Re: [ARSCLIST] Cataloging sound recordings

["Steven C. Barr" <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

see end...
----- Original Message -----
From: "Karl Miller" <lyaa071@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> On Thu, 5 May 2005, Matt Snyder wrote:
> > Whether the repository in question has a particular item, and, via the
> > rules of descriptive cataloging, what that item says about itself. If
the
> > record sleeve or cd insert doesn't say who was conducting the Beethoven
> > piano concerto, or was on drums for this Henry Mancini recording
session,
> > or whatever other particular information you're looking for, the MARC
> > record will not contain it. But, if such information is available to
> > someone doing discographical research, that data will go into a
> > discography. Catalogs contain info about sound containers, and can have
no
> > information other than what is on those containers.
> If one is limited to the information on a container, how can one assign a
> subject heading? I am not suggesting that subject headings should be
> required, but they are generally part of the process.
>
> Based upon what you have written...is the work done by the Institute for
> Jazz Studies a catalog, or a discography? How should one be able to access
> that information?
>
> As for the side players in a Mancini recording session...rarely do I find
> those musicians listed in a MARC record, even if they are listed on the
> container. Should all of that information be included? What about a group
> that usually is identified as a corporate entry...say the Juilliard String
> Quartet. Their membership has changed over the years. Does one need to
> list the individual players, if that information is included on the
> container.
>
> Then, as to taking the information from the container...
>
> Yesterday I was copy cataloging some album by a pop singer...perhaps Rita
> Coolidge??? The OCLC MARC record did not list any of the names of the
> supporting musicians...all listed on the container. I glanced down and saw
> the name...John Sebastian, harmonica. I was surprised to see his name,
> since I knew him from his recordings of classical music...mostly
> arrangements. I thought to myself, this was quite something to think that
> he might have been doing that sort of studio work. When it came time to
> check the authority file, I found another John Sebastian. I was then off
> on a 30 minute search to find out what was going on. At allmusic I found
> out that the son of the John Sebastian I knew, was also named John
> Sebastian (not listed as junior) and that this son also played the
> harmonica and was relatively well known in popular music circles.
>
> While the name came from the container, the identity, at least for me, did
> not.
>
> My question is...should descriptive cataloging indeed be limited to the
> information on the container? If so, what about a container that says a
> musician's music is in a style called fusion. There is no LC subject
> heading for fusion (music). Should one limit the use of
> subject headings to the designation assigned on the container.
>
> And then there is my favorite...XXXX's music combines classical, jazz,
> rock and world music to produce a unique style...  Which to my ears often
> ends up meaning, "New Age."
>
> As a PS to this...yesterday, while talking about some of these notions
> with one of my former students, we touched upon the MARC format and I
> raised the question, what comes next. He replied,"its here already. It's
> called HTML and it's free and relatively easy to use."
1) I posted extensively on this subject (catalog vs. discographic database)
yesterday evening, and it appeared on the list (I received a copy). In any
case, a database listing the phonorecords in a given collection...thus
actual physical entities...is a catalog; a database listing data on all
phonorecords which fit a given set of criteria is a discographic database,
since it does not refer to actual extant phonorecords.

2) The data included in a catalog is essentially up to the owner and
whomever is creating the database. Given that the IJS is very involved
with jazz discography, their catalog database probably includes a
number of discographic fields (as does my own catalog). Therefore,
it is a catalog of their holdings, as well as being a source of
discographic data. In fact, they may have a discographic project
in which they are trying to amass as many jazz records as possible,
whether or not they have copies. In this case, the database becomes
a discography, with a subset (presumably identifiable by a query)
being a catalog of their holdings.

The information included in a descriptive catalog is based on
decisions made by the cataloguing party, once it goes beyond a
set of essential standard fields (which may be defined in the
MARC program?). Keep in mind that most people would view a
catalog as something which tells which phonorecords the catalogee
has, and where they can be found, and little thought is given to
parties accessing the catalog as a source of discographic data.
This makes the inclusion of discographic data "icing on the cake"
so to speak. Obviously, items like personnel, tune titles and
the like may interest some catalog users, who may be looking
for records with certain sidemen. In fact, this is why I would
suggest that ARSC assist with some sort of specifications for
the core fields of catalogs and discographies!

3) HTML could, in theory, be used for cataloguing, by putting
the data in "Tables." However, in this case standardization of
fields (names and sizes) becomes more important; when data is
assembled into HTML scripts it would be nice if they were
compatible. In fact, phonorecord-related databases might be
best done in XML...a variant of HTML in which the user/programmer
defines the fields and the tags which mark them.

4) I don't see how it would be possible...or why it would be
useful...to create subject headings for individual phonorecords.
A non-fiction book will definitely have a subject...it will be
"about" some specific thing. Phonorecords really don't, with a
few specific exemptions. Where, for example, would one file
"One O'Clock Jump?" Under Timepieces? Chronology? Physical
Exercise (based on "jump")? It might be possible to treat their
genre as a subject (except that there are many phonorecords
where experts disagree as to genre!).

Steven C. Barr