Recommended
More Related Content
Similar to Music Archival Collections for Beginners (November 2019)
Similar to Music Archival Collections for Beginners (November 2019) (20)
More from ALAeLearningSolutions
More from ALAeLearningSolutions (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Music Archival Collections for Beginners (November 2019)
- 1. It Will Be Alright (Probably)! Arranging, & describing music archives when you don’t know a thing about music Stacey Krim Curator of Manuscripts Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections & University Archives University Libraries, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
- 2. Hello to… • Archivists without a music background • Music archivists • Performing arts librarians • Music catalogers • MLIS students • Everyone else brave enough to attend Statement of Principles, Describing Archives: A Content Standard, 2nd Edition https://www2.archivists.org/standards/DACS/statement_of_principles http://files.archivists.org/pubs/DACS2E-2013_v0315.pdf
- 3. Just to clear the air… • This webinar is not intended as a substitute for the need of music archivists. • Some of my advice and generalizations may be a bit heterodox. • This is not a best practices webinar. You’ve Got to Fool the Public by F. F. Feist and J. P. Corin Robert C. Hansen Performing Arts Collection, Mss 255, Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC, USA.
- 4. How do music collections end up in non-music focused archives? Photograph taken by donor of an incoming music archive, 2019
- 5. Why not hire a music archivist? How to Get Appointments by Telephone by Mona Ling Nicholas Anderson Musical Score Collection and Personal Papers Collection, SC0015, Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
- 6. What’s an archivist to do? Clinical Depression by C. Allen Beeler Alan Beeler Papers, Mss0450, Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
- 7. Types of Archival Materials: • Artifacts • Artwork • Audio/Video Recordings (several formats) • Blueprints • Correspondence • Diaries/Journals • Digital Records • Ephemera (brochures bookmarks, etc…) • Human & Animal Remains • Legal Documents • Manuscripts • Maps • Microforms One of the artifacts of enduring value I will be preserving for future generations in a recently donated collection. • Monographs • Musical Scores • Negatives • Photographs • Posters • Reports • Scrapbooks • Serials • Slides • Textiles • Yearbooks
- 8. Types of music archives in terms of dominant format: • Personal & organizational papers • Memorabilia collections • Born digital records • Recordings • Sheet music
- 9. Things to remember before you begin: • No one is going to die. • Be consistent. • Mistakes can be corrected. • Collections can be re-inventoried and reprocessed. • You need to identify what you absolutely cannot do and get help.
- 10. Enlisting help: • Music librarians • Local music archivist or librarian • Faculty • Donor • Music students My Music Teacher by G.W. Meyer and Sam M. Lewis Robert C. Hansen Performing Arts Collection, Mss 255, Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC, USA.
- 11. General rules and advice for processing: Identify if there is an original order “The principle of original order means that the order of the records that was established by the creator should be maintained by physical and/or intellectual means whenever possible to preserve existing relationships between the documents and the evidential value inherent in their order.” It is one of the two sub-principles of respect des fonds, which guides the arrangement and description of an archival collection. (Describing Archives: A Content Standard, 2nd Edition)
- 12. General rules and advice for processing: Item (folder) level processing and description for “findability” “Arrangement is the intellectual and/or physical processes of organizing documents in accordance with accepted archival principles, as well as the results of these processes.” “Arrangement is the process of identifying the logical groupings of materials within the whole as they were established by the creator, of constructing a new organization when the original ordering has been lost, or of establishing an order when one never existed. The archivist then identifies further sub-groupings within each unit down to the level of granularity that is feasible or desirable, even to the individual item.” (Describing Archives: A Content Standard, 2nd Edition)
- 13. General rules and advice for processing: “The amount of description and level of detail will depend on the importance of the material, management needs and resources of the repository, and access requirements of the users. That being the case, an archival description may consist of a multilevel structure that begins with a description of the whole and proceeds through increasingly more detailed descriptions of the parts, or it may consist only of a description of the whole. Within a given body of material, the repository may choose to describe some parts at a greater level of detail than others. A single item may be described in minute detail, whether or not it is part of a larger body of material.” Item (folder) level processing and description to save you time and pain with researcher. (Describing Archives: A Content Standard, 2nd Edition)
- 14. General rules and advice for processing: Non-continuous numbering Series 1: College of Arts Subseries 1: Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Box 1: General Files Box 2: Departmental Files Box 3: Committees Subseries 2: Department of Anthropology Box 1: General Files Box 2: Annual Reports
- 16. Arrangement by format Series 1: LPs Series 2: Reel-to-Reels Series 3: Audio Cassettes Series 4: CDs Series 5: Video Cassettes Series 6: DVDs
- 18. Item level chronological dating
- 23. Some considerations before you process • How focused is the collection? • Manuscript versus print • Vocal and/or instrumental music • Is the sheet music going to be cataloged?
- 24. Original Order Sheet music removed by archivist from donor’s filing cabinet kept in original order.
- 25. Alphabetically by composer’s last name
- 26. Ordering by date or opus number
- 27. Arrangement by genre “A class, type or category, sanctioned by convention. Since conventional definitions derive (inductively) from concrete particulars, such as musical works or musical practices, and are therefore subject to change… Genres are based on the principle of repetition.” Jim Samson. "Genre." Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 9 Nov. 2019. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e- 0000040599.
- 28. Published music genre • Concertos • Sonatas • Pieces & Suites • Duos • Trios • Quartets • Quintets • Large Ensembles • Methods & Etudes Concert für Violoncell by Antonín Dvořák Maurice Eisenberg Musical Score Collection, SC0004,Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC, USA.
- 31. • Series 1: Manuscripts in Creator's Hand • Series 2: Published Editions and Transcriptions of Creator • Series 3: Source Materials for Creator's Editions and Transcriptions • Series 4: Manuscripts in Various Hands • Series 5: Cello Concertos • Series 6: Cello Sonatas • Series 7: Unaccompanied Cello Sonatas, Suites, and Pieces • Series 8: Cello Pieces • Series 9: Cello Methods • Series 10: Duos • Series 11: Trios Manuscripts by genre Performer and arranger • Series 12: Quartets • Series 13: Quintets • Series 14: Large Ensembles • Series 15: Violin Solos • Series 16: Methods for Violin • Series 17: Keyboard Music • Series 18: Vocal Music • Series 19: Oversized Scores
- 35. Surprises and exceptions Dealing with Copyists Jewish Pictures by Lev Aronson Lev Aronson Musical Score Collection, SC0009, Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC, USA.
- 36. Surprises and exceptions Manuscripts in the Age of Notation Software Scherzo from Rhenish Symphony by , arr. Yuriy Leonovich Cello Music Collection General. SC0020, Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives.
- 37. Surprises and exceptions Clumping and Splitting Sonata in A major for cello and piano by Luigi Boccherini Lubomir Georgiev Musical Score Collection, SC0010, Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC, USA.
- 38. In conclusion… • Music collections can be lurking in almost any archive, and we must deal with them. • Recordings and sheet music represent the greatest challenge for archivists without a music background. • It is possible for non-music archivists to process some recordings and sheet music (but it’s not necessarily easy). • The more thorough the description in finding aids, the more easily mistakes in arrangement can be mitigated. • Collaborating with someone with a music background is your surest way to success.