Newsletter of the Mills Music Library
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Edited by Steve Sundell with generous assistance from Geri Laudati

Published twice yearly in the Fall and Spring Semesters

Mills Music Library
728 State Street
Madison, Wisconsin 53706-1494
(608) 263-1884
music.library.wisc.edu
Email Mills Music Library

Director's Corner

by Geri Laudati

The fall semester brings with it exciting changes to the Mills Music Library. The most obvious one—a new look for the Jongleur—was provided by Nicole Saylor, whose work on the Andresen Collection is also highlighted in this issue.

The Music Library website has a new address. While the old one will continue to work for a while, the new URL is http://music.library.wisc.edu, an address that is decidedly less cumbersome than its predecessor.

The Music Library's student staff has also changed. A cadre of new graduate students is capably assisting the permanent staff in all aspects of the operation. Please welcome Kathleen Allen (voice), David Dies (composition), Ellen Jacks (ethnomusicology ), David Newman (ethnomusicology), Robert Torre (musicology), Ryan Ross (musicology), Ryan Sedgwick (horn), Pavel Morunov (oboe), Brandon McIntosh (composition), Meagan Manning (communications), and Kayme Fritz (piano pedagogy), who joined returning assistants Jayne Carey (women's studies), Chris Cramer (guitar), Paul Friedman (music/library studies), Erin Hersh (political science), Flora Huang (accounting), Jessica Vanderstoep (German linguistics), Stacie Mickens (horn), Rebecca Redmann (voice), Elsie Saucedo (special education), Charles Schneider (music theory), and Brandon Watson (musicology) this summer or fall.

Another significant adjustment occurred on September 3, when My UW, the University Portal site, became the only access point for electronic reserves. This move was deemed necessary to comply with copyright regulations by limiting access to copyright protected materials to those students enrolled in specific courses. Despite a tenuous week or two at the onset, the service has stabilized nicely and students are reporting very few problems with it or the REAL audio server. We're hoping to exceed the remarkable use electronic reserves saw last year--254,355 files were played and/or read by students in UW music courses.

Electronic resources continue to consume much of our energy. We will shortly add to our list of electronic journals the JSTOR Music Collection and a pilot project with Classical.com, a supplier of sound files for listening, is underway.

Despite the attention to online resources, we continue to build our traditional collections at a rapid pace. Some of our newest microform manuscript collections are described elsewhere in this issue and newly published books and scores are added daily. Don't forget to check the "New in MadCat" feature, which replaced our old Recent Acquisitions Lists last spring.

Among our other activities, a recently-awarded Brittingham grant will fund an online Helene Stratman-Thomas site. Co-sponsored by the University of Wisconsin and the Library of Congress, School of Music faculty member Helene Stratman-Thomas (1896–1973) went on collecting expeditions around Wisconsin in the early 1940s to record and document the folk music that reflected the colorful patterns of immigration in the state. The Wisconsin project was one of several state- and federally-sponsored programs that flourished during the period, inspired by Alan Lomax and his father, pioneering folklorist John A. Lomax. We hope to provide sound files, images of manuscripts and photos, and an interactive state map to link to our "Wisconsin Folk Song" database.

Mills also submitted a grant proposal to the National Academy of Recorded Arts & Sciences to fund the restoration of the Upper Midwest Regional Folk Music Archives, a collection of folk music festivals recorded by Judy Rose of Wisconsin Public Radio during the late ’70s and early ’80s. We will not know until March 2004 whether our proposal will be chosen for funding as part of the Grammy Foundation's Archives and Preservation program.

Other plans on the Library's schedule include an adjustment to the compact shelving installation in the Audio Facility. Once again, all media will be removed so that new, slotted shelving can be installed. Although the original bid specified this type of shelving, something was lost in the translation and we were forced to use the wrong shelves while the new ones were being constructed. We look forward to enduring yet another thrilling holiday break.

Although we may appear to be a bit more harried than usual, be assured that our commitment to exemplary service remains strong. Please let us know if we can assist with your teaching or research needs.