Cataloging and Metadata Committee Annual Report 2021

submitted by Hermine Vermeij

Current Roster

  • Hermine Vermeij, Chair, Cataloging and Metadata Committee (2023)
  • Keith Knop, Chair, Content Standards Subcommittee (2024)
  • Karen Peters, Chair, Encoding Standards Subcommittee (2023)
  • Rebecca Belford, Chair, Vocabularies Subcommittee (2022)
  • Joshua Henry, Secretary/Webmaster (2022)
  • Kristi Bergland, Incoming Secretary/Webmaster (2025)
  • Kirk-Evan Billet, Editor, Music Cataloging Bulletin (2025)
  • Casey Mullin, BIBCO Music Funnel Coordinator (2025)
  • Mark Scharff, NACO-Music Project Coordinator (2025)
  • Beth Iseminger, SACO Music Funnel Coordinator (2025)
  • Susan Vita, Library of Congress Representative
  • Jay Weitz, OCLC Representative

List of Previous Goals and Progress Made

  • Continue subcommittee work in areas related to RDA, MARC, LC controlled vocabularies and other controlled lists, and music cataloging tools (such as the Music Toolkit) and resources (such as best practices documents), as outlined in individual subcommittee reports.
    • We met this goal through the work of the subcommittees; please see their reports for details.
  • Continue to train contributors to the BIBCO Music Funnel and the NACO-Music Project
    • The BIBCO Music Funnel has welcomed two new members since summer 2020
    • The NACO-Music Project welcomed a new Chair for the NMP Advisory Committee after the 2021 MLA meeting. Jacob Schaub (Vanderbilt University) replaces Mary Huismann (St. Olaf College).
  • Provide support to music catalogers during COVID-19 pandemic by providing remote access to training and documentation, maximizing participation in committee meetings held virtually, and helping to make digital scores discoverable.
    • Holding our committee meetings and CMC Town Hall online during the MLA 2021 annual meeting allowed us to involve members who would normally not be able to travel to an in-person meeting
  • Contribute to the MLA Electronic Scores Working Group via work on the Steering Team and the Cataloging Team.
    • The Cataloging subgroup’s work will focus on creating best practices, taking into consideration which metadata elements should be included when cataloging electronic scores, advice on applying PCC provider-neutral guidelines, and recording licensing and/or restriction information.
  • Evaluate the new CMC website via a user study.
    • ESS’s Metadata for Music Resources Task Force performed a usability test of that subset of the CMC website in spring 2021. We may consider doing a larger study on more of the website.
    • Submit CMC materials to the MLA Archives.
    • This will continue as a goal for next year.
  • Continue to participate in explorations of BIBFRAME and other linked data ontologies as appropriate
    • The MLA Linked Data Working Group has begun to experiment with creating, querying, and analyzing native linked data for music
  • Test Performed Music Ontology (PMO) in native linked data inputting environment.
    • Began revision of some aspects of the 2016 version of the Performed Music Ontology, with an eye toward simplifying the ontology to allow for practical use in a production setting
  • Leverage committee members’ expertise by providing educational and training presentations, such as program sessions, webinars, and workshops, as opportunities arise.
    • CMC sponsored three program sessions at MLA 2021: the Cataloging and Metadata Town Hall, Provider-Neutral Cataloging for Digital Scores, and Meeting the Need for Metadata Accessibility and Usability: Ergonomics and Adaptive Technology for Producers and Consumers.
    • Two CMC-sponsored program sessions have been accepted for MLA 2022. And CMC member Keith Knop taught an eCourse (Introduction to Music Cataloging) beginning in January 2021 as part of the Getting Started with Music Librarianship eCourse bundle, a collaboration between the MLA Education Committee and ALA Publishing.
    • Collaborate as appropriate with other MLA groups, other music-related groups, ALA groups, other library- or information-related groups, and Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC).
    • CMC prepared formal responses to two documents: a draft of the Best Practices for Recording Faceted Chronological Data in Bibliographic Records (produced by the SAC Subcommittee on Faceted Vocabularies); and the report of the LC-PCC Task Group on Aggregates in Beta RDA (now Official RDA) Toolkit, part 2.
    • The subcommittee chairs attended meetings as official MLA  liaisons (the Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access (CC:DA), the Subject Analysis Committee (SAC), and the MARC Advisory Committee (MAC)), as well as meetings of other groups as either members or unofficial liaisons.
    • A representative from CMC serves on the IFLA ISBD Review Group, representing the music cataloging community in the ISBD revision process.
    • A representative from CMC serves on the NISO Video & Audio Metadata Guidelines Working Group, representing the music cataloging community in the codification of guidelines for metadata for video and audio assets.

List of Future Goals

  • Continue subcommittee work in areas related to RDA, MARC, LC controlled vocabularies and other controlled lists, and music cataloging tools (such as the Music Toolkit) and resources (such as best practices documents), as outlined in individual subcommittee reports. (Goal areas: Value of the Profession, Education)
  • Continue to train contributors to the BIBCO Music Funnel and the NACO-Music Project; continue to encourage proposals for new and revised vocabulary terms through the SACO Music Funnel. (Goal areas: Value of the Profession, Education)
  • Investigate ways in which CMC can become more involved in ethical cataloging policy-making. (Goal areas: Education, Organizational Excellence)
  • Contribute to the MLA Electronic Scores Working Group via work on the Steering Team and the Cataloging Team. (Goal areas: Value of the profession, Education)
  • Increase the virtual community of CMC, potentially including an off-season unconference or open virtual committee meetings multiple times a year. (Goal areas: Organizational Excellence, Membership)
  • Submit CMC materials to the MLA Archives. (Goal area: Organizational Excellence)
  • Continue to participate in explorations of BIBFRAME and other linked data ontologies as appropriate; test Performed Music Ontology (PMO) in native linked data inputting environment. (Goal areas: Value of the Profession, Technology)
  • Leverage committee members’ expertise by providing educational and training presentations, such as program sessions, webinars, and workshops, as opportunities arise. (Goal areas: Value of the Profession, Education, Technology)
  • Collaborate as appropriate with other MLA groups, other music-related groups, ALA groups, other library- or information-related groups, and Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC). (Goal areas: Value of the Profession, Education)