Publication about sound recordings

The Music Library Association is pleased to announce the publication of
Archival Information Processing for Sound Recordings by David H. Thomas
(MLA Technical Report, No. 21). ISBN 0-914954- 45-8 ($33.00).

This report contains a theoretical and practical discussion of the work
of the author in creating a database for the noncommercial sound
recordings in the Rodgers & Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound of
the New York Public Library.  Recognizing that neither standard archival
practice, which uses limited points of access leading to a register, nor
standard library cataloging, which provides multiple points of access
but is too time-consuming for an archival situation, the author has
developed a system that serves both the processors of materials and the
users of the collections. In the words of the Assistant Chief of the
Archives, the "database has helped turn chaos into order, 'stuff in the
box' into processed collections, curator's memory into printed finding
aids, miscellaneous retaping into systematic preservation routines, and
labor-intensive scanning of archival registers into quick and easy
computer searching."  This work will be an important addition to the
knowledge of every music librarian, archivist, and private collector who
has any interest or involvement with sound recordings.  David H. Thomas
is Supervising Catalog Librarian and Sound Archivist at the Archives.

The report is available for $33.00 ($27.00 to MLA members) from the
Music Library Association, P. O. Box 487, Canton, MA 02021.  For a
review copy, contact MLA at the above address or Richard E. Jones, MLA
Publicity Officer, 1904 Sandalwood Drive, Greencastle, IN 46135.  A
complete list of MLA publications in music bibliography and music
librarianship is also available.

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                   Conservation DistList Instance 6:1
                   Distributed: Friday, June 5, 1992
                        Message Id: cdl-6-1-010
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