the washington library institute

The Washington Library InstituteAuthor(s): Vincent Duckles, Virginia Cunningham and Edward E. ColbySource: Notes, Second Series, Vol. 18, No. 4 (Sep., 1961), pp. 558-564Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/895542 .

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THE WASHINGTON LIBRARY INSTITUTE1

1. The International Inventory of Musical Sources American music librarianship was brought into vivid awareness of

its international responsibilities in two important meetings devoted to the

Inventory and its problems. The session on Wednesday afternoon, Sep- tember 13, was presided over by Friedrich Blume in his role as Chairman of the Joint Inventory Committee of the International Musicological Society and the International Association of Music Libraries. The delegates heard an impressive series of reports on the progress of the In- ventory from those responsible for the central organization of the project, and for the work of the various national offices. Vladimir Fedorov reviewed the history of the project from its inception in 1951 to the present day. Alexander Hyatt King read the report of Francois Lesure from the editorial office in Paris outlining the comprehensive plan of the systematic series and indicating the progress achieved to date. Harald Heckmann gave an account of the recently established office at Kassel which will take responsibility for the core of the project, the gigantic alphabetical listing of the work of all pre-1800 composers. Finally, Wolfgang Rehm gave the financial report, a truly international docu- ment, which traced the support which has been given from such widely varied sources as UNESCO, the American Council on Library Resources, and the municipal government of Kassel. Then followed a group of ten brief reports prepared by representatives of the various national working committees: Belgium, Canada, Holland, Spain, Italy, Jugoslavia, Austria, Germany, England, and France. What emerged from these statements was a pattern of cooperative effort that should make every music librarian proud of his profession. In some countries the work of the Inventory has been given handsome government support. In others it depends on the energy of a few dedicated individuals working under extremely difficult conditions. But the essential point is that the project

1 The official and more precise name was "Institute of International Music Library Problems. Sponsored by The Music Library Association [&] The International Association of Music Libraries, American Branch, September 13-15, 1961." It was held in the Whittall Pavilion of the Library of Congress following the conclusion of the Eighth Congress of the International Musicological Society. These summary reports on three of the four announced topics necessarily have had to be compiled quickly in order to make this issue of NOTES.

The remaining announced session, on "International Music Librarianship," was for practical reasons divided between the final Friday morning session and the Thursday evening dinner meeting, and no summary is feasible. After the dinner, IAML President Folke Lindberg spoke on the history and aims of that organization. MLA President-Elect Rita Benton surveyed American music library geography for "Europeans in American Music Libraries," and that old spuriositarian from Cambridge (England), Charles Cudworth, made life joyous with an account of "Americans in European Music Libraries," Europeans in American taxi-cabs, and other carefully assorted subjects. On Friday morning, in addition to the conclusion of the recordings session, Brooks Shepard spoke on "The Role of the American Branch of IAML" and Edward N. Waters on "The Retrospective Indexing of Music Periodicals," with other statements on the latter subject by M. Vladimir Fedorov and Irving Lowens. [Editor's Note]

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is moving, it has achieved a momentum of its own which cannot fail to produce importanlt results.

The United States participation in the Inventory was given a sub- stantial send-off in the meeting of Thursday morning, September 14, which was chaired by Harold Spivacke. As MLA representative to the American Joint Committee he announced the receipt of a grant from the Council on Library Resources to support the work of the U.S. office, and introduced the two men who will be responsible for soliciting and reporting the early music holdings in American libraries. They are Nathan Broder, who will supervise the collecting of the information throughout the country; and Donald Mintz, who will be in charge of the editorial work at the headquarters, which will be located in the Music Division of the Library of Congress. In their statements which followed, both Broder and Mintz stressed the urgency in collecting American entries for the two volumes of the Inventory scheduled for publication in the near future: the volume devoted to 18th-century collections, and that concerned with theoretical works (all writings on music). They also appealed for help from all music librarians in locating hidden resources throughout the country and in supplying names of institutions or individuals for the mailing list.

Helmut Kallman next spoke on the progress of the Inventory in Canada, which is proceeding on schedule thanks to his own efforts in coordinating the reports from Canadian libraries. One large area of the Americas, however, still lacks an organized program. Little has been done to survey the early music in the cathedrals and municipal libraries of Central and South America, with the possible exception of Brazil. Robert Stevenson spoke on the rich resources in the works of early European and local composers in the cathedral archives in Mexico, Colombia, and Peru. Dr. Espinosa of the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Pan American Union joined with him in the hope that practical steps will be taken to insure the inclusion of these important holdings in future volumes of the Inventory.

VINCENT DUCKLES

2. The International Code for Cataloging Music The meeting on the international cataloging code for music was held

on Thursday afternoon, September 14, under the chairmanship of Vir- ginia Cunningham. The primary purpose of the meeting was to discuss points raised by the working papers for the International Conference on Cataloguing Principles, to be held in Paris in October. The International Association of Music Libraries has been invited to send an observer to that conference.

Miss Minnie Elmer (University of California, Berkeley) read a paper entitled The Function of the Main Entry in the Alphabetical Catalog. She analyzed the working papers dealing with the function of the main

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1OGERS WELCOMES DELEGATES Behind the speaker: Lindberg, Grout,

Blume, and F6dorov

UUCKLES UPENS IAML SESSION Behind the speaker: Broder, Mintz,

Spivacke

AT MLA-IAML DINNER Lindberg and Benton

AT LL; KECEPTION King and Rosenthal

c.n cr



entry written by Seymour Lubetsky, Eva Verona, and Leonard Jolley, relating their positions to the problems of music cataloging. In her discussion Miss Elmer pointed out that music librarians deal with a wide variety of materials: music, books about music, manuscripts, micro- film, and recordings. Entries for these materials may be filed in one or in several catalogs. She noted the very special problems of librettos and scholarly prefaces to publications of music, and the fact that music titles are so often non-distinctive.

She concluded that "an alphabetical arrangement by title-page title would result in hopeless confusion, or necessitate an enormous file of useless main entries supplemented by many added entries, cross refer- ences, or indexes." Further, "if we accept Mr. Lubetzky's definition of library materials as representations of works rather than the works themselves, perhaps we can go a step farther and free ourselves alto- gether from dependence on title pages, arranging main entries under composer by standard titles indicating what the work is rather than what it is called. ... If we start from the premise that the work after all is a song or piano piece or dramatic or choral work, and start its filing title by a statement of what it is rather than what it is called, we would probably be doing a service to the majority of catalog users."

In the discussion which followed, there was no objection to Miss Elmer's conclusion that, for music materials, main entries must not only identify works but also bring together all editions of works. Dr. Cooper- smith and Mr. Angell both objected to the suggestion that filing titles should first categorize, and then identify, asserting that in an author- title catalog, the filing title must be a title, not a form, and that we must not be confused by the fact that in music so many titles happen also to be names of forms. Mr. Krummel asked what was meant by the term "main entry." Mr. Spalding replied that in the revision of the rules in this country, "main entry" means heading, or whatever appears antece- dent to the title on a card. The principles on which the rules are being revised will result in music catalogers dealing with authors and titles, but not with categories.

In response to a question, Mme. Fedorov explained that in French libraries a systematic arrangement is used for prolific composers; for example: works, selected works, individual works by category (dramatic works, instrumental works, etc.) and arrangements. The individual works may be identified by opus number or thematic index number, which is written on the card if necessary, but no filing title is written on the individual entry, only on a guide card.

Miss Elmer suggested that an international union catalog of music might be possible if the catalog organization were achieved at the filing point by a catalog editor, rather than being pre-determined by the cata- loger. Mr. Angell stated that international catalogs raise problems of national practice in both names and titles; that the Paris conference will

561



deal with such problems in terms of principles. He suggested the following principle: the main entry distinguishes the author, identifies the work, and describes the embodiment of the work.

Dr. K. Schmidt-Phiseldeck, Chairman of the International Cataloging Code Committee of the International Association of Music Libraries, reported on the accomplishments and plans of the Committee. He pointed out that the complete code is now projected in five parts, two of which have been published. The third part, the full cataloging code, is the most important of the five parts, and must be given very thorough preparation. When complete, the code must be normative, providing a guide to new libraries, but at the same time it should set forth alternatives and give background information.

The chairman said that she had a list of questions which she had intended to read and ask for a show of hands, but that she had decided not to do so because she felt that those present were not ready to vote. By request, she read the questions at a later meeting. They follow:

a. Are we agreed that only one form of name will be used for each person represented in the catalog?

b. Should all editions and versions of one work be brought together in one place in the catalog?

c. By means of main entries or added entries? d. If by main entries, how; if by added entries, how? e. If filing titles are used, is it possible to develop an international

list of names of musical forms? And can we agree to use the original title for works having distinctive titles?

VIRGINIA CUNNINGHAM

3. International Cooperation among Record Libraries

Thursday, September 14, 4:00 p.m. Subject: An Alternative Plan for an International Organization in the Field of

Sound Recordings Speaker: Roger Decollogne, Director, Phonotheque Nationale, Paris, France. Chairman: Edward Colby

Mr. Decollogne first introduced a code for cataloging phonorecords, prepared by the French section of the Commission on Record Libraries of the International Association of Music Libraries. Several copies of the code were distributed for examination.

Mr. Decollogne then set forth his plan for an international organization representing record libraries and archives whose holdings are general in nature, distinct from the Commission on Record Libraries of the IAML, which is presumably concerned primarily with libraries of recorded music. The speaker based his plan on the integral relationship of all types of recorded material. This proposal, which had been previously presented in Lausanne, is to be discussed at the Stockholm meeting of IAML in 1962.

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Mr. Decollogne's statement, delivered in French, was summarized in English by Mr. Vladimir F6dorov, and was followed by discussion.

Friday, September 15, 11:00 a.m. Subject: International Cooperation Among Record Archives and Libraries Speakers: A. Hyatt King, Folke Lindberg, Donald Leavitt, Irving Lowens, Kurtz

Myers, Harold Spivacke, Charles Cudworth, Philip Miller Chairman: Edward Colby

This meeting was divided into two sections, the first consisting of reports by official or unofficial representatives of European and American record archives and recording projects. Mr. A. Hyatt King, formerly chairman of the Board of the British Institute of Recorded Sound, described the principal features of the Institute's collections, and praised the dedicated industry of its secretary, Mr. Patrick Saul. The collections contain music, speech recordings of all types, and science recordings, including those in the fields of biology and medicine. Mr. Lindberg, President of IAML, discussed briefly the record libraries of radio stations in Sweden, placing special emphasis on the collections of Swedish folk music, and on the recording projects through which these collections are being expanded. Mr. Leavitt, recently placed in charge of the record collections in the Library of Congress, reported on the following categories of recordings in that institution: commercially issued discs re- ceived from the larger manufacturers, the Archive of American Folk Song, the poetry collection, and the Office of War Information collection. From the folk song and poetry collections discs have been produced for sale to libraries and individuals; and both collections were established and have been expanded by recording projects.

Mr. Lowens, predecessor of Mr. Leavitt as head of the recordings collections at the Library of Congress and now on the reference staff, spoke of the American Music History Project, a tripartite plan to docu- ment the history of American music. This will consist of histories, scores, and recordings, with responsibility for various areas assigned to specific publishers and record manufacturers. Application has been made to a well-known foundation for a grant for this undertaking.

The second part of this meeting was devoted to a consideration of problems of cooperation among archives of the types described by Messrs. King, Lindberg, and Leavitt.

Kurtz Myers, Head of the Department of Music and Drama, Detroit Public Library, and co-author of Record Ratings, reported on the present state of discography, enumerating the various types of discographies available. They are: general discographies, such as The Gramophone Shop Encyclopedia and WERM; trade discographies, such as Schwann; specialized types appended to histories or biographies, or presented as periodical articles; and "reconstructed" manufacturers' catalogs. Mr. Myers emphasized the need for a bibliography of discographies and

563



for an international inventory of record archives, setting forth the general nature and extent of their respective holdings.

Dr. Spivacke, Chief of the Music Division, Library of Congress, spoke informally on the legal problems of international cooperation among record archives. He pointed to examples of legal obstacles, such as the manufacture in the U.S. of discs for use in Latin America, which cannot be purchased here or brought into the U.S. Mr. Cudworth, of Pendlebury Library of Music, Cambridge University, spoke briefly of the difficulties involved in locating "out-of-print" discs. This situation has been aggravated by the progressive disappearance of well-stocked antiquarian record shops. Mr. Miller, Chief of the Music Division, New York Public Library, completed the over-all presentation by discussing problems of exchange of recordings, pointing to the costs of transporta- tion involved. He emphasized the importance of recordings in musical research, the subject of a paper written by Mr. Miller for the 1961 meetings of the IMS in New York, and the need for specialization within individual record archives.

The chairman summarized the principal points made by the various speakers, concluding with the recommendation that these points form the basis for a broad plan looking toward greatly increased international cooperation in the field of sound recordings.

EDWARD E. COLBY

CAUSE AND EFFECT

Cudworth tells story Spivacke, Heckmann, Baron listen

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