Special Libraries > Categories > Humanities > Example

Folk Music Libraries
Authored By: Margaret Anne Mars


The majority of music libraries or departments are to be found in Public, Academic, and Government Libraries, yet there are some music libraries that are truly Special Libraries. Among these are orchestra music libraries, radio music libraries, and the focus of this article - folk music libraries.


OBJECTIVES OF SERVICES

The primary objective of folk music libraries is the archiving, organization and preservation of a specific culture’s musical tradition with most of these collections available to the public for study and research. Some offer services such as information and orientation programs, reference services on site or via Internet, information and orientation programs, and public lectures (Music Library of Greece), as well as seminars on the study of popular music, and exhibitions on the history of popular music (JAPA). Both the Finnish Jazz and Popular Archives and the Center for Folklife offer concert events and festivals.


COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICIES

The materials found in folk music libraries are similar to those that would be found in any music library -- scores, books and sound recordings. However, most folk music libraries also contain a rare materials collection, with manuscripts, video recordings and music periodicals also frequently found. More extensive folk music libraries, such as the Finnish Jazz and Popular Archives (JAPA), may also hold personal anthologies, interviews, unpublished recordings, newspaper clippings, concert programs, brochures, and posters. The Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies Archive holds a collection its own published recordings on the Folkways label. Both the Music Library of Greece and the Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies Archive’s collection contains historical photographs. And the Music Documentation Center division of the Cité de la Musique is unique in that its focus is on the documentation of musical instruments. Included in their collection are theses, facsimiles of treatises and instrumental methods, instrument museum, and exhibition catalogues, as well as full size plans of musical instruments.


STAFFING MODEL

A folk music librarian must possess the same basic librarianship skills as any professional librarian. This includes competency in collection maintenance and development, reference services, user instruction, and preservation of materials. They also require the same credentials as any music librarian would: an undergraduate degree in music if not a masters (usually in music history or literature) in addition to a masters of library science degree, and a knowledge of German and one or more Romance languages. But what makes the qualifications of a folk music librarian unique is their knowledge of ethnomusicology, and depending on the collection’s origin, a knowledge non-Western languages as well (Music Librarianship – Is it for you?).


ORGANIZATIONAL HIERARCHY

Smaller folk music libraries may operate under the guidance of a senior music librarian or archivist with paraprofessional support staff below, but larger organizations require a more extensive administrative hierarchy. For example, the Finnish Jazz and Popular Archives operates under an executive committee that consists of a chairman, vice chairman, and eleven other officers with their staff including an archive director and an archive secretary. And the Irish Traditional Music Archives lists more then forty past and present board members, with a current staff of seven assisted by thirteen volunteers.


FUNDING SOURCES

Many folk music libraries, although not officially a government organization, receive some support from governmental sources. JAPA is primarily supported by the City of Helsinki and the Ministry of Education but also receives funding from private companies, foundations and individuals. The Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies Archive is a division of the federally funded Smithsonian Institute. However other folk music libraries, such as the non-profit Finnish Institute of Recorded Sound, the Irish Traditional Music Archives and Music Library of Greece, are entirely supported by public funds.


CLIENTELE SERVED

As is befitting a library that archives a culture’s music, most folk music libraries are freely accessible to the public. The types of individuals that commonly use this resource are not only folk music aficionados but also students, teachers, professors, and musicologists and other researchers.


WEB PAGE EVALUATION

Irish Traditional Music Archives
http://www.itma.ie/ (24 Sep 2003)
The ITMA site is very simple, consisting of a linear scrolling document in two parts. Yet the breadth of information about this organization is unusually detailed. As its main menu lists, in this web site can be found: definitions, functions, history, general and special collections, staff and board members, its logo, directions to the Archive by train or bus and parking information, its access policy, and facilities. And this is just part one.


As comprehensive a source of information this web site is, it surprisingly lacks a key service. Since ITMA is still in the process of cataloging their collection, there was no option for searching an online catalog, or any catalog at all for that matter. Nonetheless, I would recommend this site for the extent of information it contains.



Finnish Jazz and Pop Archive
http://www.jazzpoparkisto.net/ (24 Sep 2003)
The Finnish Jazz and Pop Archive (JAPA) site is also simply constructed. Its home page (Koti in Finnish) offers an option for its brief yet comprehensive summary in English; however, the rest of the menu was in Finnish. This greatly reduced its usability for a non-Finnish reader. The summary states that JAPA’s music collection is being cataloged into VIOLA, the Helsinki University Library's music database, in Finnish, Swedish, and English. Yet this is a "charged Internet service" at 1.66 Euros per hour and therefore not an option for this American. The web site’s redemption is its Linkit page containing links that lead to a number of interesting, related Finnish folk music sites.

TRENDS AND ISSUES

There are many issues facing the music librarian of today, among them the integration of digital information storage and retrieval systems into existing collections (Smiraglia), and the evolution of bibliographic description to emphasize the primacy of a unique work over a specific item (Thomas; Smiraglia). But a topic that surfaced in music periodicals from the 70’s and 80’s (Morrow, Education footnotes 655) into the 21st century (Marley), and recently has become a source of much discussion on the Music Library Association’s listserv, MLA-L, is the need for adequate training of music librarians. A music librarian requires more than the general knowledge of librarianship offered in most library and information science degree programs. Yet some progress is beginning to be made addressing this need. In the 1970’s only three universities offered joint degrees in music and librarianship. In the late 1990’s, twelve institutions offered programs combining music and library science degrees and thirty-six offered either a course in music librarianship or music library internships (Cherubibi).



BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cherubini, Timothy J., comp. and ed. Directory of Library School Offerings in Music Librarianship, 7th ed. Canton, Massachusetts: Music Library Association, 1998.

Hunter, David. Core Competencies and Music Librarians. April 2002. University of Texas at Austin. 26 Sept. 2003 <http://www.musiclibraryassoc.org>. (path: Music Librarianship - Is it for you?)

Marley, Judith L. "Education of Music Librarianship within the United States: Needs and Opinions of Recent Graduates/Practitioners." Fontes Artis Musicae - Journal of the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centers 49:3 (July-Sept. 2002): 139-172.

Morrow, Jean. "Education for Music Librarianship." Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association 56:3 (Mar. 2000): 655-661.

"Music Librarianship at the Turn of the Century: Education for Music Librarianship." Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association 56:3 (Mar. 2000): 563-566.

Music Librarianship - Is it for you? 26 Sept. 2003. <http://www.musiclibraryassoc.org>.

Smiraglia, Richard P. "Musical works and information retrieval." Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association 58:4 (June 2002): 747-764.

"Smithsonian funding vindicated." Scientist 1 Nov. 2002: 26 Sept. 2003 <http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20021101/03>.

Thomas, David H.; Smiraglia, Richard P. "Beyond the Score." Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association 54 (Mar. 1998) p. 649-66.

Tracey, Andrew: "International Library of African Music [ILAM]." New Grove Dictionary of Music Online. Ed. L. Macy. 26 Sept. 2003 <http://www.grovemusic.com>.

Walker, Diane Parr. "Music in the Academic Library of Tomorrow." Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association 59:4 (June 2003): 817-827.



ADDITIONAL WEB SITES OF INTEREST

Folk Music Libraries:

Archive of Finnish Sound Recordings
http://www.yle.fi/aanilevysto/firs/

The Center for Folklife Programs & Cultural Studies Archive (Washington, DC)
http://www.si.edu/collections/folklife.htm

cité de la musique: the research and documentation center (Paris, France)
http://www.cite-musique.fr/anglais/

Finnish Music Information Centre
http://www.teosto.fi

Finnish Jazz & Pop Archive
http://www.jazzpoparkisto.net

Folk Music Institute
http://virtual.finland.fi/finfo/english/folkmus7.html

Irish Traditional Music Archive (Dublin 2, Ireland)
http://www.itma.ie/

Italian Music Catalogues and Information Centres
http://www.cilea.it/music/musserv.htm

Music Library of Greece
http://www.mmb.org.gr/Page/


Academic Libraries with information on Special Music Libraries:

"Libraries and Schools of Music." Yale University Library
http://www.library.yale.edu/musiclib/webres.htm#libraries

"Music Libraries and Library Associations." William and Gayle Cook Music Library
http://www.music.indiana.edu/music_resources/musiclib.html


Miscellaneous:

Centre de Documentation Musicale - Bibliothèque Gustav Mahler (Paris, France)
http://www.bgm.org/en/index_en.htm

Directory of Music Libraries in Finland
http://www.kaapeli.fi/~musakir/engdir/

Global Music Centre
http://www.globalmusic.fi

IRCAM Multimedia Library - Research Institute in Acoustics and Music (Paris, France)
http://mediatheque.ircam.fr/index-e.html


Music divisions - Government Libraries:

Library of Congress Music Division (Washington, DC)
http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/perform/


Music divisions - Public Libraries:

The Free Library of Philadelphia Music Department (Philadelphia, PA)
http://libwww.library.phila.gov/research/research.taf?_function=detail&ThreeLetCode=mus


Music Library Associations:

Canadian Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centers
http://www.yorku.ca/caml/

IAML-US (International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres United States Branch)
http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~troutman/iamlus.htm

MOLA (Major Orchestra Librarian’s Association)
http://www.mola-inc.org/

Music Library Association
http://www.musiclibraryassoc.org/


National Music Libraries:

The Music Library of Sweden
http://www.muslib.se/

National Library of Australia Music Collection
http://www.nla.gov.au/collect/music.html

National Library of Canada Music Division (Ottawa, ON, Canada)
http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/6/28/index-e.html


Performing Arts Libraries:

Goodspeed Library of Musical Theatre (East Haddam, CT)
http://www.goodspeed.org/library/