Re: Recent cataloging thread on the new JLM List

[Stephen <steves...>]

The following, asking for advice from the "Jewish Music Heritage
Trust" <jewishmusic (at) jmht(dot)org> in London, is very informative and
refers to a problem of a universal nature, so I felt I should to share
it with this list also.

Apologies to those of you who belong to both lists for the repetition.

Stephen
======================
> Dear Stephen
> Thank you for including the Jewish Music Heritage Trust, London in
your
> Jewish Shul Music List.

> First of all I would like to announce that we are inviting all male
> synagogue singers to join in a massed choir to sing Zavel Zilberts
Al
> Naharos Bovel at St John's Smith Square on Tuesday 29 June this
year. We
> will welcome both choirs and individuals.  We can help to arrange
> university style accommodation and this concert will also be part of
a much
> larger multifaith Sacred Voices Festival taking place in London this

> Summer.  The music will be recorded for the Milken Archive of
American
> Jewish Music.  It is hoped that choirs from South Africa and Holland
will
> participate, as well as UK choirs.  It is also expected that Schola
> Hebraica from New York will be present.  The choirs will be
rehearsed by
> Mark Temerlies, the founder and conductor of the Neimah Singers of
St Johns
> Wood Synagogue.  The concert will be conducted by Neil Levin.
> For further details contact Viv Bellos at vivbellos (at) jmht(dot)org
>
> We are in the process of establishing a cataloguing system for our
large
> collection of several thousand LPs of all kinds of Jewish Music.  In
my
> researches in various institutions is Israel and the USA, I have
found that
> although there are systems for doing this, they may not be so user
friendly
> for the smaller collections. Also everyone I speak to uses a
different
> system, and no one is really pleased with the system they use.
>
> I am keen to develop a system that will be helpful to everyone who
has a
> collection, so that they are instantly comparable and deal with the
> special problems of Jewish music. I want to create a system where
retrieval
> will yield information about recordings, manuscripts and books and
give details of
> text, composition, date, region, use, settings etc. I also know of
several
> other small collections waiting to be catalogued and would like to
help
> create a user-friendly database on Filemaker Pro, that could be
given to
> all small collectors so that they can all catalogue according to the
same
> fields.

> Then I would like to 'publish' this on the internet. Obviously this
must
> not conflict with major collections, and must be compatible. Do any
of your
> subscribers have any advice, or who do you think I should consult
with.

> Is it a good idea, or would I just be repeating what already exists?

>
> I hope any of you who have thought about cataloguing and have tried
your
> hand at it will take a few minutes to communicate with me on this.
What
> would you think are the ten most important fields to have on a main
> database regarding recordings.  There could then be several
'sub-cards'
> dealing with each song/piece on the LP/CD, with the composer etc.
>
> Some of the questions asked can be dealt with in the following
ways:  (as
> suggested by one experienced cataloguer) Please give me your
comments if
> you can:
> For example, the "table" dealing with each long play album, cassette
or
> CD should contain the album title, issuing company, year, -could
contain
> country or city where issued, whether it is a reissue, (how and
where
> acquired,- probably more appropriate to a private collector), total
time
> of the recordings, and references to the performers and titles on
the
> recording. Also whether the item is a 33rpm LP, 45, cassette or CD.
Space
> for comment is helpful... Copyright information would also be
helpful.
>
> Titles (in the modern database) should be a separate "Table"
> Fields in the "Titles" table would contain the title of each track,
> references or connectors to various related tables, such as authors
or
> lyrists, composers, the album on which recorded, performing artists,

> arrangers (this will complicate your life), perhaps space for
comments,
> references to keywords (to be mentioned later). A useful field might
be
> the recording time of each track.
>
> Also, since the same songs may be know by different titles, a cross
> referencing system should be developed. Another similar issue is
that
> different songs may be known by the same title. Viglid, Nigun, Doyne
are
> examples. A system should be developed to differentiate these songs.

>
> First or opening lines are a valuable tool for retrieval. My system
has
> been to attempt to enter the first line as sung or recorded. Takes a
lot
> of time, but helps in retrieval. Make a decision on dialect ("Vu"
ahin
> zol ikh geyn? or "Vi" ahin zol ikh geyn (if sung "Vi") I try to stay

> with the song as published.
>
> Keywords have been important, especially for students, researchers,
etc.
> Originally, I wanted to have a separate field for style, subject
matter
> and type, but it got so complex, I just used "Keywords" and have
space
> for four keywords. No predefined list. Today I think I'd have three
> tables and try to develop some consistency.
>
> One of the most important features is a reference to publications in

> which original text, transliteration, translation and melody can be
> found. Can't urge you enough to include this information in your
system.
> The language of the recording...

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