BCC
Metadata
Subcommittee
Annual Report:
FY 2009/2010
Members: Jenn Riley, chair
(2008-2013), Keith Chapman
(2009-2013), Eric Harbeson (2009-2013), Caitlin Hunter (2009-2013),
Karen Lund
(LC Representative), James Mason (2009-2011), Renée McBride
(2009-2011), Felicia
Piscitelli (2009-2011), Terry Simpkins (2009-2013), Kimmy Szeto
(2010-2014), Rebecca
Thompson (2009-2011)
Report
on Activities:
The
2009/2010 fiscal year was the first full year of existence for the BCC
Metadata
Subcommittee, having been established in early 2009. We met formally in
person
at the MLA 2010 Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA, for the first time,
getting to
know one another and brainstorming ideas in a form that’s
difficult to
replicate with solely online communication. Our work during this fiscal
year
focused heavily on more fully exploring various aspects of our charge,
including providing “forums for the discussion of music
metadata issues” and
facilitating “the creation of guidelines and best practices
for the application
of metadata standards to musical materials.”
To
provide a forum for discussion and further education of the MLA
membership on
non-MARC metadata issues, the Metadata Subcommittee through its parent
Bibliographic Control Committee proposed a session for the MLA 2010
Annual
Conference entitled “Workflow Design for Metadata
Creation.” The session
featured three speakers: Caitlin Hunter from the Library of
Congress’ Recorded
Sound Division, Amanda Harlan from Baylor University, and
Renée McBride from
the Resource Description & Management Department at the
University of North
Carolina-Chapel Hill. It was extremely well-attended, and participants
and
audience members alike commented on the benefits of its wide scope
combined
with advice on practical application of non-MARC metadata workflows.
In
support of our charge to create
metadata guidelines and best practices, in 2009/2010 the BCC Metadata
Subcommittee partnered with the American Library
Association’s Task Force on
Audio Preservation Metadata Task Force, within the ALA ALCTS
(Association for
Library Collections and Technical Services) Preservation and
Reformatting
Section, to produce an online resource “Metadata Standards
and Guidelines
Relevant to Digital Audio.” This resource may be found online
on an ALA-hosted
site, at
<http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alcts/resources/preserv/audio_metadata.pdf>.
MLA’s partnership to create this document was made possible
through the
Association’s liaison program, in the form of financial
support for the
Metadata Subcommittee chair to attend the ALA conference and facilitate
connections with relevant ALA groups.
At
our Subcommittee’s in-person meeting at MLA 2010, we agreed
to embark upon a
fairly large-scale effort to create an online music metadata resource
clearinghouse.
We understand the complexity of building such a resource and keeping it
up to
date over time. To attempt to focus our efforts in the initial stages,
we plan
to issue a survey to the MLA membership designed to better understand
what the
needs are for such a resource. We are excited about the possibilities
this
initiative could bring to MLA, and to the library, archives, and museum
communities in general. The results from this survey will allow us to
build the
most useful resource possible. We are also continuing to explore other
educational opportunities. Finally, at the 2010 MLA Annual Meeting, the
Subcommittee accepted the resignation of valued member Linda Barnhart.
Following the meeting, we welcomed Kimmy Szeto of the Queens Borough
Public
Library to our ranks as a replacement for Linda.
List
of previous goals and progress made toward each goal:
As
formal goals for committees are a new initiative for MLA in 2010/2011,
the BCC
Metadata Subcommittee did not set formal goals in 2009/2010. We had an
informal
goal to simply get the Subcommittee moving on a variety of initiatives,
and as
detailed in our report on activities, we believe we have made
significant
progress towards this goal. However, there is always more to do.
List
of goals for the next year:
- Construct
and distribute a survey to the MLA membership designed to better
understand
what individuals and institutions need from an online music metadata
clearinghouse. Ask questions about how systems work on the back end
that aren’t
available looking at end-use interfaces from the outside, the
availability of
metadata creation documentation and sample records, and the specific
tools used
to create and manage non-MARC metadata. Issue the survey and begin
compiling
results before the MLA 2011 Annual Meeting.
- Begin
developing a general structure for the online music metadata
clearinghouse,
including articulating a vision for what it will look like in one year,
two
years, and five years.
- Continue
to explore partnership with groups outside of MLA, to bring knowledge
of music
metadata issues to relevant groups, and to inform MLA of initiatives
relevant
to our work going on in other areas.