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What's it like to curate a collection, start to finish?

Who she is: Tracey Snyder, assistant music librarian

What she does: I select audio and video materials for the music library to buy, and then I create descriptions of those things to make them discoverable in the library catalog. I also train other catalogers, and I visit classes in the music department and do hands-on sessions, teaching undergrads how to do research.

Why it’s important: I’m shaping the direction that the collection is going with input from professors and students in the music department, and making it discoverable for everyone at Cornell and outside the university.

Education: I was at Ithaca College as an undergrad, doing a double major in music education and music performance. I didn’t particularly want to go into either career, but I spent a lot of time in the music library in college, so I started finding out places that offered degrees in music librarianship.
I studied ethnomusicology in Ireland for a year, and then went to Indiana University for a dual master’s program: a master’s in library science with a specialization in music librarianship, and also a master’s in musicology.

Background: While in grad school, I taught undergraduate music theory classes, and I did internships in music reference and music cataloging. I felt like cataloging was my calling. My first professional job was at the University of Chicago as a music cataloger; I did that for four years, but I missed teaching. So when I saw this job at Cornell open in 2010, I thought it would be a neat combination of the things I liked to do.

What she’s most proud of: Earlier this year, some colleagues and I organized and taught a workshop on RDA, which is a set of instructions for library catalogers that tells them exactly what to include in the description of the resources so that people can find them. It’s the first new cataloging standard we’ve had since 1978. It was long overdue and it’s quite complicated, so requires a lot of time and effort for catalogers everywhere to learn how to use it.

At this event, we hosted 100 music catalogers from all over the country. It was the largest-scale workshop I’ve ever given, and it was very specialized because it was only about music cataloging. It was a tremendous amount of work, but very successful and very fulfilling.

Best part of her job: There are two things I love most: One is that I love being responsible for curating a collection from start to finish, selecting what to buy and cataloging it and thinking about how I would tell students to find it. The other is that I love teaching and training my colleagues, aiding in their professional development.

In her spare time: I perform with the Cornell Gamelan Ensemble. My husband and young son and two dogs keep me busy; we play a lot of music around the house, lots of ‘60s rock and soul. My son likes it too. I also do a lot of reading, taking walks in the gorges, baking and cooking.

Dream job: If I weren’t a music librarian, I would make artisanal chocolates or be a Montessori teacher.

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In this LibeScope series, interviews with library staff reveal their skills, talents, interests and backgrounds.

• Staff profile: Beth Kelly

  How do you choose the right words to make music findable? Who she is: Beth Kelly, music cataloger What... more

   
• Staff profile: Tracey Snyder

  What's it like to curate a collection, start to finish? Who she is: Tracey Snyder, assistant music librarian What... more

   

How do you choose the right words to make music findable?

Who she is: Beth Kelly, music cataloger

What she does: Cataloging is all about making something findable. In terms of music materials, I use my subject expertise to construct access points and subject headings – creating a language that’s uniformly recognized. In music, that’s important because genre terms like “concerto” and symphony” are used over and over again, and they have to stay consistent.

I mainly work on scores and books about music and some recently acquired sound recordings housed in rare, namely the hip-hop and punk collections.

Why it’s important: Making bibliographic records is basically describing the information and writing down what I see and hear, so that it goes into the catalog. It pulls together all the information into something that people can actually find.

Education: I earned two degrees from Indiana University School of Music: a bachelor’s degree in flute performance and master’s degree in Early Music with a concentration in baroque flute. The second degree was very research oriented.

Background: I wanted to be a performer – I wish I had realized there could be a career in library science! Now I play and teach on the side. I am a member of Women’s Works, a group that performs music written by women composers and Finger Lakes Flutes, and I also play in chamber groups and pickup orchestras in and around Ithaca in addition to performing on programs with the music department at Cornell.

Years at Cornell: I worked at the Music Library for a year in 1991 to 1992, took time off to have a family, and returned in 2000 to my former position in acquisitions. Then, in 2007, the music cataloger position became available and I was so thrilled to be selected for this.

What she’s most proud of: Probably working on the new Hip Hop Collection. With early hip-hop, records often weren’t produced formally and have no label, so you have to pop it on the turntable and listen to it and figure it out yourself. I googled what I thought were the lyrics — my words were a little off, but I found the title of a song, and then I found the album. I finally could link it with the numbers that were scratched in the small area around the disc’s label, called the matrix.

Best part of her job: I love looking at something completely new and making the very first record for it. I like being the first one to get it out there. Our hip-hop and punk collections are so much fun because no one has them yet, and some of these recordings are even just single events or parties with a DJ or a rapper or mixer. They can never be recreated.

In her spare time: As a flutist, I try to perform as much as possible. In addition to performing I teach a small studio of students on flute, recorder and piano. I love to take long walks with my dog and I enjoy bike riding. You can see me hitching my bike outside of Olin in the mornings.

I listen to a lot of different kinds of music, but I’m not one of those people who always has earbuds in!  I like to sample the music I’m cataloging – it helps broaden my perspective, and I’m always looking for new sounds.

Dream job: I wish I could perform more, but in a lot of ways, I already have my dream job!

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In this LibeScope series, interviews with library staff reveal their skills, talents, interests and backgrounds.

• Staff profile: Beth Kelly

  How do you choose the right words to make music findable? Who she is: Beth Kelly, music cataloger What... more

   
• Staff profile: Tracey Snyder

  What's it like to curate a collection, start to finish? Who she is: Tracey Snyder, assistant music librarian What... more