500 done.
We are so close I can taste it. Yet, I knew with Les Preludes (the big finale concert which is broadcast LIVE) coming up, the library is going to get crazy.
Unfinished business drives me up a wall, even if I am very proud of my product. I think, overall, knowing that I am leaving behind very tangible and useful lists and products for the library is the most rewarding aspect of doing this internship.
We've made further changes to the ANSCR system, making it more specific by adding additional categories to those general ones that have been set as the standard. It's also really strange that we've started getting requests for these CDs under the new call numbers. It often takes me off-guard. But it always brings a smile to my face.
We did that.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Les Preludes: The Beginning of the End
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| Music Library Summer 2012 Staff |
If you've ever seen ANY video footage or advertisement for Interlochen, it will include a clip from Les Preludes. Traditionally (since the 1940s), the final concert of the summer includes the top high school bands playing this Liszt piece whilst the dance students dance on the pit and roof of Kresge (the main auditorium). It seems rather ceremonial and ridiculous to me, but I've heard it showcases well the talent of the students and the Festival Choir (who are singing Beethoven's 9th).
I am also going to be a fake Ensemble Librarian and help out with the event, because one of them has to leave early. Thus, I get to kind of have my 'day in the life' moment which I'd been yearning for since watching them all summer.
Getting to finish out the summer with the most stressful event? It's a bonding experience.
I have loved getting to work with all of these talented people. And I know this last week is going to be epic.
Bring it on, Les Preludes. I'm ready.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Supply and Demand
Supply and demand are huge in a library like the Fennell Music Library.
When new groups of campers come in, there is literally a swarm of students all looking for very similar chamber pieces. We often get questions like, "Do you still have the Brahms??" or "Do you know if someone has checked out the score for <insert item here>?" I'm attributing it slightly to the competitive nature of an institution like this, but also to the nature of the music craft.
This is especially evident with reserves.
Each week, the cataloger puts recordings and study scores of the pieces that each of the ensembles are playing on reserve.
Boy, do these kids want to listen to their music.
I give them props for being so dedicated, but we have literally had people wait HOURS to check out a recording of the 1911 Firebird Suite by Stravinsky.
Thus, there's an ebb and flow. Does the library buy more recordings? Probably not. It's only going to be in high demand THIS week. But still, the time of these campers is precious. We limit items on reserve being checked out for two hours. We try to encourage group listening.
But still. It's so refreshing to see such dedication. Even if they get frustrated.
When new groups of campers come in, there is literally a swarm of students all looking for very similar chamber pieces. We often get questions like, "Do you still have the Brahms??" or "Do you know if someone has checked out the score for <insert item here>?" I'm attributing it slightly to the competitive nature of an institution like this, but also to the nature of the music craft.
This is especially evident with reserves.
Each week, the cataloger puts recordings and study scores of the pieces that each of the ensembles are playing on reserve.
Boy, do these kids want to listen to their music.
I give them props for being so dedicated, but we have literally had people wait HOURS to check out a recording of the 1911 Firebird Suite by Stravinsky.
Thus, there's an ebb and flow. Does the library buy more recordings? Probably not. It's only going to be in high demand THIS week. But still, the time of these campers is precious. We limit items on reserve being checked out for two hours. We try to encourage group listening.
But still. It's so refreshing to see such dedication. Even if they get frustrated.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Library Programming
One of the most exciting events that I get to participate in this summer is library programming. Having never gotten to organize or plan events for an institution before, I wanted to take full advantage of the opportunity. Each week, the library puts on a themed event, which gets 10-20 of the 100-some campers to attend. Not bad, considering the evenings are their "time off" and social time after rehearsals and classes.
This summer, one of my fellow interns came up with the idea to have the campers fold 1000 paper cranes. There is a Japanese tradition that if one folds 1000 cranes, one will get their wish. Our wish was for a fantastic summer, and we had the initial kick off event during week two. We are slowly making our way up. The intern in charge posts the number we have currently hanging over the library (455!) and we keep a basket of origami paper at the reference desk at all times.
Not only is it a fun way to decorate the library, but this project has really allowed us to connect with patrons. Teaching them how to fold the cranes during slow moments allows us to get to KNOW the campers. Have real conversations with them that don't involve call numbers. Something as simple as folding paper has gained me new staff contacts and happy campers (haha).
Programming and outreach (one of my favorite library topics) are near and dear to my heart after working in an archive, and it's so exciting to see such a simple idea really WORK for a library. I'm going to definitely take the ideas and innovations I've learned here and apply it to my future job.
This summer, one of my fellow interns came up with the idea to have the campers fold 1000 paper cranes. There is a Japanese tradition that if one folds 1000 cranes, one will get their wish. Our wish was for a fantastic summer, and we had the initial kick off event during week two. We are slowly making our way up. The intern in charge posts the number we have currently hanging over the library (455!) and we keep a basket of origami paper at the reference desk at all times.
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| Summer of 1000 Paper Cranes |
Programming and outreach (one of my favorite library topics) are near and dear to my heart after working in an archive, and it's so exciting to see such a simple idea really WORK for a library. I'm going to definitely take the ideas and innovations I've learned here and apply it to my future job.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Listening Room Woes
One of the most used features of the Music Library are the group listening rooms, located to the left of the reference desk. These rooms are to be used by small groups (4-8 people) to listen to recordings either from internet databases like NAXOS, videos from YouTube, or discs from our collection of sound recordings. The computers are firewalled to not access any other webpages.
... remember when I said the teenagers were smart?
They broke the firewall/parental controls.
Not only that, but the center room (there are three) is blocked from view by the stairs to the academic library. I always know that when I heard raucous laughter I should do a quick walk around to make sure too many schananigans going on.
But unfortunately, today I had to discipline my first campers because they were using facebook and watching videos that had nothing to do with music library pursuits. I got a little lip, admittedly, but they stood down quickly once they realized they had virtually no defense against my argument. (There is a poster that tells them what they can and cannot do in said room. Obviously they weren't following it.)
Another odd thing is that the record player needle keeps going missing. Strange.
... remember when I said the teenagers were smart?
They broke the firewall/parental controls.
Not only that, but the center room (there are three) is blocked from view by the stairs to the academic library. I always know that when I heard raucous laughter I should do a quick walk around to make sure too many schananigans going on.
But unfortunately, today I had to discipline my first campers because they were using facebook and watching videos that had nothing to do with music library pursuits. I got a little lip, admittedly, but they stood down quickly once they realized they had virtually no defense against my argument. (There is a poster that tells them what they can and cannot do in said room. Obviously they weren't following it.)
Another odd thing is that the record player needle keeps going missing. Strange.
Friday, July 6, 2012
ANSCR Project: The Bugs
My main project (on top of the Preparation Project) this summer has been working with the audio CD collection here at the Fennell Music Library of over 600 disks. We are changing the call numbers (currently accession numbers) to the ANSCR system.
You may ask: what's the ANSCR system?
Well, let me (and my handy dandy internet sources) tell you.
This lovely website gives a very good overview of how to utilize such a system. Basically, we're making the collection a lot more browse-able, as we are hoping to move all the CDs out from closed stacks and into the listening library.
As you can imagine, there's a lot of.. opinion involved with all of these. What I may think of as "popular" music, may not be to another intern. Thus, we enter a bit of the grey areas of this method. Basically, we, as a staff, are more concerned with getting the project complete before we go back and make any major changes/tweaks this way.
We started by putting the new numbers into a shared Google Spreadsheet. But since that wasn't getting done quickly enough, we've now moved to putting the call numbers directly into WorkFlows. What's been nice, is that my fellow intern and I have taken turns imputing each others' call numbers. We were able to catch mistakes and learn/discuss each others' methods.
300 done. 300 to go. Oye.
You may ask: what's the ANSCR system?
Well, let me (and my handy dandy internet sources) tell you.
This lovely website gives a very good overview of how to utilize such a system. Basically, we're making the collection a lot more browse-able, as we are hoping to move all the CDs out from closed stacks and into the listening library.
As you can imagine, there's a lot of.. opinion involved with all of these. What I may think of as "popular" music, may not be to another intern. Thus, we enter a bit of the grey areas of this method. Basically, we, as a staff, are more concerned with getting the project complete before we go back and make any major changes/tweaks this way.
We started by putting the new numbers into a shared Google Spreadsheet. But since that wasn't getting done quickly enough, we've now moved to putting the call numbers directly into WorkFlows. What's been nice, is that my fellow intern and I have taken turns imputing each others' call numbers. We were able to catch mistakes and learn/discuss each others' methods.
300 done. 300 to go. Oye.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Adventures in Teenager-dom
Working with teenagers is difficult.
There is just no other way to put it.
I've always been centered in academic subject librarianship. I've never had the ambition to work (in a library setting) with anyone really under the age of eighteen.
But.. working with teenagers is also really rewarding.
I have worked with kids before. I was a summer camp counselor for six years. I love kids. But still, I've always held librarianship, I think, on some higher level.
These kids are smart.
Too smart sometimes.
I've kept a log of some of the more snarky things that I've heard from teenaged patrons this summer. Including and not limited to bald face lies, ridiculous requests, and attempts at jokes that just don't work.
At least, if nothing else, it's kept me on my toes. I could really see myself working with populations like these in the future.
Interlochen. Always learning something new.
There is just no other way to put it.
I've always been centered in academic subject librarianship. I've never had the ambition to work (in a library setting) with anyone really under the age of eighteen.
But.. working with teenagers is also really rewarding.
I have worked with kids before. I was a summer camp counselor for six years. I love kids. But still, I've always held librarianship, I think, on some higher level.
These kids are smart.
Too smart sometimes.
I've kept a log of some of the more snarky things that I've heard from teenaged patrons this summer. Including and not limited to bald face lies, ridiculous requests, and attempts at jokes that just don't work.
At least, if nothing else, it's kept me on my toes. I could really see myself working with populations like these in the future.
Interlochen. Always learning something new.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Round Table
As part of the professional development part of my internship, I participate in what the library here calls "round table" discussions (even though they tend to take place around rectangular tables). Basically, every Wednesday, each of the interns (academic, reference, and archival) picks an article to discuss with the group as a whole. These articles basically just have to do with librarianship as a whole, and hopefully bring a new issue to light with the group.
Personally, I've found these to be incredibly enlightening. Everyone has a different kind of "specialization" here, and I've gotten to learn a lot about art libraries and library management because of two of my coworkers. I've continued to push the topic of outreach, whilst my roommate (and academic library intern) has brought up social issues with the library and caused a two hour long debate on the subject.
Learning is so important to me. I love school. Knowing this is basically my last academic endeavor is hard for me. But it's great to know that I am entering a field where knowledge literally IS power. It changes. It ebbs and flows with technology. And even at an arts camp, learning and growing is encouraged and fostered. Maybe real life won't be that bad..
Personally, I've found these to be incredibly enlightening. Everyone has a different kind of "specialization" here, and I've gotten to learn a lot about art libraries and library management because of two of my coworkers. I've continued to push the topic of outreach, whilst my roommate (and academic library intern) has brought up social issues with the library and caused a two hour long debate on the subject.
Learning is so important to me. I love school. Knowing this is basically my last academic endeavor is hard for me. But it's great to know that I am entering a field where knowledge literally IS power. It changes. It ebbs and flows with technology. And even at an arts camp, learning and growing is encouraged and fostered. Maybe real life won't be that bad..
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