Notes for Notes

During the 2018 Music Library Association annual meeting in Portland, Oregon, the following awards were given:

The MLA Citation, MLA's highest honor for distinguished service to music librarianship, was conferred upon Geraldine ("Gerry") E. Ostrove in recognition of her career-long contributions, specifically in clarifying the complex nature and application of music subject headings, as well as the separate treatment of music form and genre in subject cataloging. A vocal advocate for music and music librarianship throughout her long and distinguished career, and passionately devoted to the Music Library Association, her style, grace, eloquent and persuasive prose have graced many pages of publications, and her broad vision of the application of music subject headings and form/genre information will be influential for generations to come. Highly visible and active within various library and scholarly organizations, Ostrove has served MLA, most notably as president from 1985 to 1987; and in IAML, as vice president of its Bibliography Commission and president of the U.S. Branch. She was the founding author of the "Recent Publications in Music" column, which appeared in Fontes Artis Musicae (1989–2012), a global bibliography of music publications that many found useful for collection development purposes.

MLA grants the A. Ralph Papakhian Special Achievement Award to a member who has provided extraordinary service to the profession of music librarianship in a focused time frame or in a focused area. The 2018 A. Ralph Papakhian Special Achievement Award went to Judy Tsou and Michael Colby. Diversity and inclusion are critical goals across our profession. Within music librarianship, MLA was fortunate to participate in an IMLS-funded program supporting ARL-MLA Diversity and Inclusion Initiative Scholars. As with all grants, the challenge intensifies as the program draws to a close. Judy Tsou and Michael Colby refused to let MLA's momentum in this important area dissipate. They chose to step forward personally and professionally, insisting on the priority of continuing a Diversity Scholarship program, and volunteered of themselves to ensure that there would be leadership to accomplish the task. Judy and Michael gave generously of their time, energy, personal resources, professional connections, vision, and creativity. Their commitment galvanized a movement that resulted in no gap in support between the grant-funded program and MLA's own. The board wishes to recognize and thank Judy and Michael, and applauds what can be accomplished for MLA, and for the profession, through the commitment of individual members with undeterred dedication and passionate confidence in their colleagues.

The Richard S. Hill Award for the best article on music librarianship or of a music-bibliographic nature was awarded to Kevin Kishimoto and Tracey Snyder for their article, "Popular Music in FRBR and RDA: Toward User-Friendly and Cataloger-Friendly Identification of Works," Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 54, no. 1 (2016): 60–86. The awards committee wrote that Kishimoto and Snyder's article about cataloging popular music and music outside of the Western Art tradition is a thorough, well-written, and often humorous discussion of how strict adherence to cataloging models can lead to decisions that do not align with user expectations, while also causing workflow inefficiencies for the cataloger. The authors give not only an overview of the topic, but do so in accessible and approachable language. By discussing and considering multiple facets of the issues at hand, the authors suggest solutions that consider cultural practices within music cataloging, fit within user expectations, and provide for more practical efficiencies for the cataloger.

The Vincent H. Duckles Award for the best book-length bibliography or other research tool in music was presented to Jane Gottlieb for her book Music Library and Research Skills, 2d edition (New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016). As the Publication Awards Committee wrote: Gottlieb provides readers with a thorough and meticulously crafted guide to music libraries, research methodology, and print and electronic resources. In describing music research tools, she offers invaluable information on their history, scope, and contents. Gottlieb also provides sage advice on bibliographic style, copyright, and resources for exploring careers in music. Drawing from her extensive experience in music librarianship, Gottlieb elegantly captures the current state of the art in music...