women’s choir you heardafter a news feature on All ThingsConsidered.

Hundreds of people each daymake calls, inquiring about selectionsthey heard on public radio. Manycontact the radio stations themselves,while others bring questions to theirlocal libraries. In the latter case, it isuseful for the reference librarian tounderstand how public radio stationswork, what is on the schedule, andhow to find information on what hasbeen played. This article will focuson deciphering the code of publicradio, understanding where that in-formation resides, and knowing withwhom to make contact. It is not aguide to obtaining rare and out-of-print recordings, and it does not ad-dress stations that are based outsidethe United States or those not desig-nated as public broadcasters.

What is on Public Radio?Noncommercial radio’s influence

in the United States spans the historyof the medium itself. Many radio sta-tions were started in the 1920s aslow-powered “educational” broad-casters based at colleges and univer-sities. With the passage of the PublicBroadcasting Act of 1967, a private,non-profit organization called Na-tional Public Radio was founded to “provide leadership in national

newsgathering and production andto provide the first permanent na-tionwide interconnection of non-commercial stations.” It became anassociation to which public radio sta-tions belong. Member stations pay asubscription fee and buy programsto fill their schedules. National PublicRadio (NPR) itself does not own oroperate a single station. It providesprogramming to stations throughoutthe country and abroad; in otherwords, it is a distributor.

Aside from local talent, publicradio stations draw on many sourceswhen creating their program schedules.These include: 1) non-commercialnetwork distributors, such as theBBC, CBC, PRI and NPR; 2) commer-cial distributors (such as WFMT inChicago and WCLV in Cleveland)and individual stations that inde-pendently market their own content(such as New York’s WNYC andWGBH in Boston). Many creators ofindividual shows or stand-alone con-certs often reach distribution agree-ments with other organizations. Forexample, a standard radio announce-ment on a Minnesota Orchestra broad-cast concert might read, “Tonight’sbroadcast was produced by Minne-sota Public Radio and distributed byPublic Radio International.”

Station schedules often include amix of local and national programs.Knowing the source from which ashow was created and/or distributedis helpful in finding its daily content.Nationally distributed programs oftenpost their playlists on their individualwebsites. Some programs, especiallynews and talk shows, include tran-scripts and archived audio. Many sta-tions also post their own locally-hosted music playlists online and/orallow one to stream the broadcastover the Internet.

The Public Radio Station in yourCommunity, Region, and State

It is helpful not only to know onwhich frequency your public radiostation is carried, but also the radiuswithin which you can hear the sta-tion. Public radio serves listeners inall fifty states of the United Statesand globally through the Internetand satellite radio. The radio fre-quency that is playing Car Talk inDetroit might be blasting hip-hop in Lansing. If a station is an NPR affiliate, you can search for whichstations serve your community athttp://www.npr.org/stations.

Many stations have repeater fre-quencies that retransmit the primarystation’s audio signal. This allowsgreater geographical coverage with-out increasing the station’s wattage,and also serves areas that are geo-graphically hindered from receivinga signal. These repeater frequenciesoften have different call numbersand/or letters.

Some radio stations have ac-quired enough frequencies to qualifyas a network serving an entire stateor a multi-state area (even over twotime zones), serving several citiesand communities with overlappingradio signals.

Nationally Syndicated ProgramsWhen a station programs a show

such as Fresh Air with Terry Gross orAdventures in Good Music with KarlHaas, it receives a copy of the pro-gram either as a satellite transmissionor as an audio recording such as aCD or DAT. Not every station plays a certain show at a certain time (oreven carries that show)—that is at thediscretion of the station’s program director. The program needs only be aired within a certain broadcast

continued on page 9


How Things Work

Finding the Music Heard on Public Radio

Liaison Activities:Canadian Association

of Music Libraries Lisa Rae PhilpottMusic Library, The University of Western OntarioMLA’s “CAML Liaison”

This year’s CAML conference washeld May 28–31, 2003 at DalhousieUniversity (Halifax, Nova Scotia) inconjunction with the Canadian Uni-versity Music Society, under the aus-pices of the Humanities and SocialSciences Federation of Canada. ForCAML’s purposes, this arrangementallows us (as an organization ofsome 100 members) to not only ‘pig-gyback’ onto the CUMS membership(thereby receiving HSSFC conferencediscounts), but also to attend CUMSsessions and raise our profile withmusic faculty. Given that CAML iscomprised of a small group of dedi-cated individuals, it is difficult to takeadvantage of the opportunities of at-tending concurrent CUMS sessions,while still showing support for one’scolleagues at the CAML sessions. (Ofcourse, one experiences similar diffi-culties at MLA conferences, but on aMUCH larger scale!)

Despite a preponderance ofcool, foggy weather, CAML-ites werewarmly-received in Halifax: theDalhousie University Faculty Concertfeatured Lynn Stodola (piano),Marcia Swanson (mezzo-soprano)and Megan Bain (viola and newalumna) in a program of works by Berg, Hindemith, Debussy andChausson. An opening reception fol-lowed the concert, offering opportu-nities to both renew old acquain-tances and to meet new colleagues.A mid-day performance by MotionEnsemble (New Brunswick, Canada)members Helen Pridmore (soprano)

and Andrew R. Miller (bass) was butone of several mini-concerts avail-able to attendees.

Peter Higham (Mt. Allison U.) assembled a wide-ranging programfeaturing sessions on CanadianArchival Jazz Collections, CollectionDevelopment and Popular Music,Regional Collections, and OngoingProjects (RILM and the NationalLibrary of Canada’s “Virtual Gramo-phone”), to name but a few. JenniferBain (Dalhousie U.) and her staffprovided superb local arrangements,with a tour of Dalhousie’s KillamLibrary and a banquet at the LordNelson Hotel in downtown Halifax.This year’s concert featured two fas-cinating sessions: an invited lecture(rather, this was performance art!)presented by Canadian composerJohn Rea, “Postmodernity: <<que meveux-tu>>/‘what do you want ofme’ ”(CUMS); and a keynote address,“Classical Music in Iraq,” given byMLA’s Virginia Danielson (Harvard).[A more extensive report may befound in the CAML Review (August2003), 31/2, 6–22.]

Next year, CAML will again bemeeting with CUMS (independent ofthe HSSFC organization) at the Uni-versity of Lethbridge (Alberta), May13–16. In 2005, we look forward tomeeting with MLA, in Vancouver, BC.


Committee Reports

MLA WANTS YOU to attend the annualmeeting, proclaims Past PresidentJim Cassaro. (photo: Carl Rahkonen)

Best of Chapter WinnersThe Best of Chapter Committee is pleased to announce the two winners of thisyear’s competition, who will be presenting at the Best of Chapter session at the MLA meeting in February:

G. Dale Vargason, Cataloging Librarian, Eastman School of Music“Ernst Bacon at Syracuse University: An Exploration of his Life andArchive”

Originally delivered at the NYSO chapter annual meeting, Syracuse, New York,October 13, 2001.

Janet Bradford, Music Librarian, Brigham Young University“An Introduction to the John Addison Collection: A Neglected Gem inthe BYU Film Music Archives’ Crown Jewels”

Originally delivered at the Mountain-Plains chapter annual meeting, Lincoln,Nebraska, May 16, 2003.

We would like to thank chapters and chapter chairs for participating, and we lookforward to seeing MLA members at this session next February to enjoy and learnfrom the presentations.

Jane Subramanian,Best of Chapter Chair


Chapter Reports

AtlanticCarl RahkonenIndiana University of Pennsylvania

The Atlantic Chapter held its an-nual meeting on a blustery but color-ful autumn weekend October 17–18,2003 at The Pennsylvania State Uni-versity in State College. The openingsession met in the newly renovatedFoster Auditorium of the PatteeLibrary. The first presentation, byCarl Rahkonen, explored the tradi-tional music of Western Pennsylvaniaas found in the Samuel P. BayardCollection at Penn State. Bayard wasa distinguished Professor of Com-parative Literature whose lifelongwork was the collection of folk mu-sic and folk songs, especially fromWestern Pennsylvania and NorthernWest Virginia. Between 1948 and1963, he recorded some 68 inform-ants on 31 reels of tape. These fieldrecordings, together with his otherresearch materials, are in the Special

Collections Department of the PennState Libraries. Bayard’s collectionalso contains more than two hundredpublished tune books, most datingfrom the nineteenth century, butmany from the eighteenth century.

The second presentation givenby Barry Kernfeld, editor of The NewGrove Dictionary of Jazz (2002;1988), was entitled, “Napster in the1930s: Bootlegging Song Sheets.” Histalk surveyed the forgotten story ofbootleg song sheets (initially, news-paper-sized sheets of pop-song lyrics,from the mid-1930s song-lyric maga-zines). The bootleg sheets, whichemerged in 1929, elicited an hysteri-cal response from the music indus-try, which fought vigorously forroughly a decade, using every legalploy available, before discovering,extremely reluctantly and somewhatinadvertently, that assimilation was amuch more successful policy thanprohibition.

We then had a wonderful recep-tion in the Mann Assembly Room of the Paterno Library, with hors

d’oeuvres sponsored by NancyEaton, Dean of the Penn State Li-braries, and wine provided by LauraProbst, Head of Public Services. TheSpecial Collections Department dis-played a recently acquired collectionof 18th century dance books. Someold time fiddlers from Pennsylvania,who had come to our meeting tolearn more about the Bayard Col-lection, provided impromptu musicfor the reception.

Saturday morning began with acatered continental breakfast in theMann Assembly Room. We were thenfavored to hear from Peter Kiefer, cu-rator of the Penn State Fred WaringCollection, known as Fred Waring’sAmerica. He presented us with thehistorical background and signifi-cance of Waring’s life and career. Wethen enjoyed a tour of Fred Waring’sAmerica, a special facility that con-tains Waring’s entire music library of 6500 titles, including scores and instrumental/choral parts; more than10,000 recordings on disc, wire, tape,kinescopes, and videotape; twentythousand photographs and slides;scrap books with 7600 pages of clip-pings; and his business and personalcorrespondence. The most visiblepart of Fred Waring’s America con-sists of historical memorabilia, in-cluding Tom Waring’s piano, hun-dreds of pieces of cartoon art, thefamous “cartoon tables” from thelounge room at Shawnee Inn, and ofcourse, Waring blenders.

We concluded with our annualbusiness meeting. The chapter is in-volved with various kinds of out-reach: funding travel grants for newmembers to attend our annual meet-ing and the national MLA meetingwe are going to host in Arlington,Virginia on February 9–15, 2004. Weare also making presentations onmusic librarianship to library schoolsand library associations within ourchapter. We held elections this year


Need a Roommate?

Do you need a roommate for the Washington D.C. meeting? Use the roommate clearinghouse! Contact Jane Nowakowski by email([email protected]), by phone at work (609-921-7100, x8305) or byfax at work (609-497-0243) to provide the following information:

• your name • how you can be reached • dates for which you need a roommate

Additionally, provide any information that is important to you, such asany, all, or none of the following:

• you are a smoker/non-smoker and prefer/need to room with thesame

• you are willing to consider a triple (or not) • you cannot share with someone who snores, wears perfume, etc.

In return, you will receive a list of others who are also seeking room-mates from which you can make your own arrangements. No onechooses a roommate for you.

continued from previous pageand Steve Landstreet (Free Library ofPhiladelphia) was elected as ViceChair/Chair Elect. Mary Prendergast(University of Virginia) was re-electedto another two-year term as Secretary/Treasurer. Our 2004 annual meetingwill be held at West Virginia Univer-sity in Morgantown. We have acceptedan invitation for our 2005 chaptermeeting to be held at the PeabodyConservatory of Music in Baltimore.

MidwestRichard LeSueurAnn Arbor District Library

The annual meeting of theMidwest Chapter of the Music LibraryAssociation was held in Iowa City,Iowa on October 16–18, 2003. Therewere over 60 members present, in-cluding 12 student members. Com-mittee meetings were held on the afternoon of October 16.

That evening, the first full ses-sion of the meeting featured twospeakers. Sid Huttner, Special Collec-tions Librarian at the University ofIowa, discussed “Traveling Culture:Circuit Chautauqua in the 20th

Century; an American MemoryDigital Project.” This was followedby Timothy Shipe, Archivist of theDada Archives, University of Iowa,speaking on “The International DadaArchives at the University of Iowa.On Friday morning Kathryn Deiss of the Chicago Library System, re-turning from last year’s meeting, presented a lively session, “Change,Chaos, and Human Nature: How toEngage in Change Artfully and Suc-cessfully.” This was followed by E. Michael Harrington of the Collegeof Music Business, Belmont Univer-sity, on “Intellectual Property Rights:Current Issues and Litigation.” Mr.Harrington provided many wonder-ful examples to illustrate the differ-

ences between copyright infringe-ment and parody. The afternoon ses-sion featured Lisa Hinchliffe, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign speaking on “Informa-tion literacy and active learning.”After this session we all piled intobuses for a trip to the Amana colonieswhere we shopped and then ate awonderful meal.

Saturday morning featuredEsther Gillie of the University ofIllinois, Urbana-Champaign speakingfirst on “Knowing the Score: Assess-ment of Preservation Needs andUsage Patterns of the Score Collec-tion at UIUC Music Library,” fol-lowed by “Sound Carriers: History,Handling and Hopes for the Future.”This brought the meeting to a suc-cessful conclusion. Fuller accounts ofthe meeting will be found in the nextissue of the Midwest Notebook.

At the business meeting RobertDelvin, Illinois Wesleyan University,rose to Chair of the Midwest Chapterand Richard LeSueur, Ann ArborDistrict Library, became Past-chair ofthe Midwest Chapter. Michael J.Duffy IV, Northern Illinois University,

was elected Secretary/Treasurer ofthe Midwest Chapter. Thanks wereextended to Robert Delvin, AllieGoudy, Don Widmer and RuthannMcTyre for their work on the Pro-gram Committee and to RuthannMcTyre and Grace Fitzgerald as LocalArrangements Committee. The nextchapter meeting will be held in St.Louis in October, 2004.


Chapter Reports

coninued from page 6window. For that reason, Perfor-mance Today, which was originallyconceived as a morning show, isnow played frequently in theevenings. The more information youcan gather on the contents of theshow, when and on what station itwas heard, and the name of the pro-gram, the better.

Who are the People in yourNeighborhood?

Most radio stations operate withminimal thought towards the perpe-tuity of information. Their own

records and information storage andaccess systems have not historicallyhandled detailed program informa-tion, outside of keeping programlogs available for public inspection.Only with the advent of printed pro-gram guides and the Internet hasthere been an opportunity to exactthis level of detail.

When calling a radio station, youmight find yourself transferred re-peatedly until you reach the appro-priate person; often, receiving an-swers to questions is a result ofserendipity: finding the right person



Outgoing chair Richard LeSueurpassing the MWMLA Corkscrew on to incoming chair Bob Delvin (photo:Rebecca Littman).

continued from previous pageon the right day, remembering theright piece of information. Here aresome preliminary steps one shouldtake before calling a radio station, tomaximize both parties’ time and toeliminate guessing games:

1) Access the station’s web-site. Look at their program scheduleand music listings (if available). Theymight not be updated until as muchas a week after the program airs.Check back frequently and bookmarkthe site on your Internet browser.

2) Be sure to ask which sta-tion the patron was listening to.In the Metro Washington area alone,there are two classical stations (com-mercial and public), one mixed for-mat (classical/news), one news/information station, and C-SPAN radio—most of which reside on theleft-hand side of the FM spectrum. Inmy experience some callers givevague answers, such as “NPR” or“the station with Diane Rehm,” whileothers maintain that they neverchange their dial from their localpublic radio station. While those in

the public broadcasting industry ap-preciate this show of loyalty, it doesnot help them answer your questions.

3) Ask what was airing at thetime the patron said they were listen-ing. If it was a short piece (thirty sec-onds to a minute), ask what featurestories they heard before or after themusic segment. If there is a similarpiece in another hour or day, ask ifthey could have been listening then.If it was part of a nationally syndi-cated program, check that show’swebsite. Print out a copy of your lo-cal public radio station’s programschedules for quick reference.

4) If the work in question wasfrom a few years ago, try to get asmany details as possible about theperformers, composer, and title. Tryto ascertain if the work was part of aconcert or part of locally-hosted mu-sic. If your station records local con-certs, it is possible that they couldfind the piece; but it is usually thecase that orchestra concerts are takenfrom satellite feeds which are“recorded over” after they have beenaired. You would then want to go to

the producing station to find infor-mation on the concert. If it was localand broadcast years ago, ask aroundto see who in the organization wasthere at that time and keep that per-son’s information for future refer-ence, because they likely serve astheir organization’s primary institu-tional memory.

It is not yet the case that everybroadcaster’s schedule is publicly ac-cessible on the Web. As stations’websites have developed, there hasbeen a push for providing additionalcontent for users. What has come tobe recognized, however, is that pub-lic radio listeners use their station’swebsite to complement their on-airexperience: to find the contents of anews feature (or listen to it again) orto locate the piece of music that wasplaying during their evening com-mute. It is just as important, though,to know the humans who undertakethe enterprise of broadcasting.

Your first station contact is usu-ally an administrative assistant or amember of an audience services



How Things Work


The following recently joined MLA for the first time. Wewelcome them!

James M. Alberts, Cornell UniversityPatricia K. Baughman, Library of CongressAndrea L. Beckendorf, Luther CollegeChristine D. de Catanzaro, Georgia State UniversityPamela Lee Enrici, University of Minnesota DuluthSonia C. Ensins, Boston CollegeJohn E. Frank, Santa Monica, CARobert A. Goldstein, National Public RadioChelsea Renee Harper, University of MarylandColleen Marie Hood, Philadelphia, PAGregory Alan Johnson, University of MississippiVivian E. Lincoln, Denton, TXLisa M. Low, Cupertino, CA

Robert Miller, Overland Park, KSRita Marie Mitchell, University of WisconsinShelly Anne Osterreich, Central Connecticut State

UniversityDaniel Paradis, Universite de MontrealClay Redding, Princeton UniversityJeffrey R. Rehbach, Middlebury CollegeVirginia (Ginger) K. Richards, Chesterfield County

Public LibrarySandy Rodriguez, Book Wholesales, IncPaul Scaer, Marlboro Music SchoolErica Schattle, Berklee Colslege of MusicLeslie A. Sprout, University of IowaPeter Alex Szabo, Ohio Wesleyan UniversityMary Wedgewood, Library of CongressRomeo Teixeira Whou, Amherst, NY

New Members

continued from previous pagedepartment. Their helpfulness gener-ally increases with the amount of in-formation you can give them. Theyhave general knowledge of their pro-gram schedule and can find out gen-eral questions about the content ofsyndicated programs that the stationairs. If the first contact does not havethe needed information, you will betransferred to the music director, mu-sic librarian, or program director.

There are generally three typesof employees at a public radio sta-tion: announcers/producers, engi-neers, and administrative staff. Inmedium to large-size markets, spe-cialized roles include: music direc-tor (who creates the daily musicplaylists), music librarian (rare, butthey can answer reference questions,and point out recordings), individ-

ual producers (who create concertprograms once recorded), and oper-ations managers (who have accessto satellite feeds and can tell if thereis a particular piece on the program).Although it is becoming more andmore rare, many hosts still scheduletheir own selection of music thatthey announce. Also, a program di-rector (who is sometimes also themusic director) has a good knowl-edge of what is being aired at a cer-tain time—even if she or he cannotname the specific piece without fur-ther research.

For programmers and audience,the unquantifiable element of whatmakes radio great is giving peoplewhat they didn’t know they needed.The challenge of providing referenceservices for radio is in understandingthe context in which it exists and

having the necessary tools to con-nect people to information. By doingpreliminary research, knowing whomto contact and asking the right ques-tions, your public radio station canbecome a valuable asset in your poolof reference sources. That will helpthe next time someone asks aboutthe Mongolian throat singers theyheard on their drive home fromwork.

Thomas Pease worked for threeyears as the music librarian forWETA-FM, a flagship NPR classical/news station for Washington, D.C.He serves as the MLA organiza-

tional liaison to the Association of MusicPersonnel in Public Radio, and entered themusic librarianship program at IndianaUniversity-Bloomington in fall 2003. Thanks toEric Harbeson of Florida State University andRex Levang of Minnesota Public Radio fortheir contributions to this article.


How Things Work


PUBLIC RADIO PROGRAM WEBSITES

Here are some links to program websites.

Adventures in Good Music (WCLV) http://www.wclv.com/skin/blurb.php?sectionId=183&contentId=24804All Things Considered (NPR) http://www.npr.org/programs/atcAmerican Routes (PRI) http://www.americanroutes.orgFresh Air with Terry Gross (NPR) http://freshair.npr.orgFrom the Top (PRI) http://www.fromthetop.orgHarmonia (WFIU) http://www.indiana.edu/~harmonia/Hearts of Space http://www.hos.com/radio.htmlMusic Through the Night (MPR) http://music.mpr.org/listings/Morning Edition (NPR) http://www.npr.org/programs/morningPerformance Today (NPR) http://www.npr.org/programs/ptSt. Paul Sunday (PRI) http://www.saintpaulsunday.org/Sound and Spirit (PRI) http://www.wgbh.org/wgbh/pages/pri/spirit/Studio 360 (PRI) http://www.wnyc.org/studio360/Symphonycast (NPR) http://symphonycast.npr.org Thistle and Shamrock (NPR) http://thistle.npr.org/

Other Useful Sites

Other National Public Radio shows can be found at http://www.npr.orgOther Public Radio International shows can be found at http://www.pri.orgOther Minnesota Public Radio shows can be found at http://www.mpr.org

NPR Station Directory: http://www.npr.org/stations/PRI Station Locator: http://www.pri.org//PublicSite/listeners/index.htmlClassical Music Radio Station Directory: http://www.geocities.com/musiclassical/radio.html


Transitions

Cari Alexander, Head, Music Library and Audio-VisualCenter, Texas Christian University

Richard Griscom, Head, Otto E. Albrecht Music Libraryand Eugene Ormandy Music and Media Center, Uni-versity of Pennsylvania (effective June 2004)

Tracy Hall, Performing Arts Librarian, Martin LutherKing, Jr. Memorial Library, Washington, D.C.

Miao Jin, Cataloging Librarian, University of SouthernMississippi

Kevin Medows, Music Technical Services Librarian,Northwestern University

David Perrott, Library Technical Services Manager, TheManhattan School of Music

Debra Ponton, Music Librarian, Louisville OrchestraLorel Reinstrom, Special Collections Catalog Librarian,

University of South Florida

Peter Szabo, Music Librarian, Ohio Wesleyan UniversityJudy Tsou has been appointed to a 3-year term of the

editorial board of the Journal of the AmericanMusicological Society, beginning in April 2004

Maarja Vigorito, Music and Sound Recordings Cataloger,Team II, Special Materials Cataloging Division, Libraryof Congress

Mary E. Wedgewood, Music and Sound RecordingsCataloger, Team III, Special Materials CatalogingDivision, Library of Congress

Kira Wharton, Music Librarian, United States MarineBand

Laura Yust, Music and Sound Recordings Cataloger,Team I, Special Materials Cataloging Division, Libraryof Congress

9–14 January 2004ALA MidwinterSan Diego, CA

10–11 February 2004MOUG Annual Meeting

Washington, D.C.

11–15 February 2004MLA Annual Meeting

Washington, D.C.

1 March 2004Deadline for MLA Newsletter no. 136

Calendar

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