special topic: public libraries || exploring public library music collections through social...

EXPLORING PUBLIC LIBRARY MUSIC COLLECTIONS THROUGH SOCIAL TECHNOLOGIESAuthor(s): Laurel TarulliSource: Fontes Artis Musicae, Vol. 57, No. 3, Special Topic: Public Libraries (July-September2010), pp. 267-274Published by: International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres(IAML)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23512146 .

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EXPLORING PUBLIC LIBRARY MUSIC COLLECTIONS THROUGH SOCIAL TECHNOLOGIES

Laurel Tarulli1

English Abstract Social technologies can assist in promoting and enhancing access to our music collections. This includes rating items, writing reviews, tagging, and interacting online with music experts at the li

brary. This new software allows for a level of discovery and exploration that has, up until now, been

difficult to achieve. An exploration of how some of these technologies work and how to decide what's best for your library is discussed in this article, along with the examination of next genera tion catalogues and how the promotion and use of user-generated information is shaping our col

lections and inviting community sharing and discovery. This article will discuss the impact user

generated information has on our music collections and examples of how libraries can use social cat

alogues to combine local collections with local events - all in one place.

French Abstract

Les technologies sociales peuvent contribuer à améliorer l'accès à nos collections musicales, car

elles permettent d'évaluer les documents, de publier des commentaires, de solliciter l'avis de

personnes spécialisées en ligne. Ce nouveau programme permet d'accéder à un niveau

d'exploration et de découverte qui était difficile à atteindre jusqu'ici. L'article propose de discuter le fonctionnement de ces technologies ainsi que d'aider les bibliothèques à opter pour les meilleurs

options. Il y est aussi question des catalogues qui seront utilisés par les générations futures, ainsi que de

la manière de promouvoir les informations provenant des usagers eux-mêmes et de leur utilisation

au sein de nos collections. Tout cela pour montrer l'impact que peut avoir l'usager sur nos collections

et comment les bibliothèques peuvent mettre les technologies au service de leurs collections locales,

en relation avec des événements locaux ... le tout étant regroupé en un seul et même endroit.

German Abstract

Web-2.0-Anwendungen und soziale Netzwerke können den Zugang zu den Beständen und deren

Bekanntheitsgrad verbessern. Dazu gehören: die Bewertung von Medien, das Schreiben von

Rezensionen, das Vergeben eigener Schlagworte durch Benutzer (Tagging) und die Onlinekommunikation mit bibliothekarischem Fachpersonal. Diese neuen Techniken eröffnen

Entdeckungen in den Beständen, die vormals kaum möglich waren. Wie diese Technik funktioniert und wie man entscheidet, welche davon für die eigene Bibliothek geeignet ist, wird in diesem Artikel erläutert. Außerdem geht es um Kataloge der neuen Generation und darum, wie

Propagierung und Mehrwert der von Nutzern erstellten Informationen sich auf die Bestände

1. Laurel Tarulli is the Collection Access Librarian at Halifax Public Libraries, Halifax, Canada. She can be

reached by email at [email protected] or through her blog, The Cataloguing Librarian, at http://

laureltarulli.wordpress.com/.

267



268 FONTES ARTIS MUSICAE 57/3

auswirken und zur Teilhabe und zum Entdecken einladen. Der Aufsatz erörtert die Auswirkungen, die nutzergenerierte Informationen auf unsere Musikbibliotheken haben und zeigt anhand von

Beispielen, wie Bibliotheken angereicherte Kataloge nutzen können, um ortsbezogene Bestände

mit lokalen Ereignissen - an einer Stelle! - zu verbinden.

Introduction

Wouldn't it be interesting to provide library patrons with music lists created by our lo cal musicians or have the ability to stream music through the library website based on the local symphony's season? Can you imagine patrons being able to create their own per sonalized lists of concerto scores found in the collection for easy retrieval or to find a be ginner piano book with the simple search term "piano"? What about retrieving associated items, such as Handel's Water Music in all formats, including CDs, musical scores, and live performances on DVD?

These concepts of greater access, discoverability, and interaction are no longer ideals, but reality. Despite missing the first wave of the Web 2.0 phenomenon, libraries are offer ing these features through the use of social technology and next generation, often called "social", catalogues. While some of these capabilities can only be obtained through ven dor services or products, which can be a financial barrier for many, there are also "free"

technologies that in-house experts and collaborating staff can implement. Unfortunately, while many libraries know about these features or have read about

them, they do not have the in-house knowledge or resources to implement them. Other public libraries have eager staff, but reluctant management, many of whom remain un convinced that these technologies are necessarily a benefit. As a result, public libraries are at a variety of stages in their use and implementation of social technologies.

While the idea of interactive technology that enables exploration and discovery in an online environment has been around as far back as the 1990s, it was only after the web 2.0 movement that libraries began experiencing swift development and buy-in for the new technology. Today, web 2.0 isn't such a new concept, but it has left a significant impact on the expectations of our users. In the Spring of 2009, OCLC released a report exploring what users and librarians want in their library catalogues2. It expressly lists many of the features we've come to expect in an online environment: immediacy, intuitive interfaces and an ability to contribute information (tagging, rating and reviewing).

As of the time of this writing, the report is not even a year old. Still, we've already seen a progression in technology that has changed our users' needs and expectations yet again: the development and release of Smart phones. More than ever, users are finding their in formation through friends, RSS feeds, Twitter, mobile applications, and links. As a result, we are now not only competing with the expectations that have been developed through the use of Amazon and iTunes, we are also competing with new technology and a differ ent method of discovering that we haven't seen before. However, social technologies have positively contributed to the public library's ability to reach users and to make contact with community members who have no desire to physically visit a library branch. The

2. OCLC. 2009. Online Catalogs: What Users and Librarians Want. An OCLC report. Dublin, Ohio : OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. ISBN. 1556534116. http://www.oclc.org/reports/onlinecatalogs/ fullreport.pdf (Accessed January 28, 2010),



PUBLIC LIBRARY MUSIC COLLECTIONS THROUGH SOCIAL TECHNOLOGIES 269

adoption and use of various forms of social software within the public library has in creased the accessibility and discoverability of collections that often go unnoticed or are

neglected. While DVDs, books, and downloadable collections continue to gain popularity with borrowers, social technology is allowing librarians to creatively explore marketing and promotional opportunities for low-circulating collections. This includes public li braries' music collections. However, as a result of these new technologies and the features

they offer music collections are gaining more attention and are benefiting from the inter

active, social environment that these technologies provide.

Exploring the Possibilities: Social Technologies and Next Generation

Catalogues

Whether you work in a public library that is keen on new technology or a small library with limited resources and expertise, it is important to take note of the emerging tech

nologies, their impact on music collections, and the big and small ways these new features can be added to your public library to suit the particular needs of your patrons and staff.

One of the biggest mistakes that public libraries make is thinking that they have to de vote a significant amount of time or resources in order to implement social features.

Encompassing both the library website and the library catalogue, it is possible to offer in

creased access, discovery, and user interaction to match the resources and commitment at your disposal. Today, libraries are using social software to enhance the library's visibil

ity, promote programs, and increase access to the collection. With the increasing options, libraries have the ability to choose technologies and features that fit the needs of their

users and complement their own expertise and resources. Social features can be as simple as adding a chat widget, such as Meebo3, to a library's

website and catalogue, or as significant as overlaying the library catalogue with a discov

ery tool such as Encore or AquaBrowser. It is, however, important to note that the term

"social" is misleading because of its strong association with social networks and user

generated information. While these are features of social software, any enhancement that allows greater discovery or interaction within the library catalogue or library website should be considered 2.0, or "social" technology.

For many librarians, particularly cataloguers, social technology conjures up images of

bibliographic records turned over to the masses. This is because we often associate social

technologies with the tagging, rating, and reviewing reflected in Amazon or

LibraryThing.4 What these new technologies really do is invite patrons to use different

tools to enhance access to the collection and to assist in not only finding items within the

collection, but determining their relevance.

Social catalogues, or next generation catalogues, offer a variety of ways in which music

collections can be discovered in a library's collection. In many public libraries, sound

recordings are physically browsed within branches or are found in the catalogue through known item searches. However, they are rarely found in the catalogue through browsing. Social catalogues promote browsing and discovery through faceted navigation. Faceted

navigation is the narrowing down of topics by format, subject, or any other category that

can be retrieved, categorized, and sorted through content within the bibliographic record.

3. http://www.meebo.com/ 4. www.amazon.com;www.librarything.com




They also promote browsing through the streaming of cover art. This is often achieved by using pre-structured list created by staff. These pre-structured lists are often bestsellers, recommended titles or "similar" list. However, it isn't just CDs that can be discovered

through these enhanced features. Printed music, often a format in public libraries that is difficult to access and is often as

sociated with a low circulation, can be found by a variety of means by using discovery tools. AquaBrowser, an example of a discovery tool which overlays the catalogue, not only allows faceted navigation but also provides images that visually represent all of the for mats associated with a given search term. Rather than merely displaying cover art, if a

user searches "Rachmaninoff" the results retrieved will include a display of icons at the

top of the page, depicting printed music, books, sound recordings, and additional formats

representing collections that include items by or about Rachmaninoff. Choosing a format, the facets allow users to narrow down their search by categories such as author, title, date of publication, genres, or subject headings. And, with a "bread crumb" trail, it is easy to

track back to the original search. This is especially useful when finding similar items, such as choosing a format and narrowing down first by instrument and then period. It can also be used as another way to browse for similar titles.

Noteworthy in many of these discovery tools is the ability for a search term to call up translations of that term. For music collections, which are often represented in a variety of languages, this provides the user with a powerful tool in recalling items in multiple lan

guages, based on a single search term. In addition to translations, spelling variants or dif ficult terminology is also an issue with music collections. These new social catalogues in clude a "Did you mean ... ?" feature, similar to what users have come to expect because of Google. This is especially helpful when dealing with difficult spellings or variations of

composers' names and music terminology. However, despite the usefulness of these tech

nologies, they do not replace the need for accurate data within bibliographic records It should be noted that the "did you mean" feature can guide users into a blind alley where there's no result even under the "did you mean" link. As a result, it is important to recog nize the limitations of your software. For example, can you add track dead-end search, with the opportunity of creating additional "did you mean?" links to provide direction to relevant results, or is customization limited?

These discovery tools also allow users to generate their own information. Whether

they are interested in live performances on DVD, CDs, scores, or downloadable music, pa trons can create personal lists with names such as Favourites, Bach, or Scores to Perform.

And, depending on their motivation, they can keep this information private, or share it with the library catalogue community. Like in LibraryThing or Del.icio.us5, users can tag items, creating custom access points, or search using someone else's tags, which populate the catalogue and therefore enhance access. If your library doesn't have a resident music

expert, this also allows local musicians and connoisseurs to add value to existing biblio

graphic records by applying key access points that cataloguers may not have used. In a

public library setting this is useful because there is not always a music expert or a cata

loguer with musical knowledge among the staff. However, there are limitations. Often, however, this tagging is motivated by personal usage, which leads to tags that serve no

purpose to the larger library community. Understanding the weighting process of tags, if

5. http://delicious.com/




those tags are user-generated or populated from other sources and the relevancy and

ranking that is applied to these tags all play a role in their success or failure. For cataloguers and reference librarians, the ability to tag has by-passed some of the

difficulty that has traditionally occurred with the use of uniform headings. Uniform head

ings, while extremely beneficial for collection and purposes of organizing information, often aren't the "popular" name of a work. At other times, the uniform title of an item does not represent all of the musical compositions within that one item. This is especially true for sound recordings. Through the use of tagging, as well as facets, users can find all of

the recordings, reference resources, or printed music available in the collection associated with a piece or musician - and keep those found things found through a variety of options.

One of the most useful uses of tags is the ability to sort them to create additional cate

gories by which to search music collections. They include mood, theme, geographical region, and song titles in addition to the traditional artist name, album, or genre.

With the invitation of user-generated information, reviews can also be written by users and found within the library catalogue. This is especially useful if sound clips to musical

recordings are not available for streaming. Reviewers can often relay useful information

to other users, which may include the quality of the recording or musicians. Others may review scores and discuss the arrangements, if parts are missing or if there are issues with the print quality or notation fonts.

However, many public libraries still shy away from inviting user-generated information.

That does not mean that they cannot socially enhance their online presence. Libraries can

take advantage of their in-house music experts or local musicians and create live, linkable

lists within bibliographic records. Achievable without a discovery tool, these lists are com

piled by staff and then added to the catalogue through a specialized field in the biblio

graphic record. Once this field is added, with the appropriate list name, it then displays within the library catalogue, allowing swift navigation between associated records, de

pending on the theme of the list. Once these lists begin to build in quantity, many provide these lists on the main page of their catalogue or website, even adding live, streaming im

ages to enhance the user experience. In readers' advisory work, this is often done with read-alikes and book lists built in-house for reading programs, events, holidays or based

on popular titles or genres. Or, another popular alternative is to invite local musicians to

create lists coinciding with a local performance or the symphony's theme for the season.

Keeping in mind that the library catalogue is no longer a destination spot, but another

resource found through links and friends, the use of RSS feeds and widgets6 is extremely

important. Having simple, text-based catalogue options for mobile devices and RSS feeds

provides a gateway into the library catalogue that doesn't involve sitting at a computer and

actively seeking the public library's website. Music lists, featured streaming events, or

YouTuhe videos of local music events housed on a library's website creates a one-stop

shop for music lovers, musicians, or the casual music listener. Community members want

to connect with other community members with similar interests. They want to share

their reading lists and preferences, ultimately arriving at the library catalogue through a

variety of other social media venues. Public libraries are and can continue to successfully use social technologies to assist with this.

6. Widget: The shortened form of the term web widget, it is defined as "an application that sits on top of a

Web site and offers users additional interactive features", http://www.netlingo.com/word/widget.php

(Accessed May 11, 2010).




It is important, when choosing the social technology to use at any public library, that it can be supported and that it meets the users' needs. While social software can be exciting and flashy, it can be hard to maintain and expensive. It can also be a poor fit for the com

munity it is serving. The term "community" is exactly what should be addressed with so cial software. Does the added feature benefit the user and provide a sense of ownership and enhanced interaction with the staff and members of the library? Does it get better

every time it is used? An important consideration is if, in fact, social software in a library should be considered another social network, or, more of a collaborative experience that reflects an extension of the physical library environment of "walking through the stacks".

Goals, objectives and an understanding of how the local community regards the library will reflect what type of social software can be implemented, or if it will be useful.

A worst case scenario in any library is adding an enhanced feature that is unsuccess ful. For example, imagine creating a music blog for the library. Contributors to the blog consist of library staff with a keen interest in music. However, the demands on staff time are high, requiring several blog posts a week. Soon, contributors are finding the blog a

chore, and their posts reflect their lack of enthusiasm. While the idea was exciting, the

energy that should build momentum and sustain the blog lead to failure due to unreason able expectations on staff time, and an inability for readers of the blog to stay current on the articles due to the sheer quantity of posts. And, with the daily posting, most users ei ther give up on the blog, or read it occasionally. This is extremely disappointing when most blogs are created with a social feel, and are intended to invite user interaction and feedback. However, if the blog is successful, it can invite user feedback, suggestions and links back into the library catalogue or to electronic resources. This provides an open door for the community to enter and interact with the library and each other. It also allows librarians to see what patrons want in their public library's music collection. It can also

highlight the library collection's strengths and weaknesses. With the implementation of any new project, including projects that involve these new

social technologies, the expectations and desired outcomes need to be determined.

Perhaps the blog should feature reviews on local performances, with links into the library catalogue for related items. What about featuring a new composer or musician every month and exploring what materials are in the library's collection are associated with this

person? Maybe the idea of a blog was wrong for the community and a simple RSS feed or live chat widget with a music expert would have worked better. These factors need to be examined in each public library setting.

The use of social technologies in libraries also has the potential to impact collection de

velopment practices. While selectors and vendors do their best to create a rich and, ulti

mately, well-rounded collection, if the collection isn't circulating, it isn't successful. Taking the popular patron feature "suggestions for purchase" a step further, user-generated information can provide useful statistics into community interests and needs. Statistics based on user tags, reviews and reading lists allow libraries to build collections around user interests and borrowing patterns, while still maintaining user privacy.

Vendors are also offering a variety of enriched content that considers a user's desire to

explore items prior to borrowing them. Naxos Music Library as well as others allow for live music streaming for hundreds of thousands of tracks. In addition to streaming the mu

sic, users can access notes on the works and biographical information. They can also cre ate their own private playlists of music that they like or that they want to focus on. Public libraries can take advantage of this, offering the community access to such a wide variety




of musical recordings that they could never physically collect due to the sheer quantity. The danger, of course, of online collections is that the public library is at the mercy of an outside source to provide continual access. Each company that provides an online site is

subject to term contracts. As a result, it is possible for a record company to decide that an online service no longer works for them and they can remove their material from the site

overnight, and hence, from the library at the same time. As with many of our other online

collections, we are opening ourselves up to the same issues that we face with any of our other subscription databases and online journals.

With the ability to stream music, the personalized lists that reside on a catalogue's site can now be taken a step further and streamed through a home computer or mobile device.

Imagine featuring the local symphony's season in a series of linkable, streaming music lists? The possibilities, as they continue to become available, are endless. Even if libraries are not yet ready or able to commit the resources to these specialized features, there are alternatives. A simple, home-grown way to explore similar features is by linking to musi cian's MySpace sites, which allow streaming or adding links to additional, music specific, reviews. If cataloguers are unable to take the time to add this content into the biblio

graphic record, a library blog could certainly feature posts that include this information

and, ultimately, receive user feedback as to its popularity. Finally, the new federated searching products have provided a way for public libraries

to offer a single search box to explore the entire collection, including subscription data bases. Through the use of such products as Search 3607, patrons can have transparent ac cess to their library's electronic subscriptions to music resources.

Conclusion

Social software should be intuitive, easy and enjoyable; even for reluctant computer users. With a simple keyword search, a library's entire music collection should be dis

coverable. And, sadly, it is an acceptable fact that music collections traditionally have not

been the most heavily promoted or circulated collections in public libraries. In fact, many predict that CDs and printed music will soon be weeded out of the collection, to be re

placed by downloadable music and scores. However, with the use of social technology, hidden gems in our collection can be found easily as they display side by side with popu lar items. One of the key features that these new technologies are allowing libraries to do

is to gather related musical formats or themes and bring them together through a variety of methods. These social technologies also allow a sharing of information among musi

cians and music enthusiasts within the community. Whether a public library chooses a

discovery tool, music lists, RSS feeds, or live YouTube performances on their website, it

is always in an effort to promote the usefulness of the music collection and the vast array of items available for library patrons.

While music collections in public libraries are often difficult to access and are not the

highest circulating items, social software is allowing another level of discovery and ex

ploration that is almost tactile in nature. Shortly, perhaps, there will not only be live

streaming offered through libraries, but downloadable sheet music or one-on-one lessons

with musicians currently offered through video recordings. Music collections are at a

7. http:/7www.serialssolution.com/360-search/




point of transition within public libraries. Sound recordings are expensive or sometimes

impossible to replace when damaged, lost, or stolen, printed music is almost non-existent, and reference materials and resources are given little or no attention. However, the use of social software and the advancements that are being made are allowing librarians to high light their music collections as well as providing a way for patrons to discover items that

have, up until now, been difficult to access. Whatever social software is used to enhance your music collection, always consider the

resources, expertise, and purpose of the software and community that is being served. In the end, the increased circulation and visual attention that a music collection can achieve

through social software is worth the effort. The nature of how we provide information and the idea that our users should assist in generating information can be difficult to accept or

adjust to. However, the possibilities that can be achieved through this software, and the creative ways libraries are implementing these technologies is impressive and exciting.



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