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Homepage > List of Annual Reports > Annual Report 2000 IAML(UK) Annual Report 2000CONTENTS
President's Report — Ruth Hellen It hardly seems possible that this is my third, and final, Annual Report. The time has flown by so quickly; a sign that, as well as getting older, I have been having fun. Is this right? Should we still be able to enjoy ourselves in these days of performance indicators, best value, endless restructurings and constantly multiplying plans? I have found that the secret of staying reasonably sane amidst the day-to-day frustrations is to be deeply involved in the work of this dedicated, forward looking Association. Working with such talented colleagues towards the improvement of music library services is a real tonic; we work extremely hard but have been rewarded with real results. We have had some great successes over the last year, in particular the Edinburgh Conference. I felt very privileged to represent the Branch on our home ground and to welcome so many colleagues from around the world. It was just as pleasing to see so many UK members, for most of whom this was a rare chance to experience an international conference. It was also a real privilege to spend time with our very active patron, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Everyone who worked towards Edinburgh 2000 can feel justifiably proud of the outcome; for more details read Roger Taylor's inimitable report. The year's other great success story was Encore! At the end of the Study Weekend in 1999, members agreed that a national catalogue of performance sets should be given top priority; thanks to the British Library Co-operation and Partnership Programme, and a great deal of hard work by Malcolm Jones and the Encore Project Group, we are well on the way to achieving that. We have shown how much can be achieved through voluntary effort; for example Peter Linnitt and the Documentation Committee have done a great deal of preparatory work on the MILDRED questionnaire (see page 6) and this has enabled us to put together a bid for funding for a large-scale web-based directory of music resources in libraries and archives. We now wait to see whether this is successful. It is encouraging to see how many of the recommendations in the Library & Information Plan for Music are coming to fruition. This is due largely to new funding opportunities and the commitment of libraries in different sectors to working even more closely together. In spite of the enormous efforts involved we have to take advantage of these opportunities as they arise. We have continued to keep up to date with national initiatives in the library world and have sent responses to the DCMS on a further British Library Review and provided written evidence on music library services to the Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee. In one of a series of National Music Council meetings with influential figures concerned with the Arts, I attended a meeting with Robert Maclennan MP (Liberal Democrat spokesman for the arts) during which I provided him with information supporting our concern about the continuing trend of deleting specialist music librarians' posts. This reminds me that, unfortunately, things have not been so rosy for some colleagues. The threat to the Henry Watson Music Library has receded somewhat, thanks to determined lobbying on several fronts, but we must continue to be vigilant. Other colleagues have voiced concerns about job losses, downgradings and the inevitable restructurings and we must be ready to provide help and support and, where possible, to challenge damaging decisions. It is always a sad duty to report the deaths of colleagues and, early in the year, we heard of the death, after a long illness, of Mike Saddington, who worked with music in Tower Hamlets Libraries for many years. The membership of IAML(UK) committees and working groups, listed from page 19, reflects the wide range of work carried out on behalf of the Branch. There have been some changes in the Executive Committee. Peter Baxter returned from America just in time to take over the post of General Secretary from Margaret Roll. I know Roger would wish to join me in expressing heartfelt thanks to Margaret for her hard work over the last five years. The good news is that she volunteered to take over from Alex Garden as Publications Officer. Alex, in turn, has agreed to look after the advertisements in Brio, so thanks to her for her continuing commitment. The editorship of Brio passed smoothly from Paul Andrews to Geoff Thomason during the year: thanks to them both for taking on this very demanding role. Ian Ledsham was welcomed back onto the Executive Committee as an elected member and agreed to take over as Chair of Trade & Copyright Committee. Finally, to my enormous relief, Susi Woodhouse allowed herself to be nominated as President-elect. The remaining Officers and elected members have all contributed far more than the official list can indicate; we are grateful to them all for their time, expertise and enthusiasm. Change is inevitable with so many people involved in Branch work and we record thanks to those not previously mentioned who have completed terms of service: Robert Foster (Secretary, Conference), Almut Boehme (Secretary, Documentation), Simon Lay (Minutes Secretary, F&A), Anne Elliott (Secretary, Trade & Copyright), Malcolm Jones (Chair, Trade & Copyright), Julie Crawley (Convenor, C.B. Oldman Prize), John Gough, Chris Muncy, Stuart Waumsley (Performance Sets Provision). It can be very difficult these days for members to find time for professional activities, so we are always pleased to welcome newly appointed members of committees and groups. In 2000 these were: C.B. Oldman Prize: Almut Boehme; Conference: Antony Gordon, Glynis Hillier (Secretary), Jane McGrave (Local Representative); Courses & Education: Frances Metcalfe as Secretary; Documentation: Katharine Hogg as Secretary; Finance & Administration: Morag Mackie (Minutes Secretary). We initiated several new groups this year to work on specific topics. These are the Encore, Festschrift, MARC Harmonisation and MILDRED Project Groups and their members are listed on page 21. It is an indication of the talent available to the Branch that we are able to take these initiatives and our thanks go to all those involved in Branch work. Finally, many congratulations to Catherine Pinion who is now a Fellow and an Honorary Fellow of the Library Association; I was very pleased to be able to see Catherine receive her awards at the Library Association Members' Day in October. So, this is the end of my last President's Report. I have been very proud, and am still quite surprised, to have represented the Branch in this way. Our achievements, detailed elsewhere, continue to amaze me and give me hope for the future. I have been supported by so many friends and colleagues: Enfield Libraries for allowing me time to attend meetings; my husband Bob for carrying the suitcases on our way to international conferences and for putting up with my monopoly of our computer for long e-mailing sessions; all those Branch members who (usually) readily agreed when I asked them to take on a particular task, and those who provided timely information and gave wise advice. In particular I would like to mention Roger Taylor, who made the hand-over so smooth and left me with some ringing phrases to re-use, Margaret Roll and Peter Baxter for keeping me to deadlines, Kathy Adamson for her calm stewardship of our finances, and Malcolm Lewis for his astounding ability to come up with exactly the right constitutional clause or committee decision from years gone by. My best wishes go to Susi for a successful and enjoyable term of office; with her extensive list of contacts and knowledge of current library developments the Branch will be well represented. I know you will give her every support. This year, we didn't have so much of an Annual Study Weekend but more of an Awayday. This was because — as you'll remember - we were hosting the International IAML conference in Edinburgh, which has been reported elsewhere. Our family gathering took place in Birmingham's Library Theatre and was superbly and seamlessly organised by John Gough and Anne Elliot, to whom many thanks. Our theme was reference works, and we were delighted to welcome John Tyrrell, the Executive Editor of Grove's Dictionary, as our keynote speaker. He gave us an entertaining and informative paper on that great institution of a reference work, lifting up some fascinating manhole covers on the way and contrasting the first edition with today's hi-tech-and-online version. No annual IAML gathering is complete without its report and information session and this year was no exception: we had to go at breakneck pace in order to give all those wanting a slot the chance to speak. No shortage of topics from ICT to MLT via a cornucopia of news and views. The day closed with another equally thought-provoking paper from another John - this time Wagstaff, Librarian at the Faculty of Music in Oxford. He ruminated on the many, varied and often esoteric sources of information to which we turn when confronted with that otherwise unanswerable "phone a friend" question. From the all-embracing Grove to the quirkiness of the less well-known shelves, our day covered a great deal of ground. 2001 sees us back on track with a full annual study weekend to be held in Winchester and the Conference Committee has been working hard on preparations. My thanks as always to them all. Courses and Education — Liz Hart 2000 has been a busy year, with a full programme of day courses, meetings and visits. Committee members presented Music for the terrified at Huddersfield University Library in March and, in May, at Norrish Central Library, Portsmouth, where the support and participation of host librarian Gareth Bowen was much appreciated. Additionally the West London Boroughs' SKILLS group invited us to run the course for them in January at Uxbridge Library, on which occasion Ruth Hellen cleared space in her busy presidential schedule to join the training team. We have discovered that the UK is not alone in needing to run such basic courses: at their request the Royal Danish School of Librarianship and the Central Library of the University of Canterbury New Zealand have both been sent copies of the course material. In October, much careful planning came to fruition with the successful presentation of 40 copies of Messiah please! at Edinburgh City Library, courtesy of resident librarian & Branch Secretary Peter Baxter and with the help of Stuart Waumsley. Finally, the Advanced reference sources for music librarians course at the Royal College of Music in December was a sell-out (with a waiting list). We are extremely grateful to RCM staff Angela Escott, Tim Eggington, Peter Horton & Oliver Davies for all the work they put into planning and running it. The annual meeting of academic music librarians at Birmingham Central Library in May was as well attended as ever. Papers on the Bodleian's Mendelssohn Collection, the Sir Thomas Beecham Music Library at Sheffield University, and the Resources Discovery Network were interspersed with a discussion on user education (teaching online databases), and an outline of the Branch's forthcoming Golden Jubilee Festschrift. And the events programme continued with joint visits to the British Library and Guildhall School of Music & Drama Library (in June) and the Henry Watson Music Library and Royal Northern College of Music Library (in December). It is patently evident that we can only achieve so much with the valued support of our colleagues, but it is the sheer hard work and commitment of Committee members which makes it all possible. In between organising the above, we have continued the planning of other courses, and finalised the DeskPack of first-stop music information for library enquiry desks — this is due for publication in 2001. The committee has been hard at work during the year refining the questionnaire for the project known as 'MILDRED' (Music In Libraries: Directory and REsource Discovery). The British Library's Co-operation and Partnership second call was announced in the autumn and at the close of the year, with the enormous and unstinting help of Susi Woodhouse, preparations for a bid from IAML(UK) were well underway and on target for meeting the 19 January deadline. The project has been re-named Cecilia: mapping the UK music resource. Peter Linnitt's continued work on re-drafting and refining the questionnaire document and designing the prototype database has been invaluable. His database structure has been scrutinised by the Performing Arts Data Service and has been found to be sound. The long term vision for the project remains: to create an on-line gateway to information about all aspects of music library provision across the country and across all sectors of music librarianship, and to begin to map collection-level information in order to facilitate wide-scale resource discovery for all. The UK contribution to RILM (Répertoire International de Litt¾rature Musicale) has finally been put on a firm footing: the 1999 AHRB award was extended during 2000, and in December we heard that Professor Tim Carter's application to the Resource Enhancement Scheme in May 2000 had been successful and that funding has been secured to continue the appointment of Sarah Hibberd on a 50% f.t.e. basis as the UK's RILM co-ordinator for a further three years. On behalf of IAML(UK) I would like to extend our warmest thanks to Professor Carter, and to the staff at Royal Holloway for their support and willingness to entertain a second application; and to the anonymous AHRB reviewers, without whom we would not have secured a second round of funding! Dr Hibberd continues to co-ordinate abstracts for monographs and to receive voluntary support from John Wagstaff and his team in the co-ordination of abstracts for journal articles. Encouraging discussions are progressing with the British Library in the hope of seeking a way forward in harnessing the BL's information on dissertation submissions. But I must end on a disappointing note: the UK RISM* Trust, in
partnership with academic staff of Royal Holloway (and, in particular,
Professor Andrew Wathey), worked hard towards the submission of
a bid to the AHRB Resource Enhancement Scheme in the hope of reviving
the work on RISM AII (Manuscripts) series. The application became
possible because the RISM Commission Mixte had come to an agreement
to move away from its proprietary software, and towards a MARC21
based system. Professor David Charlton led the bid and it received
the highest grading (A plus), from the reviewers. However, the
AHRB have been unable to fund all projects that achieved the highest
grading and the UK RISM project was among those which did not
receive an award. There are limited sources of funding available
for a project like this and, whilst it is gratifying to know that
the bid itself was considered a good one, it is nevertheless disappointing
to know that it has not been funded. Moreover, it makes it impossible
for the UK to make any progress in contributing towards this international
project. Alternative sources of funding are being investigated.
Meanwhile further work on the UK contribution to the project is
on hold. IAML Conference 2000 — Roger Taylor Driving precariously down a packed Royal Mile ostensibly closed to traffic, picking one's way in first gear through crowds watching bagpipers, jugglers and fire-swallowers - what one does at times for IAML.... Yes, Officer, heading for St. Giles' Cathedral delivering Mr Turbet's concert programmes was the reason I gave for that memorable exploit. August came and went as it surely would. The Conference with which some of us had lived for almost five years was over all too soon. Especially those spending long hours in the Conference Office - "Was that the session just over? I wanted to attend that!" Beforehand a series of increasingly pressing deadlines - conference programme texts to be drafted, then translated into French and German; programmes and booking forms to be printed in time to meet posting deadlines; acquiring a credit-card machine from the bank (squeezing blood from a stone would have been easier); processing the bookings, analysing accommodation, concert and tour requirements; organising the exhibition area and securing bookings by exhibitors; identifying technological requirements; ordering conference bags; awarding bursaries. Some employ professional conference organisers. We achieved all this ourselves. At least I must confess at this point to use of the royal "we", and confess equally to some guilt as Chair of the whole organising shebang that, in the spirit of true delegation, I could sit back at a safe Yeovilian distance in titular torpor, as Winter turned to Spring and Summer, to marvel as others sweated blood, wrung hands, issued threats, cried, throttled each other, sacrificed worktime, nighttime and sleep. If medals had been struck, they could not have been more deservedly awarded to Kathy Adamson (born to pay VAT), Jay Glasby (a queen amongst exhibition-organisers), Antony Gordon (a monarch of the techy glen), Pam Thompson, Sarah Batchelor and Ian Letts (virtuosos of the booking form), Margaret Roll (Amazon of outreach bursary awards), Marian Kirton and Ingrid Kimbell (expert translators into French and German respectively), the benign oversight of our serene Branch President Ruth Hellen (bag-lady and agony-aunt), and above all Chris Banks (heroine Wonderwoman of organisational achievement). And this was all before anyone arrived in Edinburgh! The reaction of delegates has been unanimously complimentary. The best compliments were that they were not conscious of its organisation. It came, proceeded smoothly, and ended with many happy memories of sessions attended, friendships renewed, concerts enjoyed, spirits imbibed. With the superb backdrop that Edinburgh affords, how could we have ended up with anything other than a crashing success? Well, very easily. Despite all our meticulous planning, no-one could foresee all the last-minute hitches, wobblies thrown, or the dreadful weather that just had to blight the Wednesday afternoon tours. I had all along been quietly confident that with the combined talents of all those who had committed themselves in advance to the Management Committee and Advisory Group we would be as well capable of dealing with the inevitably unforeseeable as any conference organising team. In the event, we achieved much more than had we handed it all over to an agency. Vignettes abound. The near slavery of all those who trudged round on the Friday afternoon beforehand stuffing delegate packs. The Peter Maxwell Davies Fanfare in the Playfair Library. The "ice-breaking" ceilidh where amongst many others we were able to welcome Kenneth and Jane Wilkins - Kenneth who, as Treasurer until the penultimate year and his retirement, had made a huge contribution. Marian Kirton arriving triumphantly with a John Bull printing kit in order that we could issue receipts with an "official" stamp! Thanks are due also to everyone else who sacrificed time and energy beforehand and during the conference. Richard Turbet missed his vocation as an impresario of concert management. Pat Napier not only hosted our evening at St.Cecilia's Hall but also organised all the Wednesday-afternoon tours. Lorna Mill kept a reassuring eye on all our Edinburgh premises and arranged transport for the Final Dinner at Heriot-Watt University. Peter Baxter, Almut Boehme, David Kett, Helen Lambert, Martina McChrystal, Morag Mackie and Jeremy Upton all ensured that everything was sweet in the Edinburgh-Glasgow-Dundee axis. And mention must be made of those who, cometh Conference-week, made huge contributions even though they had not been part of the preparatory team - Paul Banks, Barbara Diana, Howie Glasby, Liz Hart and Viv Kuphal. Personally I have many happy memories of this nearly five-year organisational odyssey and am indebted to many for their professional and personal kindnesses. Roger Crudge, who had been a member of the initial conference-venue selection team back in the Autumn of 1995 and whom it was a pleasure to welcome as a conference delegate. Peter Baxter for shepherding me safely around Edinburgh on my very first site visit back in January 1996. Pat and Charlie Napier for their hospitality, entertainment and advice during subsequent site visits. Kenneth Wilkins and Stephen Morgans for their substantial Committee contributions prior to 2000. Peter Baxter again for returning from Chicago and relaunching himself so willingly into anything that needed doing in Edinburgh. In retrospect, everyone who contributed over the years can justify a feeling of quiet satisfaction. Edinburgh 2000 was a triumphantly successful week. IAML(UK) can feel itself well satisfied. Above all it was a supremely collaborative achievement. It was a privilege to Chair such a superb team of colleagues. Trade & Copyright — Ian Ledsham For much of the last two years, Trade & Copyright has had a quiet - no, let's be honest, inactive - time. But all good things must come to an end, and in the past four months there has been considerable activity around the developments in harmonising copyright in the European Union. Like much that emanates from government, the directive on Copyright in the Information Age - issued in 1997 - makes turgid reading. Its main aims can be summed up as enhancing: The right of reproduction; The communication to the public right (including making protected material available on-demand over the Internet); The distribution right; The legal protection of anti-copying systems and information for managing rights. In general, the proposed changes reflected technological changes - especially the development of the Internet and the difficulty that created for controlling intellectual property. A further section sought to harmonise - and to some extent restrict - the permitted exceptions (usually known as 'fair dealing'). Over the past four years much talk and lobbying has gone on behind the scenes, with the European music industries especially active and desirous of restricting fair dealing provisions. A common position had been agreed by the EU governments, which retained a limited list of permitted exceptions which were optional for inclusion in national legislation. The Legal Affairs Committee of the EU was to consider the revised directive in January 2001. When the papers were tabled in late December, almost 200 amendments had been proposed - many as the result of intensive lobbying by rights holders. Most of these amendments sought to restrict or even remove any permitted exceptions. In particular they sought to ensure 'appropriate compensation' (presumably through licensing schemes). Some amendments sought to restrict library copying to archival and conservation purposes only. IAML(UK) swung into action with other library organisations such as The Library Association and attempted to alert MEPs to the serious repercussions for libraries and education if these amendments were carried. As I write, the saga continues to unfold, and in true soap opera fashion, you'll have to wait for next year's report. While waiting for the outcome of the European deliberations, the Branch began discussions with the Music Publishers' Association and British Music Rights with a view to updating the Code of Fair Practice. It is to be hoped that the cordial relations which exist between libraries and music rights holders in the UK can continue within the new legislation. As I was unavailable for much of the latter part of the year as I moved house and office, much of the work on the copyright directive has been shouldered, bravely and ably, by Richard Chesser and by the President. I wish to put on record my thanks to them for their work. When, some time in the last century, I was approached to take on the editorship of Brio I was delighted but not a little apprehensive. I was aware, not just of the important position which the journal occupies in IAML both nationally and internationally, but also of the need to maintain the standards set by my predecessors. So, even though I've said this elsewhere, I owe an enormous debt of gratitude in particular to the two most recent past editors, Paul Andrews and John Wagstaff, for their help in easing me into the hot seat and their continued and valued support once I was there. I never expected it to be easy, but I did see it as being immensely rewarding and so far I've not been proved wrong — on either account. Whether or not a distinctive editorial style will emerge is for others to judge, but the first issue of 2000 (37:1) did attempt to provide something a little out of the ordinary by containing articles linked to a single theme, in this case music library provision and resources for those with disabilities. Melanie Baker from the National Library for the Blind and Roger Firman of the RNIB both approached the subject of music services for those with visual impairment from their own angle. It's greatly to their credit, as well as a testimony to the growing awareness of the need for resources in this area, that their substantial bibliographies contained only one common reference. In the same issue Nigel Evans, a qualified teacher of Alexander Technique, outlined its importance for musicians and provided a useful bibliography on the subject, while I contributed an article on the implications for libraries of the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995. The November 2000 issue (37:2) followed in the wake of the highly successful Edinburgh conference the previous August which effectively provided it with at least a partial theme. Julie Crawley recorded her personal overview of the proceedings and there were transcripts of papers given by Marian Hogg for Music Libraries Online and Pam Thompson for the Ensemble project. John Clews explained his plans for the Keytempo online database of musicians while Simon Wright and David Russell Hume offered some fascinating sidelights on, respectively, Walton's dealings with OUP and sources for Edward German's theatre music. More thanks are due to John Wagstaff, for his regular BUCOMP updates and listing of recent articles on music librarianship, and to Richard Andrewes, for his annual guide to relevant books. Finally, two new members of the Brio team need to be welcomed on board with thanks for their own important contributions: Antonio Rizzo as reviews editor and Alex Garden as advertising editor. Golden Jubilee Festschrift — Richard Turbet Several years ago Ian Ledsham floated the idea of a book to celebrate the Branch's fiftieth anniversary in 2003. Subsequently I, insufficiently traumatized by my involvement with the international conference in Edinburgh, volunteered to edit such a volume. Ashgate will publish it on behalf of the Branch, and over a dozen contributors have been recruited, some of them willingly. A project group has been formed, consisting of myself, Kathy Adamson, Geoff Thomason and John Tyrrell. The working title of the book is Music Librarianship in the United Kingdom. IAML(UK) Library — John Wagstaff The library added 92 items to stock during the year. Notable acquisitions included Ruth Davies's dissertation on IAML (UK) itself, which makes interesting reading when set beside Catherine Wilson's thesis on the same subject, also in stock. Entries for the 1999 E. T. Bryant Prize are likewise in the collection, including that of the winner, Helen Janota, whose dissertation concerned An investigation into the use of music sound recordings in public libraries. The fact that IAML's international conference was held in Edinburgh in 2000 led to gifts from several overseas branches, including an inventory of Polish music libraries and collections, and several items from IAML's Spanish branch. Newsletters of branches outside the UK continued to arrive at the library in large numbers. Although the majority of library acquisitions are, of course, of English-language material, significant items in other languages are also collected, and this year included Marcel Marty's Les bibliothèques musicales publiques: le modèle allemand (Villeurbanne: ENSSIB, 1999) and Manfred Ullrich's Musikbibliothekarische Fachliteratur in neuerer Zeit: eine annotierte Bibliographie (Stuttgart, 1982). Finally, the papers from an important EU initiative, Project HARMONICA, arrived on CD-ROM, and when printed out form three hefty volumes: applications to borrow are invited. The library lent 40 items to 21 users during the year, and satisfied several requests for information. These figures show a small but helpful increase on the figures for 1999. Library acquisitions continue to be regularly reported in the UK branch Newsletter, and a complete listing of the library's holdings is still to be found on the branch website. Donations (of cash or of stock) are always welcome, as are applications to borrow material. In spite of several pleas, we have been unable to fill the shoes of Roger Taylor and appoint an Outreach Liaison Officer. This is a great pity as the Branch was well known internationally for its work in this area. So any outreach work at the moment tends to be on a personal level. Last year Pam Thompson outlined her own travels, which included Lithuania. I was very pleased to make my own visit there during the year, on the Library Association Career Development Group study tour. I was delighted to renew the acquaintance of three colleagues who were able to come to Edinburgh and to visit their libraries. The Academy of Music Library in Vilnius has had no acquisitions budget this year; they desperately need new materials, so we are attempting to collect donations to send to the Academy during the next year. Thanks to the IAML Outreach Fund, and generous donations from delegates, we were able to provide assistance for 9 overseas colleagues to attend the Conference in Edinburgh. Their contribution was most valuable and their presence added considerably to the overall success of the Conference. Press and Public Relations — Jay Glasby This year was devoted to organising the exhibition on the concourse of Appleton Tower for the Edinburgh 2000 conference. The package for exhibitors included an attractive stand, table and chairs as well as an entry in the delegate pack and 19 exhibitors booked space. At the conference, the exhibition took up most of the available space on the concourse and looked very attractive. We were also fortunate that the previous exhibitors left their carpet, contributing to the professional look of the exhibition. Inserts in delegate bags proved popular with organisations that decided not to exhibit. An article on the conference appeared in Classical Music 9 September 2000; a press release about the conference has also been sent to the Library Association Record but has not, to date, been published. We decided not to have a presence at the Library and Information Show held in the NEC at Birmingham in June, as comments received from last year's show concluded that this had not generated enough interest for members to operate a stand. Two press releases were prepared and sent to the Library Association Record; the announcements of the C.B. Oldman Prize and the E.T. Bryant Memorial Prize winners were published and an outline of Encore! was included in a news item concerning the BL Co-operation and Partnership Programme. During the year 2000, two editions each of Brio and the Newsletter were published. The second issue of the Newsletter was delayed slightly so that accounts of the International Conference of IAML, which was held in August in Edinburgh, could be included. At the time of writing, we have 166 overseas subscriptions to Brio and copies are donated to libraries in Bosnia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Spain and Tanzania. Twelve complimentary copies of the Newsletter, which is otherwise only available to IAML(UK) members, are also sent out. These complimentary copies are, for the most part, reciprocal arrangements with IAML branches in Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. The Annual Survey of Music Libraries in the UK, no.14 1998 was published in August 2000. The next Annual Survey will be available early in 2001. During the first part of the year the Performance Sets Provision Project Group waited with bated breath for the outcome of the bid for funding, which had been submitted to the British Library Co-operation and Partnership Programme, to continue building a national catalogue of performance sets. We were delighted to be awarded the grant for Encore 2 and in April set up the Encore Project Group. Work on Encore 1 could therefore merge seamlessly into Encore 2 and in June the catalogue as it stood was made available on the world wide web. Music librarians around the country immediately started to use it and confirmed that it was already saving staff time and effort in locating requested music. Partnerships were formed with BLDSC, the South Western Regional Library System and Yorkshire Libraries and Information; as I write work is under way at Boston Spa on converting the British Union Catalogue of Orchestral Sets and a project assistant is just about to start cataloguing the enormous collection of vocal sets in Wakefield. With the catalogue itself growing steadily we now need to find practical ways of keeping it updated so that it remains useful well into the future. IAML(UK) E-Mail List and Web Site — Julie Crawley Membership figures for the IAML(UK) email list are still rising. At the end of the year 2000 there were 146 registered users, up by 14 from the total at the end of 1999. Two members are registered both at home and at work. The amount of traffic on the list during 2000 rose considerably, from an average of 47 messages per month in 1999 to an average of 75 messages per month in 2000. Operational changes took place to the IAML(UK) email list during the last week of November 2000. Mailbase, a UK national service based at the University of Newcastle, established in 1989 to offer electronic mail lists and information sharing facilities to the higher education community, was taken over by JISCmail. The migration process took place over the weekend of 25/26 November and the new service was opened on Monday 27 November. The migration went reasonably smoothly, although there were a few peculiarities that had to be ironed out. Listowners were not automatically made members of the list, which explained why everyone except me seemed to be receiving messages on the list! The other problem was that people sending messages to the list did not receive their own message, but only a confirmation notice. Individuals were expected to change the setting themselves if they wanted to alter this, by posting a rather unintelligible command line to JISCmail; however, I have now changed the setting for all members. A useful feature of JISCmail is that it offers an automatic check on undelivered messages and so after a certain number of failed attempts the member is automatically removed from the list. This was previously done by the listowner, so some of the list administration is reduced. For people who are unfamiliar with the IAML(UK) email list and may be thinking of joining, the content of the messages on the list is very broad. Music enquiries requiring specialist knowledge, defying the usual sources, are passed over to members on the list, gaining replies in a matter of minutes. Less experienced music librarians have gained helpful advice from people on the list, including suggestions of printed sources and websites to try. Unwanted periodicals, sets of music or monographs have been advertised and found good homes. Cataloguing problems have been aired and solutions thrashed out. Orchestral and vocal sets have been requested, after the usual sources have drawn a blank. The list has been used for announcements of courses, job advertisements, new catalogues on the web, useful websites and Branch news, though commercial advertising is forbidden. Practices and procedures within different music libraries have been usefully compared via questionnaires circulated by members via the list. Opinions have been sought on government papers and national issues affecting music librarianship, such as the adoption of MARC 21, prior to a Branch response being sent by the President to the relevant body. For people wishing to join the list, point your web browser to www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/iaml-uk.html and follow the joining instructions. The IAML(UK) website has not received any major overhaul or facelift during 2000 — but I wish I could say the same for Roger Taylor, our illustrious Edinburgh International Conference Chair! A certain amount of web creativity and decapitation went into the creation of McRog, replete with bagpipes and chubby fingers, dressed in his tartan best. Taken in fine spirit, McRog's fame spread around the globe as potential International Conference delegates visited the conference website, the number of web hits dramatically increasing after McRog 'went live'. For information on future conferences and events offered by IAML(UK), committees and project groups, the IAML(UK) Library and other music websites, visit the IAML(UK) Home Page at www.iaml-uk-irl.org/ MARC Harmonisation — Ruth Hellen This was another excellent example of being able to bring together the right people at the right time. During the summer the British Library invited responses on the proposals for harmonising UK MARC with MARC21. A project group was convened, discussion invited on the IAML(UK) e-mail list, and a seminar attended by Richard Chesser, John Wagstaff and Malcolm Jones, with a surprise appearance by Roger Taylor. Their recommendations were incorporated into the Branch response: to opt for the full MARC21 format all at once. We pointed out that some libraries would find the costs prohibitive and asked to be included in any discussions concerning music, including music in alternative formats. As an innocent in such matters I was most grateful for the expert help and advice given by the Project Group and other Branch members. The C.B. Oldman Prize is awarded annually by IAML(UK) for an outstanding work of music librarianship, bibliography or reference. In 2000 the prize was awarded to Andrew Ashbee and David Lasocki for A biographical dictionary of English Court Musicians 1485-1714 (Ashgate 1998). The prize was received by Andrew Ashbee at the Annual General Meeting in April. The E.T. Bryant Memorial Prize, sponsored jointly by IAML(UK) and the Music Libraries Trust, was awarded, again at the AGM, to Helen Janota for An investigation into the use of music sound recordings in public libraries. The Music Libraries Trust — Rosemary Williamson The Trust provides support for the education and training of music librarians. It also encourages and supports research into music librarianship, music bibliography and related disciplines. Since 1982, the Trust has worked in conjunction with IAML(UK) to provide a focus for the inception of new ideas and for the skills of music librarians to be re-evaluated in the context of new technologies and changing bibliographical techniques. There were no changes to the Trustees. Rosemary Williamson continued as Secretary and Catherine Wilson acted as Bursaries Administrator for the period of Jane Harvell's maternity leave. During the year Sir Charles Mackerras, Anthony Payne and Ian Bostridge became patrons and Steve Race ceased to be a patron. Nicholas Williams continued as the Trust's representative on the the E.T. Bryant Memorial Prize committee. The Trust continued to support the Distance Learning Module in Music Librarianship project. Work on the stand-alone CD-ROM version of the module was completed in August 2000. Written by Ian Ledsham and designed by John Nelson, it is published by the University of Aberystwyth as The Comprehensive Guide to Music Librarianship. The package consists of two volumes with CD-ROM at a cost of £180. The initial reception of the package has been very positive. Three bursaries were awarded to enable music librarians to attend the IAML 2000 International Conference, held in Edinburgh, 6-12 August 2000. The recipients and individual sponsors were: Julie Crawley (Oxford University Faculty of Music Library), bursary from Cramer Music; Anna Smart (Royal Northern College of Music Library), bursary from the Staypar Charitable Trust; Wendy Harrisson (Guildhall School of Music and Drama Library), bursary from Schott & Co. Ltd. It was agreed that £700 should be awarded to the Encore! project, which aims to produce a national union catalogue of orchestral and vocal sets, accessible via the Internet. The Trust continues to support the Research Support Libraries Programme (RSLP) Ensemble project (£500 per annum for 3 years). A payment of £56.10 was awarded to Susan Bradbury to cover the transit costs of depositing the Ernest Bradbury Archive in the Brotherton Library. The Trust's publicity flyer was revised and reprinted. Stocks of the previous one had run low and the new one reflects changes in the trustees and patrons. The new version was distributed to delegates at the IAML Edinburgh 2000 conference in August. Officers President: Ruth Hellen (London Borough of Enfield Libraries) Elected Committee Members Chris Banks (Music Collections, British Library) Representatives The Library Association Susi Woodhouse Non-Voting Officers Minutes Secretary Peter Linnitt (BBC Music Library) The Executive met on four occasions in 2000: 19 January, 26 April, 19 July and 28 September Conference Committee Conference 2000 Management Committee Courses and Education Committee Documentation Committee Finance & Administration Committee Library Committee Trade & Copyright Committee C.B. Oldman Prize E.T. Bryant Memorial Prize Encore [from April] Festschrift [from April] IAML 2000 Advisory Group MARC Harmonisation [from September] MILDRED [from July] Outreach Project Group Performance Sets Provision [to April] ABSA [Association of Business Sponsorship for the Arts] Scottish Business Digest International Arts Navigator, journal of the International Arts Bureau AFFILIATIONS TO OTHER ORGANISATIONS EARL: Supporting Partnership Forum for Interlending Library and Information Co-operation Council [LINC] The Library Campaign National Forum for Information Planning National Music Council IAML(UK) is an Organisation in Liaison with The Library Association IAML(UK) is a National Branch of the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres
Eric Cooper; Anthony Hodges; Brian Redfern; Roger Crudge; Patrick Mills; Alan Sopher; Henry Currall; O.W. Neighbour; Pam Thompson |
In liaison with CILIP
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Page last updated: 24 July, 2003 23:18
© Chris Banks, Julie Crawley & IAML(UK & Irl) 1995-2005 |
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