1. Exploring a Faceted World
Discovering music resources using medium of performance and genre terms
Music Library Association annual meeting
Denver, Colorado
Saturday, February 28, 2015

2. Presenters: Beth Iseminger, Harvard University
Casey Mullin, Stanford University
Hermine Vermeij, UCLA
Kevin Kishimoto, University of Chicago

3. Introduction : Catalog Searching
Browse
Keyword search (single-box)
Advanced keyword search
Facets

4. Browse Alphabetical lists of headings Author Title Subject Call number
Efficient if user knows exact phrase
Not common in newer catalogs

5. Browse University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf2-03129,
Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

9. Keyword Search Single-box
Retrieves records that include all (or most) of the terms entered in the text box
Simple for users to understand
Preferred for exploratory searching
Also allows command line searches using boolean operators: AND, OR, NOT

14. Advanced Keyword Search
Multiple simultaneous keyword searches
Each search box can perform a different search type
Build boolean searches
Can also assign pre-search limits
Intimidating for some users

17. Facets Post-search Narrow search results Easily employ multiple limits
Each facet describes a distinct aspect
Format, Author, Subject, Language, etc.
Common on commercial websites
Common in newer library discovery tools

22. Introduction to Music Genre and Medium Vocabularies
Beth Iseminger
Harvard University

23. Definitions Genre A class, type, or category, sanctioned by convention
Form
The constructive or organizing element in music
Medium of performance
The voices, instruments, and other entities necessary to perform a piece
Includes instruments, instrumental ensembles, vocal types and ranges, vocal ensembles, mixed ensembles, and objects used as instruments

24. Background
LCSH has always included genres, forms, and mediums of performance
often in the form of pre-coordinated strings
Sonatas (Bassoon and guitar)
Musique concrète
Songs (High voice) with instrumental ensemble
Some strings also contain other facets
Popular instrumental music – Brazil –
Choruses, Sacred (Mixed voices) with orchestra – Vocal scores with piano

25. Separating Facets
Move from pre-coordinated strings to post-coordinated facets
Can be indexed separately which offers granularity
Necessary in linked data environment
Medium as a unique facet allows more precise indexing than combined medium/genre strings
violin / piano versus Sonatas (Violin and piano)
ALA Subcommittee on Genre Form Implementation working on vocabs for facets, and on MARC, systems issues

26. New Vocabularies
Developed by LC in collaboration with various communities
Each vocabulary describes a distinct aspect of a resource
LCGFT = genre/form
Includes music, moving images, law, cartography, literature, religion
LCMPT = medium of performance
LCDGT = demographic groups
Includes age, ethnicity, gender, nationality, occupation

27. Music Vocabularies LCMPT
Library of Congress Medium of Performance Thesaurus for Music
LCGFT (music portion)
Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms for Library and Archival Materials

28. Many Facets Used With Music
Genre Aleatory music / Bluegrass music
Form Dastgāhs / Motets / Symphonies
Medium of performance Soprano voice / Viola / Zither
Format Vocal scores
Associated place/Geography Kenya / Florence, Italy
Date of work/Time period 1824
Numeric designation op. 125
Key D minor
Language French
Audience Children’s songs

29. Additional Facets for Creators
Class of persons Music by gay composers
Ethnicity of the creator Music by African American composers
Gender of the creator Music by women composers
Nationality of the creator Music by French composers

30. Music Projects Partners Process Library of Congress
MLA-BCC Genre/Form Task Force
MLA-BCC Subject Access Subcommittee
Process
Review existing LCSH terms and add any missing terms
Add new terms from reference sources
New Grove 2nd edition
Garland Encyclopedia of World Music
Began working with Gerry Ostrove from PSD
Genre TF 2009, membership
Subjects 2011, Hermine chair

31. Examples of Terms Found Outside of LCSH
from the task force wiki
red are terms not in LCSH

32. Lots of Terms!
Using these sources resulted in huge lists of terms, especially for world music genres and instruments
The project scope was therefore narrowed to include only LCSH terms, with a few exceptions
The project would not have been completed if the scope hadn’t been more narrowly defined
Long lists might be useful for different project at some point

33. LCMPT and LCGFT Vocabularies available now at id.loc.gov
New terms will be accepted via SACO Music Funnel

34. New Music Vocabularies: Hierarchy
Hermine Vermeij
UCLA

35. Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms (LCGFT)
LCGFT has been around for a while, but the music terms were just added … last week!
567 terms in the first release, with some more in the pipeline.

36. LCGFT Hierarchy – Top Terms
Music
Accompaniments (Music)
Arrangements (Music)
Art music  
Chants
Dramatic music
Folk music
Functional music
Glitch music
Humorous music
Medleys (Music)
Notated music
Popular music
Sacred music
Songs
Sound art
Teaching pieces (Music)
World music
Terms in gray have not yet been added to the vocabulary, but are either scheduled for release or still under discussion. The addition of Art music was a bit contentious, but “Music” really meant two things in LCSH; general music and art music. We wanted to make those two more explicit. We tried to work mostly within the three groups of Art, Folk, and Popular. But, for example, songs and dramatic music can be art, folk, or popular, so they become one of the broadest terms under Music.
Functional music is genres and forms initially created for specific purposes—dances, rituals, etc.
A few top terms ended up here because they didn’t fit in anywhere else—Glitch music, Humorous music, Sound art.
We’re still trying to figure out what World music is, but it seems to be a useful descriptor for some music.

37. LCGFT – Art music Art music Aʼak Aleatory music Anthems
Ballades (Instrumental music)
Barcaroles
Cadenzas
Canons (Music)
Cantatas
Carnatic music
Chamber music
Chinese operas
Chorale preludes
Concert etudes
Concertos
Dastgāhs
Dialogues (Music)
Fanfares
Finales (Music)
Fugues
Gagaku
Hát ả đào
Hát bội
Heike biwa
Hindustani music
Honkyoku
Interludes Kacapi-suling Malhūn Ma'lūf Maqāmāt (Iraqi music) Microtonal music Minimal music Monologues (Music) Musique concrète Nhạ̣c tài tứ Nō music Oratorios Organ masses Overtures Partimenti Pastoral music Phlēng thao Preludes (Music) Program music
Quodlibets
Ragas
Rhapsodies (Music)
Romances (Music)
Rondos
Scherzos
Sicilianas (Music)
Sonatas
Song cycles
Songs without words (Instrumental music)
Soundscapes (Music)
Spectral music
Stochastic music
Suites
Symphonies
Taech’wit’a
Text-sound compositions
Third stream (Music)
Toccatas
Variations (Music)
Vọng cố
Delving a little deeper into a few of the hierarchies. Obviously Art music has a lot of narrower terms, including some very common ones we’re all familiar with like Concertos, Sonatas, and Symphonies.

38. LCGFT – Dramatic music Dramatic music Ballad operas Ballets (Music)
Bangsawan
Barong (Music)
Ch’anggŭk
Chinese operas
Congadas (Music)
Dialogues (Music)
Entremés (Music)
Hát bội
Hát chèo (Music)
Hira gasy
Incidental music
Katarimono
Kecak (Music)
Liturgical dramas (Music)
Madrigal comedies
Masques (Music) Melodramas Modern dance music Monologues (Music) Motion picture music Musical theater Musicals Nāḍagam Operas Oratorios P’ansori Pantomimes (Music) Rappresentazioni sacre (Music) Revues Serenatas Wayang music
Dramatic music has a lot of gray terms, mostly because many of these are performing arts that overlap with other subject areas; they will eventually be addressed.

39. LCGFT – Folk music Folk music Aleke Blues (Music) Cajun music
Calpyso (Music)
Celtic music
Congadas (Music)
Flamenco music
Folk dance music
Folk-rock music
Folk songs
Gaitas (Venezuelan music)
Guaguancós
Hát chèo
Huaylas (Music)
Huaynos
Isicathamiya
Klezmer music
Kolos (Music)
Kuyis
Maloya (Music)
Mandó
Mariachi (Music) Morris dances (Music) Mouth music Música sertaneja Nāḍagam Norteño (Music) Old-time music Palos (Music) P’ansori Plenas Polkabilly music Rebetika Sanjo Schrammelmusik Soca (Music) Sones Soukous (Music) Square dance music Tejano music Vallenato (Music)
You’ll notice that Folk music from all cultures and ethnicities are grouped together;

40. LCGFT – Notated music Notated music Musical sketches Part books
Parts (Music)
Scores
Service books (Music)
Songbooks
Tune-books
These are all terms you might have seen as subdivisions of LCSH terms in the catalog; using LCGFT they will be separated.

41. LCGFT – Popular music Popular music Agbadja modern (Music)
Arabesk (Popular music)
Bachata
Bailā (Music)
Banda (Music)
Beatboxing
Bhangra (Music)
Bikutsi
Blues (Music)
Boogaloos (Music)
Bossa nova (Music)
Brega (Music)
Cajun music
Calypso (Music)
Campursari
Candombes (Music)
Cavachas (Music)
Celtic music
Chaabi
Champeta (Music)
Chanchona (Music)
Chicha
Choros
Chutney (Music)
Country music
Cover versions
Cumbia (Music)
Dangdut
Dansi (Music)
Danzones (Music)
Disco (Music)
Electronica (Music) Enka Forró (Music) Fuji (Music) Funana (Music) Funk (Music) Gaitas (Venezuelan music) Gospel music Gumbé (Music) Habaneras (Music) High-life (Music) Huaylas (Music) Huaynos Jazz Jingles (Advertising songs) Juju music Kanto (Popular music) Karaoke Kaskawi (Music) Keroncong Klezmer music Konkoma Kwaito Kwaya Latin pop Lounge music Lundus Makossa (Music) Maloya (Music)
Mandó (Music)
Mangue (Music)
Mariachi (Music)
Mbalax
Mbaqanga
Mchiriku
Minstrel music
Modinhas
Mornas (Music)
Murgas
Música sertaneja
Música tropical
New Age music
Norteño (Music)
Old-time music
Ragtime music
Rai (Music)
Rap (Music)
Rapso
Rebetika
Reggae music
Remixes (Music)
Rhythm and blues music
Rock music
Rocksteady (Music)
Rumbas (Music)
Salsa (Music)
Schrammelmusik
Ska (Music)
Skiffle
Sones
Soukous (Music)
Soul music
Steampunk music
Swamp pop music
Taraab (Music)
Tejano music
Timba (Music)
Tropicália (Music)
Tspapiky (Music)
Turbo-folk (Music)
Vallenato (Music)
Waila music
Worldbeat (Music)
Zouk (Music)
Zydeco music
Lots and lots of popular music genres! The hierarchy is a bit shallow here, except for a few deeper areas like Jazz and Rock music, which have a lot of narrower terms.

42. LCGFT – Other hierarchies
Derivative works
Arrangements (Music)
llustrated works
Fingering charts
Informational works
Thematic catalogs
Instructional and educational works
Master classes
Teaching pieces
Literature
Librettos
Sound recordings
Cover versions
Human sounds
Player piano accompaniments
Remixes (Music)
Samplers (Sound recordings)
Some terms were identified that fit into already exiting hierarchies like Information works, Instructional and educational works, and Sound recordings.

43. Library of Congress Medium of Performance Thesaurus for Music (LCMPT)
Terms first released in February 2014.
Initial release: over 800 terms!

44. LCMPT – Top Terms ensemble performer visuals
Only 3! And visuals is an outlier, having no narrower terms.

45. LCMPT - ensemble ensemble audience instrumental ensemble mixed media
accordion band
balalaika orchestra
band
bowed string ensemble
concertina ensemble
continuo
dulcimer ensemble
electronics
gamelan
gonrang
keyboard ensemble
harmonica ensemble
jug band
khrū̜ang sāi
mahōrī
orchestra
percussion ensemble
pipe band
pīphāt
plucked instrument ensemble
plung orchestra
string band
toy orchestra
washboard band
wind ensemble
zither ensemble
mixed media
vocal ensemble
chorus
solo vocal ensemble
The ensembles are mainly divided into instrumental ensembles and vocal ensembles.

46. LCMPT - performer performer actor audience celebrant conductor dancer
tap dancer
instrument
aerophone
electronic instrument
friction instrument
idiophone
keyboard instrument
mechanical instrument
membranophone
percussion instrument
plucked instrument
string instrument
toy instrument
mixed media
mime
signer
voice
singer
speaker
The largest portion of the thesaurus is under “instrument.” You might recognize some of these terms like “aerophone” and “membranophone” from the Sachs-Hornbostel classification; we found that this was often the best way to organize the instruments.

47. Hierarchy example performer instrument wind instrument
woodwind instrument
reed instrument
single reed instrument
saxophone
alto saxophone
It is a deep hierarchy.

48. Where do I access the vocabularies?
Classification Web
Classification Web is the most user-friendly way to access both LCGFT and LCMPT. It’s easy to see the hierarchical structure, and you don’t have to understand any MARC coding.

49. Connexion
(G/F only)
Connexion currently only has LCGFT loaded.

50. id.loc.gov
Id.loc.gov includes both vocabularies in Linked Data form. They are not always kept as up to date as the other services.

51. Other sources for terms
Free PDFs coming soon (
LC’s authorities website (
LC’s MARC Distribution Service (LCGFT only)
LC’s free downloads page ( (LCMPT only)

52. Proposal process
Both vocabularies are new and will continue to be updated
Proposals for new terms and revisions can be made through the SACO Music Funnel
Terms require literary warrant
A work that requires the term
Research in reference sources (Grove, etc.) showing usage and definitions
Terms require reference structure
Variant terms, if necessary
At least one broader term
Scope note, if necessary

53. What you may be seeing for a while
Both old practice and new practice together
Medium of performance: flute (1) string orchestra (1)
Subject: Concertos (Flute with string orchestra)—Scores.
Genre/Form Concertos.
Scores.

54. Music Vocabularies in Library Catalogs
Kevin Kishimoto
University of Chicago

55. LCGFT & LCMPT in Library Catalogs
Display
Indexing
Facets
Search

56. Genre/Form Display Ideally a separate category from “Subject”
Located near subject headings?
Display label
“Genre/Form”?
“Genre”?

60. subject headings
genre/form headings

61. Medium of Performance Display
Location?
Display label
“Medium of Performance”?
“Instrumentation”?
“Performance medium”?
“Performing forces”?
Display format?

67. Medium of Performance Display
Display format
Medium of performance
Soloist
Doubling instrument (or voice part)
Alternative medium of performance
Number of performers or ensembles
Display punctuation or label for each type of medium and number must be set up in catalog

68. Indexing Index the appropriate MARC fields MARC 655 field
Index subfield A
Maybe also index subfields Y, Z [?]
MARC 382 field
Probably requires at least two indexes
Index subfields A, B, D, P
Index subfields A+N, B+N, D+N, P+N

70. Facets
Ideally the catalog has separate facets for each of the new vocabularies, not just one “Subject” facet
Genre/form
Medium of performance
Demographic groups (2)
Creator
Audience
MARC fields and subfields must be indexed

72. Medium of Performance
piano (5)
violin (5)
cello (3)
viola (2)
piano, 4 hands (1)
more...
Genre/Form
Chamber music (3)
Minuets (Music) (2)
Sonatas (2)
Concertos (1)
Scherzos (1)

73. Current Limits
x Format: Music score
x Medium of Performance: violin
x Medium of Performance: piano
x Genre/Form: Sonatas
Medium of Performance
piano x
violin x
cello (3)
viola (2)
piano, 4 hands (1)
more...
Genre/Form
Sonatas x
Chamber music (3)
Minuets (Music) (2)
Concertos (1)
Scherzos (1)

74. Medium of Performance
cello (3)
↳ cello 1 (3)
piano (5)
↳ piano 1 (3)
↳ piano 2 (2)
viola (2)
↳ viola 1 (2)
violin (5)
↳ violin 1 (3)
↳ violin 2 (2)
piano, 4 hands (1)
Genre/Form
Chamber music (3)
Minuets (Music) (2)
Sonatas (2)
Concertos (1)
Scherzos (1)
more...

75. Search Current state of LCGFT & LCMPT searches
Possible to use keyword searches for both Genre/Form and Medium of Performance
Some catalogs have separate Genre/Form search type
A few home-grown Medium of Performance search interfaces, but built on older MARC data, not new LC thesauri

78. Future search interface?...

79. Exploring a Faceted World: Technical Issues
Casey Mullin
Stanford University
Chair, MLA-BCC Subject Access Subcommittee
I will go as light as I can on the technical jargon, but of course some is unavoidable.

80. Conversion of legacy Library of Congress “Subject” Headings (LCSH) Requirements
Each LCSH form/genre heading should beget, at least, one LCMPT and/or one LCGFT field
Algorithm should work equally well for score and sound recording records
Terms in machine-generated fields must be conformant to LCGFT and LCMPT
Machine-generated fields should ideally be conformant to MLA best practices
Duplicate fields should be removed
LCSH headings retained for the time being
“Subject” is in quotes, because these headings are not subject headings in the strict sense…
Fields retained because, among other reasons, other facets (creator/contributor characteristics, audience, language, geography, time period) have to be dealt with soon.
Records will be hybrid for some time!

81. Conversion of legacy Library of Congress “Subject” Headings (LCSH) Challenges (to name a few)
Implicit medium of performance (e.g., “Symphonies”, “Monologues with music”)
Differences in vocabulary
LCSH (“mixed voices”) vs. LCMPT (“mixed chorus”)
LCSH (“Canons, fugues, etc.”) vs. LCGFT (“Canons” or “Fugues”)
Completely new terms in LCGFT (“Art music”)
Identifying solo performers
True “topical” headings: how to distinguish?
By presence of certain modifiers (e.g., “Songs and music”, “History and criticism”)
Or don’t worry and just let them “fail” the algorithm?
Videorecording records?
Possible influence on best practices
Completely new terms: can only be inferred at best from 650s
Topical headings: the system can’t tell which 650s are actually topical headings vs. form/genre/medium constructions.
Possible influence: for example, if Art music can’t be automatically assigned to appropriate works that have no specific genre/form, should we be doing so in new records?? On the other hand, should we impose such limits on ourselves going forward?

82. Conversion of legacy Library of Congress “Subject” Headings (LCSH) LCSH-to-LCMPT algorithm (draft outline, version 0.1)
Isolation and delimiting of raw string of terms expressing or implying medium of performance
Removing non-medium content (particles, punctuation, etc.)
Generating implied medium terms based on certain form/genre terms
Mapping delimited MOP terms to appropriate field (382)
Converting terms to singular
Converting terms to authorized LCMPT form
Identifying solo performers
Addition of number of performers after each term
Addition of total number of performers
“Semantic” conversion and “Syntactic” conversion (thanks Brad Young).
Working with Gary Strawn to refine this.

83. Conversion of legacy Library of Congress “Subject” Headings (LCSH) LCSH-to-LCMPT algorithm (example)
650 _0 $a Sonatas (Violin and piano) Sonatas (Violin and piano) Violin and piano Violin|piano 382 _1 $2 lcmpt 382 _1 $a Violin $a piano $2 lcmpt 382 _1 $a Violin $n 1 $a piano $n 1 $2 lcmpt 382 _1 $a Violin $n 1 $a piano $n 1 $s 2 $2 lcmpt
And here is a proof-of-concept example. Sorry for the MARC tagging, but it’s really hard to show the full process without it.
You’ll notice “Violin” is capitalized…

84. Conversion of legacy Library of Congress “Subject” Headings (LCSH) Timeline (work done primarily by BCC Subject Access Subcommittee)
Fall 2014
Mapping from MARC Instruments and Voices Code List to LCMPT created
LC’s Subject Headings Manual studied for LCSH patterns and permutations
January-February 2015: LCSH-to-LCMPT algorithm drafted
Spring 2015
Refinement of LCSH-to-LCMPT algorithm
Drafting and refinement of LCSH-to-LCGFT algorithm
Summer-Fall 2015: testing, testing and more testing!
Who? OCLC, LC, PCC, other willing institutions
Following model of phased RDA conversion of LC Name Authority File
2016 (??): Agencies begin using converter in production databases

85. Fate of existing LCSH headings
LCSH headings likely to remain in score and sound recording records for some time to come
LCGFT/LCMPT algorithms may never be perfect
Discovery systems need time to catch up
What about works about music?
Not all LCSH music headings are appropriate for topical use
What’s the granularity “cutoff”?
Uncontrolled pattern headings
“Cutoff” – see next slide
Pattern headings can’t be “cancelled”; must be identified through other means

86. Fate of existing LCSH headings
Types of topical music headings
Topical only, per scope note and SHM
Opera (vs. form heading Operas)
Usable as topical or form
Symphonic poems (presence of $x History and criticism signals topical use)
Usable as topical or medium
Violin music
How granular should topical music headings be?
Headings qualified by language
Songs, French
Headings that combine form/genre and medium
Concertos (Piano) (might be worth keeping)
Suites (Bassoon, clarinet, trombones (2), double bass, percussion) (maybe not)
Headings qualified by Sacred/Secular
Cantatas, Secular (or postcoordinate with Sacred music?)
Stay tuned!!
Again, where’s the cutoff? Many decisions need to be made.

87. Conclusion New music vocabularies Genre/form Medium of performance
Demographic groups (coming soon)
Catalogers have begun using these vocabularies in their work, that is, “creating the data”
Discovery tools lag behind in functionality
Start the conversation with your ILS department, vendors, and decision makers in your library

88. Questions?