# NEWS FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

# MOUG/MLA 

# 2009

The News from the Library of Congress this year includes reports from
the major Library units concerned with music and sound recording
materials: Music Division, National Audio-Visual Conservation Center,
the Policy and Standards Division, and the American Folklife Center.
Reports from other Library units which may contain concerns of
importance to the music library community (e.g., Copyright Office,
Office of Strategic Initiatives) may be found in the ALA Midwinter
report on the Library's website:
<http://www.loc.gov/ala/mw-2009-update.html>

The Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access Directorate (ABA) reorganized
in October 2008. The new organizational structure merges acquisitions
and cataloging functions, based on the regional origin of materials
selected for addition to the Library's collections---more than 2.5
million items each year. Approximately 615 ABA staff members, formerly
working in 14 divisions, are now assigned to nine new divisions.
Additionally, approximately twenty staff who catalog music and sound
recordings were reassigned from the ABA Directorate to the Music
Division, Collections and Services Directorate, on October 1.

**MUSIC DIVISION**

*\-- Reported by Steve Yusko and Joe Bartl*

**Important Division Trends**

The Music Division took several steps forward in Fiscal Year 2008 to
improve access to its collections. With a mobile scanner and help from
the ITS scan lab, it digitized the treasures of the Whittall collection
(110 manuscripts of European masters such as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and
Brahms) which will soon be available on the Performing Arts Encyclopedia
web site. Other upcoming releases will include selections from our
collections pertaining to Felix Mendelssohn, Coptic Orthodox Liturgical
Chants and Hymns, and Ballets Russes de Serge Diaghilev.\" Renowned
scholars have told us they are thrilled that these will be put on line.
In addition new scans include presentations on American Choral Music,
John Philip Sousa, Concerts from the Library of Congress, and Musical
Instruments at the Library of Congress, providing direct access to
collection items and past concert performances. Fifteen new entries for
special collections were added to the Performing Arts Encyclopedia. A
Request for Proposals was issued to contractors to scan the card
catalogs in preparation for retrospective conversion which will give new
internet access to the Music Division's bibliographic records predating
1981. And closer cooperation with the two Music Cataloging Teams has led
to greater access to items the Music Division considers top priority
based on usage, value, and security.

The Music Division continued its tradition of offering a wide range of
public programs in 2008-09, including 40 concerts and events in the
Coolidge Auditorium with displays of related music treasures in the
foyer, lectures, master classes, film screenings, and a symposium. The
lecture series established jointly with AMS featuring the work of
scholars who have used the collections has continued. 45 orientation
sessions targeted to the curricula of the classes addressed were given
this year. These outreach programs serve to publicize the collections,
inform the public of their depth and diversity, encourage scholarship
and increase donations.

Stevie Wonder will be awarded the 2^nd^ Library of Congress Gershwin
Prize for Popular Song Feb. 23, 2009. There will be a concert which will
include his work that was commissioned by the Library. The Prize was
inaugurated for the purpose of publicizing and improving the Library's
popular music collections, developing substantive relationships with pop
music composers and artists, and increasing opportunities for music
acquisitions.

The Music Division has made a partnership agreement with RIPM to scan
selected 19^th^-early 20^th^ century periodicals in the Library. The
goal is to provide access to complete runs of these serial titles by
amalgamating holdings from other libraries working with RIPM. Another
goal is to have these available on RIPM's web site.

The Music Division has partnered with the American Musicological Society
to develop a lecture series featuring musicologists who have published
research based on their work in the Library\'s general and special
collections. Division Chief Sue Vita and AMS President Charles Atkinson
invited Prof. Judith Tick, of Northeastern University, to present the
inaugural lecture, March 26, 2008, \"Ruth Crawford Seeger, Modernist
Composer in the Folk Revival: Biography as Music History\". Professor
Annegret Fauser, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, presented
a lecture Sept. 18, 2008 "After Pearl Harbor: Music, War and the Library
of Congress."

Both talks are available to worldwide audiences on the Library of
Congress webcast site.

The Music Division has joined with the Juilliard School, the Morgan
Library, and Harvard University in a project to provide unified web
access to music manuscripts (and possibly other primary source
materials, such as early editions) located in geographically remote
institutions. The holdings of these institutions encompass a significant
proportion of the most important music manuscripts worldwide, and
providing a single point of access to these materials would be of
enormous value to scholars, performers, and editors, among many others.

**Digital Resources**

This year, the Music Division launched four major web presentations:

*The Performing Arts Encyclopedia:* In February 2008, the Performing
Arts Encyclopedia was combined with the Library of Congress Presents:
Music, Theater and Dance Web site; the new Performing Arts Encyclopedia
now conforms to Library Web site standards. We encourage MLA members to
check out the new site and give us feedback.

Web sites released in FY2008:

***American Choral Music***

\-- \# digital files added/released: 1,550

\-- \# items added/released: 36

***The March King: John Philip Sousa***

\-- \# digital files added/released: 52,279

\-- \# items added/released: 709

***Concerts from the Library of Congress*** (companion to radio series)

\-- \# digital files added/released: 2,016

\-- #items added/released: 22

***Musical Instruments at the Library of Congress***

\-- \# digital files added/released: 801

\-- \# items added/released: 15

In addition, the following were scanned and presented for anniversary
celebrations:

***Elliott Carter Centennial:*** Manuscript sketches for String Quartet
No. 1 and the Cello Sonata

***Felix Mendelssohn:*** 7 manuscripts, including the famous Octet, and
the First Symphony arranged for violin, cello, and piano 4-hands

The following have been scanned:

***Alvin Ailey Scrapbooks*** (100 items; 27,255 images; available in
Performing Arts Reading Room only

***William Billings***: 10 early song books (926 images); not available
yet

**Acquisitions**

The Music Division added significant single items and collections this
fiscal year, highlighting the breadth and depth of the materials already
found among our holdings. In addition to contemporary music scores
secured through Copyright, we gained valuable rare materials through
purchase and gift, enhancing areas for which we are especially
well-known.

**Special Collections Recently Acquired**:

**ASCAP Collection:** papers of Irving Caeser; 73,000 items; 4^th^
quarter 2008; lyricist

**Howard Ashman Collection:** 1,975 items added; 1^st^ quarter 2009;
Broadway lyricist

**Maurice Baron Collection:** 850 items added; 3^rd^ quarter 2008;
composer/music director

**Broude Borothers Archives:** 100,000 items added; 1^st^ quarter 2008;
music publishers

**Butterworth Collection:** 100 items added 1^st^ quarter 2008; gift
Jack Butterworth; silent film music cues

**Miriam Cole Collection:** 1,196 items added; 4^th^ quarter 2008;
Martha Graham materials

**International Tap Association Collection:** 200 items; 4^th^ quarter
2008

**Oliver Lake Collection:** 3,400 items added; 4^th^ quarter 2008; jazz
composer

**Minna Lederman Collection:** 15,000 items added; 4^th^ quarter 2008,
author/editor "Modern Music"

**Lewett/ARTtv Moving Image Collection:** 300 items added (first batch);
1^st^ quarter 2009; dance

**Huston Maples Bolshoi Opera Collection**: 300 items added; 1^st^
quarter 2009; dance

**Teo Marcero Collection:** 9,200 items added; 1^st^ quarter 2008; jazz
musician/engineer

**Peter Matz Collection:** 10725 items added; 4^th^ quarter 2008;
arranger, composer, conductor

**McGehee & Umana Collection of Dance Materials:** 10,000 items added;
3^rd^ quarter 2008

**Daniel Nagrin Collection:** 300 papers, 750 moving image items; gift;
1^st^ quarter 2009; dance

**Joseph Robinette Collection:** 500 theatrical contracts & papers;
purchase; 1^st^ quarter 2009

Among the most important items acquired this year:

**Bernstein, Leonard**: *Kaddish Symphony* short score/sketches.
*Purchase*

**Bernstein, Leonard**: Reproductions of music manuscripts and other
autograph material (from the estate of Harry Kraut). *Gift*

**The Buchla 100 series synthesizer:** Represents the first electronic
instrument added to the Music Division\'s premier collection of
traditional instruments. Built by Don Buchla in 1963, it was used by
Morton Subotnick to compose *Silver Apples of the Moon* in 1967, the
first electronic work commissioned by a record company (Nonesuch).

**Dance correspondence**: 49 autograph letters, postcards and notes from
Pavel Tchelitchev to American Ballet Theatre dance Dick Beard (dated
1945-1951). *Purchase*

**Alfred Drake Collection**: Papers related to performer Alfred Drake.
(1,018 music manuscripts; 623 letters/papers; 526 photos; 3 sound
recordings; & 19 other items). *Gift*

**Handel**: *Bernice*, an opera as it is performed at the Theatre Royal
in Covent Garden. First edition. (London: Printed for and sold by I.
Walsh. 1737). *Purchase*

**Korngold, Erich Wolfgang**: Annotated & inscribed conductor's score
for the film *The Constant Nymph*. *Gift*

**Rorem, Ned Collection (addition**): Music manuscripts, corrected
proofs, papers, sound recordings mostly relating to the opera *Our
Town*. (approximately 20 music manuscripts; 500 letters/papers; 10 sound
recordings) *Purchase*

**Schumann, Clara**: 33 pieces of handwritten correspondence
(1873-1892), most of it autograph, to archaeologist Richard Schoene,
husband of Clara's close friend Ehepaar Schoene. *Purchase\
*

**Seeger Family materials**: correspondence between Charles & Ruth
Crawford Seeger (approx. 200); 13 binders of folksong ms., typescripts,
& related photos; reel-to-reel tapes & cassette recordings. *Gift*

**Processing**

The Music Division added some 256,041 items (including 13 special
collections) in fiscal year 2008. 8 new finding aids were completed and
descriptions of 15 special collections were made available for the first
time on the Performing Arts Encyclopedia Web site.

**Reader Services**

The Reader Services Section conducted 45 orientations and/or tours of
the Music Division to groups of visitors, teachers, scholars,
librarians, and potential donors to the Library. Most tours included a
display of music manuscripts.

In addition, the Music Division provided the following reference
assistance in fiscal year 2008: 2,100 requests originated from the
Library\'s web-based \"QuestionPoint/Ask a Librarian\" correspondence
system or other e-mail; 2,562 were received by telephone; 5,630 came
from personal visits by patrons to the Performing Arts Reading Room; and
631 inquiries were posed by letter. There were some 109,875 requests for
material to be examined in the Performing Arts Reading Room.

The Division loaned 64 items for exhibition at several institutions
including the Alvin Ailey exhibit at the Disney Music Center in Los
Angeles, and the Star-Spangled Banner exhibition at the Smithsonian
Institution. In-house exhibits included 200 items for: the reopening of
the George and Ira Gershwin Room; an exhibition of presidential campaign
songs titled *Voices, Votes, Victory*; the Bob Hope Gallery of American
Entertainment and the installation of Gerry Mulligan's saxophone in a
new exhibit case located outside the entrance to the Performing Arts
Reading Room. Materials from the collections of the Music Division were
displayed in conjunction with 34 concerts, lectures, and other events in
the Library's Coolidge Auditorium.

**Concerts**

The 2008-2009 *Concerts from the Library of Congress* season presents
more than 40 free events---concerts, lectures, film screenings, master
classes, and a symposium. Celebration is a key theme for the Library's
83^rd^ season, with special projects honoring the 100^th^ birthday of
Elliott Carter, the centennial anniversary of Olivier Messiaen, major
anniversaries of Franz Joseph Haydn and George Frederic Handel, and a
16-event series marking the bicentennial of Felix Mendelssohn, titled
"Mendelssohn on the Mall."

New music remained a strong focus with a long and distinguished
commissioning tradition continuing to blossom in the premieres of new
works by György Kurtág , Steve Antosca, Kevin Puts, and Judith Shatin.
To honor the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial, the Library's Francis Scala
Fund announced a trio of commissions for wind ensemble to Quincy C.
Hilliard, Gay Holmes Spears, and Paul W. Whear. Adding to a growing
gallery of composer portraits, the American Creativity series offered an
evening of chamber music by Charles Wuorinen, with the composer as
conductor.

**Music and the Brain** (Lectures, interviews, pre-concert
presentations, and scholarly symposium)

Launched in October 2008, with psychologist Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison,
one of the nation's most influential writers on creativity and the mind,
as project chair, and presented through the generous support of the Dana
Foundation, this two-year series brings together a roster of scientists,
physicians, anthropologists, composers, music theorists, psychologists,
and other experts, spotlighting the explosion of new research at the
intersection of cognitive neuroscience and music. These events focus on
the universality of music across cultures, and the mechanisms that allow
us to hear, perceive, learn, perform, and compose it.

**Concerts from the Library of Congress (radio season)**

The series will return to the airwaves with a new season in spring 2009.
Established with the inaugural Coolidge Auditorium concert in 1925, it
is the nation's longest-running chamber music series on the air,
currently heard in more than 180 American cities. Conductor, composer,
and widely admired broadcaster Bill McGlaughlin is a hands-on guide,
exploring the Library's rare documents and scores at the keyboard, and
in the studio backstage, with artists, scholars, and curators.

*Highlights:*

For the Haydn anniversary there will be an in-depth look at Haydn
keyboard masterworks, with fortepianists Ludwig Sémerjian and Kristian
Beduizenhout, string quartets by the Quatuor Mozaïques and others, and
the Haydn Songbook with Collegium Vocale Gent.

Ethos Percussion Group with Ghanaian xylophonist Bernard Woma and
Guinean master drummer M'bembe Bangoura.

Rare Washington appearances by jazz guitarists Jim Hall and Biréli
Legrène.

An evening exploring Bartók's roots in Hungarian folk and gypsy music by
the Takács Quartet, Muszikás, and legendary folksinger Márta Sebestyén.

Frank Zappa filmfest.

**Outreach and Education**

Music Division specialists designed and presented courses to university
students studying **research methodology**. Among the universities who
participated in this project were George Washington University, The
Catholic University of America (students in the schools of Music and
Drama), Howard University, University of West Virginia, University of
Maryland, Peabody Conservatory, and Shenandoah University.

The Music Division began discussions with both Peabody Conservatory and
the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill to initiate **student
internships**. Students interested in research and library work will
assist specialists, especially in the Acquisitions and Processing
Section, to prepare collections for processing and to write finding
aids. The Music Division has an existing program with Catholic
University, which routinely sends students for a semester to assist in
the Division and earn college credit under the supervision of
specialists.

**Publications and Conference Activities**

*Articles and reviews:* Music Division staff continued to make frequent
contributions to scholarly and popular publications in their areas of
specialization and also actively participated in national and
international scholarly conferences. Articles and reviews by staff
members appeared in *American Music*, *American Scholar, NOTES: The
Journal of the Music Library Association,* and *Sondheim Review.*

*Conferences:* Staff attended the annual meetings and conferences of the
American Musicological Society, Society for American Music, the Music
Library Association, Society of Dance History Scholars, the
International Society of Performing Arts Presenters, Congress on
Research in Dance, the Association of performing Arts Presenters, the
Chamber Music America Conference and the Leonard Bernstein Center for
Artful Learning conference on \"West Side Story\".

*The Grove Dictionary of American Music:* preparation for dance articles

*Liner notes:* Sony masterworks 4-disc set, \"Sondheim: the Story So
Far\...\"

*Scholarly papers and lectures:* \"Disappointments and Delays: the
Commissioning of Appalachian Spring, Mirror Before Me, and Imagined
Wing\" (Annual conference of the Society of Dance History Scholars,
Skidmore College, June 2008)

Staff members also routinely write program notes for area arts
organizations and for the LC Concert Series; in addition, they are
frequent pre-performance lecturers.

*Publications:*

"Brünnhildes Erwachen" (from Siegfried) by Richard Wagner arr. by Seidl
for band (Kalmus)

\"The Civilizing of America's Ballrooms: The Revolutionary War to
1890.\" In Ballroom, Boogie, Shimmy Sham, Shake: A Social and Popular
Dance Reader, edited by Julie Malnig. University of Illinois Press, 2008

"Gliding Girl: a Tango" for band by John Philip Sousa (critical edition)
(Kalmus)

\"Plunge Not into the Mire of Worldly Folly: Nineteenth Century and
Early Twentieth Century Religious Objections to Social Dance in the
United States\" in Dance, Human Rights, and Social Justice, edited by
Naomi Jackson and Toni Shapiro-Phim. Scarecrow Press, 2008.

"With Pleasure Rag" for band by John Philip Sousa (critical edition)
(Kalmus)

**Music Division Personnel**

*Appointments:*

Chris Hartten, Specialist, Acquisitions & Processing, Music Division,
Jan. 21, 2009

Caitlin Miller, Specialist, Reader Services Section, Music Division,
Jan. 5, 2009

James Wintle, Specialist, Reader Services Section, Music Division, Feb.
2, 2009

*Resignations:*

Catherine Dixon, Head, Reader Services Section, Music Division, Jan. 31,
2009

**Music Bibliographic Access Section (MBAS)**

[FY 08 Bibliographic production and maintenance]{.underline}: New
bibliographic records added to the database consisted of 4,006 scores,
3,715 sound recordings, 3,566 books, 24 manuscripts, and 2 ERs. This
totals 11,313 new bibliographic records added to the database. This
includes 4,348 records for English language materials and 5,200 records
covering a range of 153 other languages. Maintenance included 523 CIP
Verifications and modifications to 4,462 bibliographic records.

[FY 08 Authority production and maintenance]{.underline}: 7,041 name
authority records were added to the database and 2,416 name authority
records were modified; 87 subject headings were created and 23 modified;
30 class numbers were established.

[Personnel]{.underline}: The MBAS section, composed of two teams, lost
one cataloger to retirement (David Sommerfield) and two technicians to
the ABA reorganization (Oriana Powell, Gwen Gray). Currently, the two
teams include seven music cataloging specialists, six senior catalogers,
four technicians, one intern, and one team leader (includes temporary
"acting" responsibilities for MBAS2).

[Workflows]{.underline}: Copy cataloging has become the section's
initial approach to all current materials. Copy cataloging of books
about music and music scores was introduced to 2 technicians. Gradually,
much of the book and score copy cataloging was taken over by technicians
in the course of the 2008 fiscal year. All subject headings, authority
work, and call numbers remained the responsibility of one senior
cataloger.

[Sound Recordings]{.underline}: FY08 was the first full year of the new
sound recording cataloging workflow for those sound recording genres
that remain the responsibility of MBAS -- classical and ethnic music.
Three technicians spend a portion of their time (approximately 20% --
33%) performing copy cataloging operations on all CDs. Those records for
which all headings verify in the Voyager heading validation window are
finished by the technicians. Those records needing authority work are
forwarded to the catalogers. Those records for which copy is not
available are forwarded to the catalogers for core record production.

[New Projects]{.underline}: The MBAS teams worked closely with the rest
of the Music Division in determining bibliographic access priorities and
designing projects to meet the greatest needs. Many of these projects
represent the increasing attention paid by the Division to provision of
access for previously hidden collections and materials. Examples of
these projects include the following:

included the following:

1.  Establish a workflow that will enable prompt cataloging of material
    on a case-by-case basis when uncataloged items are "discovered".
    Start with those uncataloged "treasures" identified in previously
    proposed projects.

2.  Rare, one-of-a-kind items will receive priority. All of LC holdings
    in RISM will be checked against the OPAC/card catalog and cataloged
    if no record exists. Where a record exists only in the card catalog,
    it will be put online.

3.  The ML96s will be shelf-read and checked against the OPAC/card
    catalog---including the ML96s in boxes -- much of this material is
    not cataloged anywhere.

4.  Continue the cataloging of M3.3 first editions.

5.  Catalog the pre-1600 music manuscripts.

6.  Add holdings information for historical music periodical records in
    the OPAC.

7.  Continue the cataloging of the M1508s.

8.  Several special collections require item-level cataloging: The
    Heineman collection, the Batchelder collection, and the Selden-Goth
    collection. The name of the collection will be included in the
    catalog record for efficient retrieval.

9.  Miscellaneous collections classed in ML94 and ML95 will be
    cataloged. Many of these are included in online utilities such as
    ArchivesUSA.

10. The songsters.

11. Record catalogs.

12. Electronic Resources

13\. Jazz copyright deposits

14\. MusDiv Copyright Discoveries 2007

While a small number of these projects require more development, most of
the projects are underway and have achieved reportable production with
teams composed of cataloging specialists, music specialists, and
technicians working together.

[Digitization Metadata]{.underline}: The Music Division has been
digitizing more parts of its collections in FY08. The Division
recognizes that adequate metadata must exist so that these materials,
represented in the Performing Arts Encyclopedia can be accessed for
further discovery via the Library's OPAC. The MBAS teams have completed
metadata production for five collections:

-   American Choral Music, 1870-1923

-   William Billings (1746-1800)

-   Elliot Carter Sketches

-   Music Printed of Copied in Manuscript Before 1700 (LC Class M1490)

-   Gertrude Clarke Whittall Foundation Collection

[Musical Theater Sheet Music]{.underline}: The M1508 project saw great
gains in FY 2008: 38,381 entries added to the database. There are now
over 49,000 songs from more than 14,000 individual shows represented in
the database. The designs for the MARC record and the PAE presentation
are in the final stages. The Music Division anticipates loading more
than 50,000 MARC records for individual song titles into Voyager this
spring.

[Retrospective Conversion]{.underline}: During FY08, this project moved
from its initial status to an RFP posted by the Contracts Office to
begin stage one, the scanning of the cards. The Music Division
anticipates that the scanning will start in early spring 2009 and will
take twelve months to complete. Work on the RFP for the actual
conversion is underway.

[NACO Participation]{.underline}:

Queries Received: 406

Policy Questions as a result of these queries: 41

NARs Made:  10 

NARS Modified: 351

Subjects Proposed: 7

Bib Records Changed: 737

NARS deleted: 107

**NATIONAL AUDIO-VISUAL CONSERVATION CENTER**

*\-\-- Reported by Caitlin Hunter*

FY2008 provided the initial year of operational ramp-up at the Packard
Campus of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center (NAVCC). The
first phase of work on the sound preservation laboratories resulted in
the completion of three of the nine expert audio reformatting (A1)
rooms. Work on the second phase, which began summer 2008, will address
high-efficiency audio reformatting (A2 rooms), as well as the born
digital and live digital acquisitions components

Remaining MBRS staff relocated to the Culpeper campus. Significant work
on the hiring of new staff also took place and position descriptions
were written for more than 15 additional approved positions. The
positions of RS Curator and RS Processing Unit Head were filled and the
Recording Laboratory Head, Allan McConnell, retired.

[NAVCC Systems Development]{.underline}: Development of NAVCC Workflow
Software continued in FY2008. This software will automate division-wide
workflows in both Culpeper and Capitol Hill, streamline business
processes, and optimize preservation production efficiencies. The first
release of the software, which will replace the current playback system,
is due early in FY2009.

**New Acquisitions:**

The Recorded Sound Section acquired a number of significant collections
this year, most notably the David Canfield Classical Composer Archive,
in a joint purchase with the Music Division. This year the first of five
annual shipments was purchased and staff selected from that shipment
5,000 items which are new to the Library of Congress. The unselected
items will be returned to the seller for exchange. At the end of the
five-year term, 25,000 recordings will have been selected for the
Library's collections. This acquisition means that the Library will hold
a recording of virtually every classical music work ever recorded.

Additional significant acquisitions included the First Generation Radio
Archives; "One Night Stand" radio broadcasts (a big band music program);
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Radio Recordings; Michael Brooks Collection;
George Kahumoku, Jr. Collection; Jack Gottlieb Collection; and the Alvin
Ailey American Dance Theater Collection, among others. Recorded Sound
2008 acquisition statistics were as follows: 17,743 purchased items,
24,080 items from copyright, 5,672 items as gifts, and 2,040 incoming
transfers, for a total of 49,535 items.

**Collection Processing:**

Recorded Sound catalogers and technicians continued processing audio and
paper materials and cataloging them in ILS and MAVIS. Recorded Sound
collections processed in 2008 included: Tony Schwartz Collection radio
broadcasts and interviews; Washington Bach Consort live performances;
David Canfield Classical Composer Archive compact discs; WWOZ New
Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival recordings; David Hummel American
Musical Theater recordings; and Wanda Landowska Collection lacquer discs
and 78rpm albums, in addition to other collections. Work also continued
on current audio copyright deposits, purchased Classical and ethnic
recordings, the NARAS collection, spoken word, and OVOP Field Office
acquisitions from New Delhi, Nairobi, Islamabad, and Cairo. Recorded
Sound processed a total of 73,140 items, which included 3,819 core level
and 15,541 minimal level records.

[Junior Fellows]{.underline}: During the summer of 2008, MBRS hosted ten
Junior Fellows who provided additional processing work at the Packard
Campus. Fellows in the Recorded Sound Section cataloged materials from
recordable CD copyright submissions, celluloid cylinders, and materials
from the Tony Schwartz and David Hummel Musical Theatre Collections

[Sound and Video Laboratories]{.underline}: The sound recording
laboratory produced approximately 500 digital preservation WAV master
audio files from a wide range of audio origination formats, along with
accompanying lower-resolution derivative copies for access and research
purposes.

**Continuing Programs and New Initiatives:**

[NRPB Activities]{.underline}: Working with the Librarian, MBRS
continued to administer the activities of the National Recording
Preservation Board (NRPB). 25 new sound recordings were selected for the
National Recording Registry in May 2008. Legislatively, the U.S.
Congress approved reauthorization of the National Recording Preservation
Act and the work of the Recording Board through FY2016. President Bush
signed this into law in early October as Public Law 110-336.

As part of the Library's mandate to conduct a national recording
preservation study, the Library continued research and preparation of
the study. During FY2008, additional "white papers" related to the study
were commissioned and the comprehensive study itself will be published
in FY2009. At that time the Library will also begin the process of
developing a comprehensive national plan for sound recordings by
constituting a number of task forces involving key stakeholders in the
field that will address major issues related to sound preservation. A
key public relations coup resulted from the continuation of the
five-part NPR series, "Saving America's Sounds," on five Recording
Registry selections. Additional programs on NPR are planned for the
upcoming year.

[A/V Duplication Revolving Fund]{.underline}: In August, MBRS completed
an initial draft of its new business plan for the expansion of
audiovisual duplication and preservation revolving fund services for
outside customers and partners. These customers and partners will
include not only individual and corporate researchers, television
documentarians and production companies, but also an expanded array of
other libraries and archives in both the public and private sectors.

[Sony Music, Inc. "National Jukebox" Project]{.underline}: A
collaborative agreement between the Library and Sony Music, Inc. was
approved this year. Tentatively called the Library of Congress National
Jukebox, the project will make tens of thousands of historic sound
recordings from the 78rpm era available for online listening in the
Recorded Sound reference center. In addition to digital copies produced
at the NAVCC from LC holdings, the project involves a partnership with
the University of California Santa Barbara to integrate extensive
discographic data into the site. Initially, the project will focus on
pre-1925 recordings on the Victor and Columbia record labels, with
particular emphasis on ethnic, ragtime, great classical singers, and
vaudeville records. The site will feature playlists and selected
"collections" compiled by guest curators, experts and scholars. It is
hoped the site will launch in late 2009.

[Web Radio Project]{.underline}: Recorded Sound staff focused their
efforts on recording streaming Internet radio broadcasts featuring talk
shows on stations in states holding Presidential Primary Elections. For
each program, a MAVIS record was created, along with name authorities as
needed. Captured files are uploaded to an ITS server daily. Reference
librarians research and identify appropriate programs to capture each
week, and an online schedule and listing on the Recorded Sound Reference
Center (RSRC) website is updated as well. At the end of summer, radio
stations that focused on the Democratic and Republican National
Conventions were recorded.

**Reader Services:**

[Performing Arts Reading Room Re-design]{.underline}: MBRS managers and
reference staff collaborated with Music Division staff to plan the
layout for a re-designed Performing Arts and Media Reading Room that
consolidates reading room staff from the Music Division, and the MBRS
Recorded Sound and Moving Image Sections.

[Recorded Sound Reference Services]{.underline}: This year marked the
gradual transition from analog playback of audio materials in the
Recorded Sound Reference Center to all digital access. Sound recordings
requested by researchers are digitized at the NAVCC Packard Campus
facility and transferred to the Hill for playback. In FY 2008,
researchers listened to 3,250 audio recordings provided to them from the
NAVCC. In the months ahead, this program will blossom into a more fully
realized digital playback-on-demand program where preservation copies
are produced by audio engineers at the Packard Campus and playback
"copies" are placed in a dedicated computer server ("digital jukebox")
for researchers on Capitol Hill.

**POLICY AND STANDARDS DIVISION**

*\-\-- Reported by Gerry Ostrove*

The new Policy and Standards Division (PSD or Policy; chief, Barbara
Tillett) performs all the functions of the former Cataloging Policy and
Support Office. In recognition of the growing importance of policy and
standards for acquisitions as well as cataloging, the division has
gained a fulltime policy specialist focusing on acquisitions. The
product development functions of the Library of Congress Cataloging
Distribution Service (CDS) have also become the responsibility of Policy
and Standards, while the CDS cost-recovery functions moved to the new
Business Enterprises organization in the Partnerships and Outreach
Programs Directorate. PSD's email address has been changed to
[**policy@loc.gov**](mailto:policy@loc.gov), but the email addresses and
phone numbers of individual staff members in the Division remain
unchanged.

CPSO's former Subject Headings Editorial Team (SHED), Classification
Editorial Team (CLED), PREMARC, and Quality Control and File Management
Team (QCFM) are now merged into the new PSD Database Integrity Section
under the supervision of Ron Goudreau.

The Division hired three new staff in 2008, two in the Policy Section,
and one in the relocated and renamed Product Services Section, formally
part of the Cataloging Distribution Service (CDS). Elizabeth Dechman and
Janis Young joined the Policy Section to fill behind senior subject
cataloging policy specialists Lynn El-Hoshy and Milicent Wewerka, who
retired in 2008. Ms. Dechman's and Ms. Young's areas of subject
expertise and language skills complement those of other Policy and
Standards Division staff.

The new Product Services Section consists of Bruce Johnson, Patricia
Hayward, and Loche McLean. Bruce Johnson, formerly in CDS, continues his
coordinator role for *Cataloger's Desktop*, and will work on the next
generation of that service. Patricia Hayward joined the PSD Product
Services Section in November 2008 as the coordinator for *Classification
Web*, the LC Web product to access and use the *Library of Congress
Classification* system with links to the *Library of Congress Subject
Headings* and the *Dewey Decimal Classification* system. She will also
assist as needed in solving problems reported by customers and in
developing product enhancements. Loche McLean, also formerly in CDS,
responsible for the MARC Distribution Service and making other
cataloging tools and products available on the Web, has taken a
temporary detail as the Business Enterprises Officer, as that new
division (Business Enterprises) gets launched under the Partnership and
Outreach Programs Directorate.

**International Cataloguing Principles (IFLA -- International Federation
of Library Associations and Institutions):** PSD has been engaged for
eight years in the work towards a new "Statement of International
Cataloguing Principles" that updates IFLA's Paris Principles of 1961.
The final draft underwent worldwide review that produced excellent
suggestions for improvements, most of which were incorporated in the
final version of the Statement and the accompanying Glossary. The final
versions of the Statement and Glossary are awaiting approval from the
IFLA Division IV: Bibliographic Control standing committees of the
Cataloguing Section, the Bibliography Section, and the Classification
and Indexing Section. Work on the publication of the text is underway,
enlisting the help of colleagues worldwide with the translation into at
least all of the languages from the five International Meetings of
Experts on an International Cataloguing Code (IME ICC) that led up to
this new statement. The printed text should be available before the next
IFLA conference in August 2009, and a free pdf version is being
negotiated with the publishers.

**Virtual International Authority File (VIAF):** On December 11, 2008,
the Library of Congress and the Bibliothèque nationale de France were
among the partners (along with the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek and OCLC)
signing a new agreement to add the National Library of Sweden as the
latest partner to the VIAF. Seven other potential partners have
submitted applications to join and are expected to be added during 2009.
VIAF is a service that matches and links the world's large personal name
authority files. The prototype system is expected to move into a beta
version during 2009. Currently more than 9 million personal name
authority records are accessible at [viaf.org]{.underline}. During 2008
we saw the expansion to include non-Latin characters. Future plans are
to expand to geographic names, corporate names, and uniform titles.

**Resource Description and Access (RDA):** Work continues to develop the
new international cataloging code. Descriptive policy specialists have
developed proposals and responses to drafts in collaboration with
cataloging staff throughout the Library and in consultation with
colleagues worldwide. Barbara Tillett started a series of Webcasts to
help LC staff and PCC partners understand the background and underlying
concepts behind RDA. Two of the Webcasts are available:

Resource Description and Access: Background and Overview (May 14, 2008)

[**http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=4320**](http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=4320)

Cataloging Principles and RDA: Resource Description and Access (June 10,
2008)
[**http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=4327**](http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=4327).

Additional Webcasts are planned during 2009. Announcements will be made
when the new Webcasts are available.

LC continues plans with the National Agriculture Library and National
Library of Medicine to test the use of RDA before making a decision
regarding implementation. A planning meeting was held during ALA in
Denver and more details of the testing will follow that meeting.

**5JSC/LC/12:** In April LC submitted a paper to the JSC (5JSC/LC/12)
concerning draft chapter 6, Identifying Works and Expressions, in which
we recommended broad changes, principally to the instructions headed
"Identifying Musical Works and Expressions." JSC members submitted
formal responses to it in time for their April meeting, but instead of
taking the responses up there, the JSC asked LC to convene a meeting of
music cataloging experts from ALA, CCC, and LC constituencies to address
the comments from all the JSC constituencies and to propose agreed-upon
revisions to the JSC. An all-day meeting was held at the Library of
Congress on May 16, 2008. Participants included four representatives
from ALA, one representative from CCC, and three representatives from
LC.

Because there were too many unresolved topics in the constituency
responses to be addressed during a single day's discussion, an agenda
for that day was developed by LC to include the important topics most
likely to be resolved in a day's discussion; the agenda was distributed
to participants for the addition of other topics before May 16. That
discussion was continued during a May 28 conference call and via email.
Subsequently, LC issued two further documents, 1) an updated version of
the original paper, 5JSC/LC/12/LC follow-up (issues raised by ALA or CCC
participants within the May Group after the May 16 and May 28
discussions not in line with the proposals as originally proposed by LC
were not included in this document); and 2) 5JSC/LC/12/LC follow-up/2,
which addresses other original 5JSC/LC/12 proposals not yet approved by
other JSC constituencies and also offers further simplified wording. JSC
constituencies were reviewing and preparing comments on these two LC
documents as this report to MLA was being prepared.

**LC Genre/Form Headings:** In July 2008, the Library of Congress's ABA
managers authorized five new genre/form projects within LCSH to be
undertaken by PSD: cartography, law, literature, music, and religion. In
November 2008, the ABA managers approved PSD's four-year timeline for
the projects. All SACO members are invited to contribute proposals for
moving image and radio program genre/form headings beginning on February
1, 2009. All proposals should be entered into the fill-in form for
genre/form headings, which will be made available to members through the
SACO web site. For general information about genre/form and LCSH at the
Library of Congress, including a Genre/Form Frequently Asked Questions
PDF document and a full timeline, visit:
[**http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/genreformgeneral.html**](http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/genreformgeneral.html).

**LCSH in SKOS:** In 2008 the Library began a pilot to make a subset of
LCSH freely available in SKOS format on the Internet. Making LCSH
available in SKOS (Simple Knowledge Organization System) will facilitate
its use for data manipulation and other applications on the Semantic Web
and elsewhere. The web site on which it resided,
[lcsh.info]{.underline}, was not on an LC server, and was taken down in
December 2008 to be replaced by the official site, expected to appear as
[id.loc.gov/authorities]{.underline} within the next couple of months.
The Library of Congress remains committed to providing LCSH freely
through SKOS. The former [lcsh.info]{.underline} site will redirect
users to the new URI.

**Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) 31^st^ edition:** The
31^st^ edition of printed *LCSH* will be available in the spring of
2009. The data cutoff date for the 31^st^ edition will be January 23,
2009. As of December 2008, LCSH had a total of 341,915 subject authority
records, including validation records and Annotated Card Program
headings.

**Subject Cataloging Manual: Subject Headings:** With the 2008 update,
the *Subject Cataloging Manual: Subject Headings* is current through the
end of February 2008. This is the final update to the 5^th^ edition of
the manual. In 2009, a new edition of the manual will be published under
the title *Subject Headings Manual*. The new edition will consolidate
the previous updates and complement the *Classification and Shelflisting
Manual*, published in May 2008.

**Subject validation records:** To date, approximately 35,000 validation
records have been created and are being maintained (e.g. updated when
the form of a base heading is changed). Validation records are not
printed in the LCSH "Red Books," but are available in Classification Web
and are distributed through the MARC Distribution Service. Production of
validation records was stopped in mid-2008 due to a problem with the
software, which caused duplicate records to be created for some
headings. PSD plans to create additional validation records after the
software glitch is corrected.

**Cooperative cataloging programs:** The PCC has made a final decision
to make series tracings and series authority work optional for all
members. BIBCO training materials, currently in revision, will include
this new policy. BIBCO will also begin investigating a BIBCO Standard
Record, in order to use a single bibliographic record rather than
various types of bibliographic records.

The PCC Task Group on the Internationalization of the Authority Files is
co-chaired by Joan Schuitema, chair of the PCC Standing Committee on
Standards, and Barbara Tillett, chief, LC Policy and Standards Division.
This group is reviewing current models for an international authority
file and will assess each in terms of feasibility for PCC participation.
It will address subject as well as name authorities. (See above in the
PSD report, Virtual International Authority File.)

**NETWORK DEVELOPMENT AND MARC STANDARDS OFFICE (NDMSO):** During 2008,
NDMSO issued the *full* MARC 21 format online in March 2008. Formerly it
was only available in print with the concise version serving the online
audience. This was made possible by the completion of the master XML
file in fiscal year 2007 from which all versions are simple
transformations. NDMSO also launched the RDA/MARC Working Group to
formulate the changes that need to be considered to accommodate the new
RDA cataloging rules in MARC 21.

**AMERICAN FOLKLIFE CENTER**

*\-\-- Reported by Margaret Kruesi*

The American Folklife Center (AFC) includes the Veterans History Project
(VHP). Approximately 254,000 items were acquired by AFC\'s Archive, and
approximately 240,000 were processed. VHP, now in its ninth year,
acquired over 10,600 new first-hand submissions (collections) from our
nation's veterans, comprising approximately 22,500 items, included in
the above count.

KEY MUSIC ACQUISITIONS: Marjory Bong-Ray Liu Collection; Jean Ritchie
and George Pickow Collection; David Jacobs Collection; Margaret Mills
Collection; National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) Collection;
Cherry Tree Music Co-op Collection; Jun\'ichi Yamada Collection of
Bluegrass Recordings; Kay Shelemay Ethiopian Music Collection.

PROJECTS, PROGRAMS & PUBLIC EVENTS HELD DURING 2008: Alexander Street
Press Initiative; "Traditional Music and Spoken Word Catalog" from the
American Folklife Center; American Folklore Society Ethnographic
Thesaurus; International Intellectual Property Discussions; "Treasures
from the American Folklife Center" on XM Radio; Field School for
Cultural Documentation; Indigenous Communities Pilot Field School;
Gerald E. and Corinne L. Parsons Fund for Ethnography Fellowships; Henry
Reed Fund Award; "Art, Culture, and Government: The New Deal at 75"
Symposium; The Homegrown Concert Series 2008; Benjamin Botkin Folklife
Lecture Series; Rediscover Northern Ireland Concerts and Lectures; Web
site Redesign/Updates.

KEY ACQUISITIONS:

Marjory Bong-Ray Liu Collection: A multi-format collection that
documents traditional Chinese Kunqu theater, as well as Chinese musical
theory and performance. It constitutes Professor Marjory Bong-Ray Liu's
lifetime of research on these subjects, and includes unpublished
manuscripts, rare handbooks of gongchi notations with song text and
dialogue, a bound compendium of 50 kunqu operas, audio recordings,
graphic images, and books.

Jean Ritchie and George Pickow Collection: 119 motion pictures, over
1,000 photographic prints and negatives, 9 DVDs, one linear foot of
manuscript material, and other items. The material documents the long
career of Jean Ritchie, a celebrated singer of traditional Appalachian
ballads who is also a National Heritage Fellow. As well, it includes
documentation of the folklore of the Cumberland Mountains, and related
traditions in the British Isles, that was created by Ritchie and her
husband, George Pickow, a professional documentary filmmaker and
photographer.

David Jacobs Collection: Twenty-nine audio recordings of live
performances by folk singers performing in coffee houses in and around
Boston during the 1960s.

Margaret Mills Collection: 531 field audio recordings of the traditional
narratives and music of Afghani women and men, recorded by folklorist
Mills from the 1970s through the 1990s. It is believed to be the largest
and best collection of its kind in the world.

National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) Collection: The 2008
increment of this collection includes 23,860 digital files and 310
reel-to-reel tapes that contain audio recordings of hundreds of
performances by musicians and other artists who performed at the
National Folk Festival and other public events sponsored by NCTA; one
linear foot of detailed logs of the recordings are also included.

Cherry Tree Music Co-op Collection: 1569 audio items (various formats)
recorded at Cherry Tree Music Co-op, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Performers include Ad Vielle Que Pourra, Eric Andersen, Tony Barrand,
Battlefield Band, Kevin Burke, Silly Wizard, Chris Smither, and many
other performers, from 1975-2003.

Jun'ichi Yamada Collection of Bluegrass Recordings: 137 field audio
recordings of performances of bluegrass music, most of which took place
at bluegrass festivals in Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, North Carolina,
and Virginia. The recordings were made by Jun'ichi Yamada, of Japan,
during the 1970s.

Kay Shelemay Ethiopian Music Collection. Interviews conducted by
ethnomusicologist, Kay Shelemay, with Ethiopian musicians and others
involved in sacred and secular Ethiopian music in the Washington, D.C.
area during 2006-2007. Collection includes manuscript material, sound
recordings, plus published CDs and DVDs.

**CATALOGING:**

AFC added 153 collection-level records to the Library of Congress online
catalog in 2008, and established 83 name authorities. Each collection
represents a field recording trip or session. Many of these are for the
1930s to 1946 field recordings made for the Library of Congress, the
Radio Research Project, or were recorded for the WPA and other New Deal
programs. These disc recordings include collections made by the notable
African- American collectors John W. Work, Lewis Jones, Sterling Brown,
and Zora Neale Hurston; and also the Hampton Institute's early
recordings. Also cataloged are 13 collections of instantaneous discs
recorded by Alan Lomax; plus field recordings collected by John A.
Lomax, Charles L. Todd, Robert Sonkin, Charles Seeger, Herbert Halpert,
Sidney Robertson Cowell, Wayland Hand, John Henry Faulk, and Margot
Mayo. The Helen Creighton collection of Nova Scotia Recordings, and the
Melville Herskovitz collection of Haitian recordings (1934 cylinder
recordings) were added to LC's catalog. Other cataloging includes
National Folk Festival recordings for 1952 and 1954; the Fox Hollow Folk
Festival for 1967 and 1969; an early Pete Seeger concert at Oberlin
University; and recent interviews with Pete and Toshi Seeger.

**PROJECTS, PROGRAMS, AND PUBLIC EVENTS HELD DURING 2008**

**Projects**

Alexander Street Press Initiative: Alexander Street Press (formerly
Classical International) is an online subscription service that provides
music and other digitized material, mostly to educational institutions.
Recently, they have initiated a program to serve African American music
and oral history material, and have signed an agreement with AFC to
digitize certain AFC collections for this new program. To date, they
have digitized the Alan Lomax Haiti Collection; the Alan Lomax, Zora
Neale Hurston, and Mary Elizabeth Barnicle Expedition Collection; the
Herbert Halpert New York City Collection; the Richard Dorson Collection
of African American Recordings from Michigan, and several John Henry
Faulk collections.

"Traditional Music and Spoken Word Catalog" from the American Folklife
Center: During 2008, the AFC digital card catalog, "Traditional Music
and Spoken Word Catalog from the American Folklife Center," was linked
from collection-level MARC records in the ILS, the LC Online Catalog.
The database consists of approximately 34,000 bibliographic records
representing individual cuts/titles from field recordings, mostly dating
from 1933 to 1950. This fully searchable catalog, which includes images
of the cards, is also part of the Library's "LC Presents" Web site, and
is accessible at:
<http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/afccards/afccards-home.html>

American Folklore Society Ethnographic Thesaurus: The initial three-year
phase of the American Folklore Society's Ethnographic Thesaurus Project
was completed in 2007.

The result was a comprehensive controlled list of subject terms created
to describe multi-format ethnographic research collections. Since its
initial launch, the thesaurus has been revised and expanded, with
updated terms for Music, Dance, and Musical Instruments. American
Folklife Center staff are currently responsible for revision and
maintenance. The Ethnographic Thesaurus is posted on the American
Folklore Society website, using MultiTes Pro, a thesaurus construction
and management program. [http://et.afsnet.org/]{.underline}

International Intellectual Property Discussions: AFC continued to be
involved with international discussions concerning intellectual
property, folklore, traditional knowledge and genetic resources. The AFC
Director serves on the U.S. delegation to the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO), and participated in meetings of U.S.
government officials on cultural policy matters involving intellectual
property. She also attended meetings convened by UNESCO and the
Committee on Culture of the Organization of American States (OAS).

**Programs**

"Treasures from the American Folklife Center" on XM Radio: Historic
recordings held by the American Folklife Center are heard on a
once-a-month radio feature titled "Treasures from the American Folklife
Center," and hosted by Bob Edwards on XM Satellite radio. AFC staff
members are featured on the show and select the topics and recordings
from the AFC Archive.

Field School for Cultural Documentation: The AFC's Field School for
Cultural Documentation was held at the University of Mississippi in
Oxford, MS, May 11-15. AFC staff participated as organizers and
instructors. The school was hosted by the Center for the Study of
Southern Culture, which supplied the fourth instructor, David Wharton.
The participants were graduate and undergraduate students at the
university. The focus of the field school was religious music in and
around Oxford, Mississippi.

From September 15-30, AFC launched a pilot program, the Indigenous
Communities Pilot Field School, developed in collaboration with the
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in Geneva, Switzerland,
and the Center for Documentary Studies (CDS), at Duke University. The
program was developed to provide training for members of indigenous
communities in documenting and preserving their own cultural heritage,
and managing their intellectual property rights. As part of the pilot
program, AFC hosted three participants from Kenya, two are members of
the Laikipia Maasai community and the third is a staff member of the
National Museums of Kenya.

**Awards**

Gerald E. and Corinne L. Parsons Fund for Ethnography Fellowships: The
purpose of this fund is to make collections of primary ethnographic
materials housed anywhere at the Library of Congress available to those
in the private sector. In 2008, there were three awards given to:
Cecelia Conway to research AFC's collections of music from Beech
Mountain, NC; Barbara Fertig for research on African American
communities on the Georgia coast; and to Joyceln Arem for research on
the 1960s folk music revival.

Henry Reed Fund Award: The purpose of the fund is to support activities
directly involving folk artists. In 2008, the award was given to fiddler
Don Roy towards publication of his collection of traditional fiddle
tunes from Maine.

**Public Events**

AFC hosted a symposium on March 13-14, entitled "Art, Culture, and
Government: The New Deal at 75." The symposium brought together experts
to discuss the impact of New Deal programs on the documentation of
American culture, including music, and on Library of Congress
collections in several divisions. A Web guide to LC's resources on the
New Deal was developed for this event by the Digital Reference Section
http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/newdeal/

The Homegrown Concert Series is an ongoing AFC project to present and
document the best folk and traditional performing artists in the United
States. The performers are selected in consultation with state folk arts
coordinators. Artists participate in oral history interviews that are
recorded and deposited in the AFC Archive. Concerts are also available
online in webcast presentations after the event. In 2008 these included:

-   January 31: Major League Tassa, Indo-Caribbean drumming and dance
    from New York

-   April 24: The Beehive Band, traditional Mormon string band music
    from Utah

-   May 28: Opalanga Pugh, African American storytelling from Colorado
    (with Askia Touré on voice and drum)

-   June 19: Merita Halili and the Raif Hyseni Orchestra, Albanian music
    from New York

-   July 24: The Zionaires, gospel music from Maryland and Delaware

-   August 20: Gary Haleamau, traditional Hawaiian music from Las Vegas,
    Nevada

-   September 17: The Bajich Brothers, tamburitza music from Kansas

-   October 2: Bar-J Wranglers, cowboy music from Wyoming

-   November 19: Surati, Inc., traditional Tamil music and dance from
    New Jersey

Benjamin Botkin Folklife Lectures on music in FY 2008 included:

-   March 19: "Force and Violins: What the FBI had on Folksingers"
    presented by David King Dunaway, Professor of English, University of
    New Mexico and Professor of Broadcasting, San Francisco State
    University

-   April 23: "From Oral Tradition to Critical Edition: The James
    Madison Carpenter Collection of Folk Music and Drama," presented by
    the James Madison Carpenter Project team: Julia C. Bishop, David
    Atkinson, Elaine Bradtke, Eddie Cass, Thomas A. McKean, Robert Young
    Walser of The Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen, UK

-   May 21: "Empires, Multiculturalisms, and Borrowed Heartsongs: What
    Does It Mean to Sing Russian/Mennonite Songs?" presented by Jonathan
    Dueck, Ethnomusicologist, Visiting Assistant Professor, University
    of Maryland School of Music

-   June 20: "Old Cultures/New Contexts: Presenting the Traditional
    Music and Dance of Urban Immigrant Communities" presented by Ethel
    Raim, Center for Traditional Music and Dance, New York City.

-   September 4: "Kunqü: China\'s First Great Multi-art Theatrical
    Tradition," presented by Marjory Bong-Ray Liu, Arizona State
    University

-   October 21: "A Bard of Nature's Making: Robert Burns and Scottish
    Traditional Culture," presented by Valentina Bold, University of
    Glasgow

Rediscover Northern Ireland: From October to December 2008, three
programs in the "Rediscover Northern Ireland" series were hosted by AFC
and the Department of Culture, Arts, and Leisure of Northern Ireland.
Singer-songwriter and peace activist Tommy Sands appeared in concert
with his children Moya and Fionán. Song collector and ballad singer Len
Graham, and author and singer Maurice Leyden discussed their collecting
and research on Northern Irish song traditions for the final two events.

Web site Redesign/Updates: AFC maintained and expanded its websites,
adding text, images, audio, and video. In addition to webcasts and
essays for all AFC Homegrown concerts and Benjamin Botkin lectures, the
2008 additions include additional Web pages for symposia and
conferences. These archived events can now be accessed directly from the
AFC home page http://www.loc.gov/folklife/events/pasteventsmenu.html

Upcoming 2009 Symposia: AFC has initiated planning for several symposia
to be held in 2009. The first, "Robert Burns at 250: Poetry, Politics,
and Performance,**"** will be held on February 24-25, 2009. This event
marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns and will
feature scholars, poets, and musicians from Scotland and the United
States. More information is available at the American Folklife Center:
http://www.loc.gov/folklife/index.html