The Music Library Association’s Vocabularies Subcommittee is pleased to announce the availability of a new OCLC tool for automated generation of faceted terms based on Library of Congress Subject Headings for music and related coded data in MARC bibliographic records. The Music Toolkit, developed by Gary Strawn (of Authority Toolkit fame), is an OCLC macro that incorporates a program written by Strawn which analyzes existing bibliographic data and generates corresponding faceted terms from the Library of Congress Medium of Performance Thesaurus (LCMPT), Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms (LCGFT), and Library of Congress Demographic Group Terms (LCDGT), as well as other faceted metadata such as dates and geographic place names. The Toolkit output is then evaluated and adjusted as necessary by the cataloger, who is responsible for correct application of LC faceted terms and their corresponding MARC fields and, if desired, OCLC WorldCat master record replacement.
This tool streamlines the retrospective enhancement of bibliographic data for music resources, further advancing the eventual goal of full-scale implementation of faceted vocabularies, and the enhanced discovery of music resources that this data enables. The underlying algorithm, developed by the MLA Vocabularies Subcommittee, can also be programmed to perform batch record enhancements on entire bibliographic databases. Thus, the Music Toolkit, in addition to being a time-saving tool for music catalogers, is a testing mechanism for Strawn’s program and the MLA algorithm itself. All who work with music bibliographic data are invited to read the content linked below, install the Music Toolkit, and provide feedback to MLA/VS accordingly via the Google form listed below. Please be aware that the MLA algorithm, as well as Strawn’s program and Toolkit, are all works in progress, and MLA/VS and Strawn will continue to collaborate to refine and improve it.
Helpful links:
- The Music Toolkit installation package and associated documentation: http://files.library.northwestern.edu/public/Music382/
- A screencast demonstrating installation and use of the toolkit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haO_8Bgj0hQ&t=1s
- A Google form for submitting feedback on the Music Toolkit: https://goo.gl/forms/P0rbGQfxaGIMtrba2
- A technical report outlining the history, rationale, and objectives of retrospective implementation efforts spearheaded by MLA: http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.musiclibraryassoc.org/resource/resmgr/BCC_Resources/RetrospectiveImplementation.pdf
- Strawn’s program and the underlying MLA algorithm are described in full detail: http://files.library.northwestern.edu/public/Music382/Docs/Deriving%20bibliographic%20fields%20for%20music.docx
- Slides from Strawn and Mullin’s recent presentation at the 2018 MLA Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon are available here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1YDlT_qXBydixeRiVlz19U3HfSDXZgAIp
Regards,
Casey Mullin
Past Chair, MLA Vocabularies Subcommittee