CAML Review / Revue de l'ACBM (Canadian Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres / Association canadienne des bibliothèques, archives et centres de documentation musicaux)

Melançon, Christiane

Compte rendu de la rencontre annuelle 2016 de la Section québécoise de l’ACBM / Report on the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Quebec Chapter of CAML

Morse, Michael

Claude Ranger: Canadian Jazz Legend – by Mark Miller (Book Review)

Luyk, Sean

CAML 2017 Annual Report: RILM Canada

Boyd, Alastair

 CAML REVIEW / REVUE DE L’ACBM  45, NO. 1 (APRIL / AVRIL 2017) PAGE 52 
Describing Music Materials: A Manual for Resource 
Description of Printed and Recorded Music and Music 
Videos. 4th ed. By Richard P. Smiraglia with Jihee Beak. 
Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. xxi, 197 p. 
ISBN 978-1-4422-7628-4 (paperback). 
Reviewed by: Alastair Boyd, University of Toronto1 
 
 
When I was starting out as a music cataloguer 30 years ago, I 
kept a somewhat battered departmental copy of the first 
edition from 1983 of Richard Smiraglia’s Cataloging Music 
within easy reach. From this valuable gloss on the music 
cataloguing rules contained in chapters 5, 6, and 25 of the 
AACR2 cataloguing code I learned at least two things: how to 
do my job, and that Smiraglia was the pre-eminent guru of 
the music cataloguing world. He still is. Over the course of 
four editions there have been changes to many of the illustrative examples contained in this book, 
to match shifting trends in publishing, public taste, and technology. Other details have changed too. 
The original title (Cataloging Music) was abandoned with the 1997 third edition to avoid 
pardonable confusion with Smiraglia’s 1989 book Music Cataloging, in which he provided a broader 
historical and theoretical background to his previous practical handbook. This latest edition of 
Describing Music Materials has also found a new publisher, following the 2003 demise of Soldier 
Creek Press. It has a new co-author; and it is also a little shorter than the previous edition by virtue 
of jettisoning all references to archival music collections, on the grounds that archival description 
has “evolved along a different trajectory from library cataloging” (xx). 
One of the reasons for this divergent evolution is the ambivalent “wait and see” attitude of the 
archival cataloguing community towards RDA (Resource Description and Access), the successor to 
the AACR cataloguing rules which have prevailed in various forms—AACR, AACR2, AACR2R—for the 
last 40 years. The emergence about five years ago of RDA as an increasingly widespread alternative 
to AACR2 brings us to the fundamental motivation for a new edition of Describing Music Materials. 
What Smiraglia calls “the exigencies of RDA” have necessitated a rewriting that takes into account 
RDA’s new terminology (saying, for example, preferred title instead of uniform title, or authorized 
access points instead of headings) and new rule numbers (AACR2’s rule 25.30B has become RDA’s 
6.28.1.9.1). 
                                                          
 
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. 
 CAML REVIEW / REVUE DE L’ACBM  45, NO. 1 (APRIL / AVRIL 2017) PAGE 53 
Notwithstanding these changes, and the RDA lingo (“record the attributes of the manifestation”), 
the fundamentals of the book are the same as ever, because music cataloguing itself has changed 
little in its essentials. As Smiraglia says in his introduction: “the music cataloger begins by examining 
an information object, and then proceeds to record a transcription of bibliographic data…. A 
physical description is formulated, and notes are made where needed to further clarify the content 
of the item…. [Then] access points are formulated to serve as index entries in the catalog” (xiii-xiv). 
Of course, this is the basic process for cataloguing any resource. Smiraglia points out that one of the 
reasons music cataloguing in particular is such a “highly specialized and highly rewarding sort of 
work” (xiii) is that music consists of sound, whose performances are events. Thus the relationship 
between musical “information objects” such as scores or recordings and the musical works they 
represent can be more complex than for text-based documents. The malleable nature of music in 
itself can also make establishing identities for, and relationships between, certain kinds of musical 
works somewhat challenging. Just how much alteration is allowed in making an arrangement of a 
work for a different performance medium before we decide it has crossed a line and taken on 
another identity as a related but new work? Even precisely identifying certain works can be 
complicated by the Western art music tradition of employing conventional forms and their 
corresponding generic titles (sonata, suite, symphony and their cognates in various Western 
languages). Publishers themselves can be unhelpful: a music cataloguer needs a grasp of music 
history to realize that when a publisher blandly calls a piece something like “Suite in F major for 
trombone and piano by Telemann”, it has to be an arrangement, tracing the origins of which will 
require poring over a thematic catalogue or two. Music publishers indulge in other vagaries—title 
pages can be an inconsistent mix of several languages, or they can be completely absent, 
particularly from popular music folios or recordings. Then there is the difficulty of even applying 
rigid concepts like “composer” and “work” to certain popular or jazz recordings. 
And so forth. The profusion of special cataloguing rules for music is the inevitable response to the 
complexities of the material, and for the beginner the task of navigating these rules is not made 
easier by the current structure of the RDA Toolkit. This is where Smiraglia steps in, outlining the 
principles, adducing examples, and pulling together what the Toolkit sometimes scatters. Another 
valuable feature of this book is its recognition that most of its potential users are still creating 
catalogue records using the MARC 21 format for tagging data elements. Those who are fond of 
saying that “RDA has replaced MARC” will, if they read this book, perhaps realize that they are 
mixing up different concepts, like saying “soccer has replaced cable TV.” RDA tells us the rules of 
the game—how to create standardized metadata—but says nothing about how it is to be accessed 
or viewed. Smiraglia knows that for the present, and for several years to come, music cataloguers 
will need help in embodying the precepts of RDA into concrete MARC records, and so he provides 
an Appendix of 26 pages, laying out in MARC 21 format records for all the illustrative examples 
contained in the earlier chapters. This is a helpful feature even for experienced music cataloguers, 
given that RDA has spawned a number of new MARC fields and subfields. I should perhaps add that 
readers who hope to find new instructions and examples for digital media will be largely 
 CAML REVIEW / REVUE DE L’ACBM  45, NO. 1 (APRIL / AVRIL 2017) PAGE 54 
disappointed. The introduction (xx) says “Multimedia packages seem not to have lasted in the 
marketplace, but streaming audio and video are quite evident so examples now include those 
media as well.” However, while there is one example for a streaming audio resource from Naxos, 
the five video examples are for discs (four) and a cassette. There is no mention of digital downloads 
of scores and parts. 
We should be grateful to Smiraglia and his collaborator Jihee Beak—whose precise contribution is 
nowhere acknowledged in these pages—for undertaking the task of RDA-izing the book and 
realigning the rule references to conform with the RDA Toolkit as it stood at December 2015. 
Between them the authors have ensured that this practical “how-to” manual can guide a fresh 
generation through the intricacies, challenges, and pleasures that constitute the art and science of 
music cataloguing. 
 
Alastair Boyd 
University of Toronto 


Describing Music Materials: A Manual for Resource Description of Printed and Recorded Music and Music Videos, 4th ed. – by Richard P. Smiraglia with Jihee Beak (Book Review)

Trépanier, Louis

Danzas : Guitare Espagnole / Spanish Guitar – Montréal Guitare Trio (CD Review)

-, -

Complete issue

Hoefnagels, Anna

Pillorikput Inuit: Inuktitut Arias for All Seasons (CD Review)

Penner, Katherine J.

 CAML REVIEW / REVUE DE L’ACBM  45, NO. 2-3 (AUGUST-NOVEMBER / AOÛT-NOVEMBRE 2017) PAGE 14 
CAML 2017: Conference Diary# 2 
 
By Katherine J. Penner 
1 
Katherine Penner reflects on her experience at the 2017 conference of the Canadian Association 
of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres (CAML). Katherine was the recipient of 
CAML’s First-Time Attendee Award for this conference. At the time, she was the Undergraduate 
Services Librarian at the University of Manitoba; since then, she has taken on the role of Acting 
Head of the Eckhardt-Gramatté Music Library, University of Manitoba Libraries. She is also now 
a member of the CAML Board, in the role of Secretary.  
 
CAML 2017 
 
This is so exciting! It isn’t often that we get to share our thoughts POST-conference so soon 
after getting home. I usually come back from conferences with many ideas that I want to 
explore, and a lot of that is due to my preferred style of journaling. This CAML 2017 journal 
entry consists of three main sections: My journaling style & one sessions’ notes; Post-CAML 
“things to read” list; Ideas to take home and things to think about. None of these sections is at 
all exhaustive: they’re all just portions of my learning reflections during and after the 
conference that I would like to share with the community. Enjoy! 
About my journaling style & an example:  
 
My personal journaling style at conferences comes in the form of mind maps and imagery of 
how ideas and threads might fit together, and I see conferences as a great way to allow the 
library synapses go wild. This type of idea-journaling has been quite beneficial to my 
professional development, and I encourage you to try it as a way of making connections 
between concepts that you pick up in your day-to-day practice. I’ve included my notes from 
Session 7 (Saturday morning) as an example of my journaling. I chose this page for no other 
reason than my handwriting actually being legible that morning! 
                                                          
 
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. 
 
 CAML REVIEW / REVUE DE L’ACBM  45, NO. 2-3 (AUGUST-NOVEMBER / AOÛT-NOVEMBRE 2017) PAGE 15 
 
CAML 2017: Session 7 mind map 
 
My Post-CAML “things to read” list, linked to the web or WorldCat. These works 
were discussed in Kwende Kefentse’s Keynote Plenary on Friday, 26 May:  
 
Benjamin, W. – Arcades Project  
Le Corbusier (C. Jeanneret), CIAM – Athens Charter 
Chang, J. – Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation  
Lawrence, T. - Life and Death on the New York Dance Floor 
Hillier, B. – Space is the Machine 
 CAML REVIEW / REVUE DE L’ACBM  45, NO. 2-3 (AUGUST-NOVEMBER / AOÛT-NOVEMBRE 2017) PAGE 16 
Ideas to take home and things to think about (questions to ask, things to do, things 
to figure out): 
 
 About digital preservation: Mind the gap between digital files and streaming audio; 
getting from one to the other requires buy-in from Vendor, IT, Systems, Cataloguing, 
and Acquisitions in a digital preservation project. Project management is key. What 
might preservation look like in your library? 
 What kinds of great ideas do we miss out on by putting on our own brakes before we 
entertain possibilities? Think about what Steve Marks from the University of Toronto 
said about the Naxos preservation project: “the world didn’t catch on fire because we 
did it” (“Preserving the Music O’ Canada: Acquisition and Digital Preservation of Our 
Recorded Heritage,” Session 4a, CAML, 2017). 
 The questions that Kallmann asked in his writings can connect with the Information 
Literacy Framework. What does this look like in your classroom?  
 What constitutes “Canadian” music? What does Canada’s musical heritage look like, and 
how can we do our part in our own libraries? Does it require a delineation of collection 
scope between each of our libraries?  
 Who can you work with at your local public library to coordinate joint collections of local 
music? 
 How does my city retain talent? Pluralism plays a large part in city movements to “smart 
cities” or “informatic cities.” We need to pay more attention to the intersection of 
business and the creative class.  
 What can we do to participate in the broader conversation of Librarianship in Canada? 
How do we do this at home, and as part of CAML? 
 
Some not-so-final thoughts:  
 
The beauty of attending this conference was the ability to connect and share the learning 
experience with people who speak the same language. When that language is music, it engages 
a different level of collaborative thought, one we do not normally have the pleasure of 
indulging in our regular work environments.  
I would love to discuss some of these ideas with our community between conferences too! 
Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in conversing about some of the issues 
raised during the sessions. This was my first CAML conference, so I would like to thank the 
CAML community for being so welcoming. Congratulations to everyone (organizers, presenters, 
fellow learners) on a great conference!  
 


English

CAML 2017 Conference Diary #2

CAML responds to recent North American acts of racism and xenophobia / L’ACBM réagit aux actes de racisme et de xénophobie des derniers jours en Amérique du Nord

Not a member yet

Compte rendu de la rencontre annuelle 2016 de la Section québécoise de l’ACBM / Report on the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Quebec Chapter of CAML

Claude Ranger: Canadian Jazz Legend – by Mark Miller (Book Review)

CAML 2017 Annual Report: RILM Canada

Describing Music Materials: A Manual for Resource Description of Printed and Recorded Music and Music Videos, 4th ed. – by Richard P. Smiraglia with Jihee Beak (Book Review)

Danzas : Guitare Espagnole / Spanish Guitar – Montréal Guitare Trio (CD Review)

Complete issue

Complete issue

Pillorikput Inuit: Inuktitut Arias for All Seasons (CD Review)

CAML 2017 Conference Diary #2

CAML responds to recent North American acts of racism and xenophobia / L’ACBM réagit aux actes de racisme et de xénophobie des derniers jours en Amérique du Nord

728

1,343