Hartt Composers Database

Jennifer Olson, Senior CatalogerSam Cook, Public Services Librarian

Allen Memorial Library, The Hartt School, University of Hartford

NEMLA Fall Meeting, October 16, 2009Lamont Library, Harvard University

Allen Memorial Library• Staff: 2 professional FT, 3 paraprofessional FT• Open 84.5 hours per week• 22,000 books and bound journals• 400 print and electronic journal titles • 40,000 scores• 22,000 sound recordings, including recordings of Hartt

students and faculty.• Naxos, DRAM, and Classical Music Library• 900 videocassettes and DVDs.

The value of a library is in its

unique holdings

Possibilities Finding aid

Bibliography

Enhance the catalog

Searchable database

Considerations

Audience/Users Who are they?

How do they look for music?

What do they want?

Streamlined searching

Simplified results

Why not enhance the catalog?

Separate database gets attention

Promotional tool

Easier to manipulate and improve

Easier to navigate for users

Single location summary of a work

Cost and time

Process

Possible ContentCurrent faculty:6 composers, 184+ works

Emeritus faculty:2 composers (1 active), 102+ works

Faculty Deceased/Unknown Status:3 composers, 46 works

Other: Visiting faculty (past and present), lesser-known past faculty, notable alumni

Current Content

Current faculty:

Few select samples, fit with workflow

Emeritus faculty:

Complete works of James Sellars (inactive)

Select works of Edward Diemente

Deceased/Unknown Status:

Few select samplesTotal: 156 items*

* Not all are complete entries, more entries added weekly

Database decisions

Microsoft Access database with Active Server

Pages (ASP)

Which fields?

What goes in the fields?

Search interface

Results display

Linking of results

Fields: Title

No uniform titles needed Mostly distinctive titles Users not likely to search by title

Alphabetizing title field for cleaner-looking display

Title displays in first column in results

Fields: Composer

Only standardized field

Authorized

form of

name

Fields: Copyright

Emphasizes to students concept of

copyright and the composer’s rights

Gives some idea of time frame if year

of composition is not in annotation

Fields: Fields: InstrumentationInstrumentation

Search interface view, instrumentation:

Results screen view, instrumentation:

Fields: Publishing Information

Place of publication Publisher

Facilitate finding parts Cachet of “published” Unpublished/published

Fields: Library Specific

Call number in library

Format held

Link to catalog

Fields: Description

Overview (Tonal? Aleatoric?

Sonata?)

Skills required to perform

Unique features

Fields: Description

Call number of recording if available

(often the only recording available

anywhere for many works in the

database)

Timing, date of composition,

dedication when applicable/available

Description

Fields: Special Techniques or Concepts

Aleatoric or indeterminate elements Unspecified instruments Extended techniques Electronics (Includes tape, sound

processing, amplification, etc.) Theatrical elements

Data Entry Form

Things to Think About

Naming conventions and composer names with diacritics

Sorting capabilities/priorities Initial articles Interface design Searching instructions

Things to Think About

Approval to go live from library web committee and library Head

Publicity/Launch Composer support

The Interface

The Code

•Code Used: HTML (overall structure), CSS (formatting display), ASP (dynamic elements), SQL (database queries), ADO (communicating with database)•Good site for learning about code: http://w3schools.com•Google searches work great for finding solutions

The Interface

The Display

Database

•Tabs for easy navigation and quick access to other options•Instruments in score order, followed by vocal and other

•For an instrument search, simply click on the appropriate checkbox and click on Search

•Default sort: AlphaTitle•Default # of Players is between 1 and 1000 players (Focus on chamber music)•Designed to look similar to Koha OPAC•Clicking on title retrieves item record for that title

•Click on desired heading to change sort order•Current issue: Reordering loads new page, rather than just changing order on current page

•Instrumentation field used here separate from fields used for searching. Allows for more specific instrumentation to be listed in actual record.•Library call Number link connects user to item record in Koha OPAC•Future enhancement: Make sure all recording call numbers in Notes link to item record in OPAC•Possible enhancement: One page preview of scores•Possible enhancement: Audio clip of work

•Users can use the OPAC item record to find more detailed bibliographic information as well as to determine availability of work•Note the similar blue coloring in the top bar•Possible enhancement: Link from OPAC record to Hartt Composer Database record

•For multiple instruments, simply check off multiple boxes. This will search for all works that include both clarinet and a keyboard instrument.

•As one would expect, a search for more instruments retrieves a smaller list•Note that all instruments selected are listed at the top of the search

•Minimum and Maximum number of Players fields can be used to help form a chamber group•The above example shows a clarinet and viola player who want to form a chamber group somewhere between a quintet and octet•Possible enhancement: Limit by number of players on any given instrument, not just total number of players

•This type of search will retrieve much more focused results •As more works are entered into database, more of these types of searches will yield quality results

•Full item record shows complete instrumentation, which should always include the instruments that were originally selected

•One quirk of the system can be seen by selecting a large number of instruments

•This work is almost always retrieved (unless a vocal part is selected) as it is for any instrument or instruments. As such, all instruments are checked off in database entry for this work.•This quirk is likely to show up more than once with contemporary music

•The second section is the Composer Browse. This is useful for a user who already has a particular composer in mind.•Future enhancement: Include this list as a drop-down menu in Instrument Search to allow users to limit by composer in addition to instrumentation and number of players

•Individual composer entries include brief bio, picture, and works list•Possible enhancements: Separate works by genre, similar to New Grove•Users can also access composer pages by clicking on composer’s name on search results page or in individual item record

•Last section is About Composer Database•This section will probably be expanded to have more useful information

Future Changes More works Notable alumni composers University web redesign may impact look Koha impact

Composer-submitted annotations and

biographies, sample pages of works

Tracing of student/teacher relationships

Enhanced functionality

http://library.hartford.edu/allenlibrary/composers/composers.asp

•This is a fully functional database, but there will be some further improvements before we go live.•We would be glad to share the code as long as enhancements are sent back to us and you let us know when you go live.•Feel free to email suggestions and/or comments to either Jennifer (jolson@hartford.edu) or Sam (scook@hartford.edu)

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