Music genre in the wild Possibilities for music discovery with LCGFT, LCMPT & other LC vocabularies Nancy Lorimer Stanford University Music Library Association meeting, Cincinnnati 2016

Genre/Form & Medium of performance in LCSH  Genre/FormTangos Heavy metal (Music)  Medium of performanceTrios (Violins (2), piano) Violin and oboe music  Combinations  Genre/Form + MediumSonatas (Piano)  Genre/Form + partial MediumConcertos (Bassoon)  Medium + Genre/FormBass clarinet music (Jazz)  Genre/Form + Genre/FormSacred songs Methods (Bluegrass) So what is wrong with this…?

The Solution: LCGFT + LCMPT  Collaboration between the Library of Congress, the Music Library Association Cataloging and Metadata Committee (CMC) Vocabularies Subcommittee and the CMC Genre/Form Task Force  LCMPT terms published February 24, 2014  800 published in in initial phase  New terms added through SACO Music Funnel  LCGFT terms published February 15, 2015  567 published in initial phase  New terms continue to be added by the task force and Music funnel

Structure  Thesaurus structure, i.e. hierarchical  Top term:  Music (lcgft)  Ensemble, performer, visuals (LCMPT)  All terms have at least one BT, except top term(s)  May have more than one BT (Polyhierarchy)  In LCGFT:  Avoid terms that simply combine two BTs (e.g. Sacred songs) when possible  No language, demographic, religion, nationality terms, unless inherently part of the genre name (e.g., Chinese operas vs Children’s songs)

LCSH vs LCGFT +LCMPT LCSH: 650 _0$a Sonatas (Cello and piano), Arranged $v Scores and parts. LCMPT/LCGFT: $a cello $n 1 $a piano $n 1 $s 2 $2 lcmpt 655 _7 $a Sonatas. $2 lcgft 655 _7 $a Arrangements (Music) $2 lcgft 655 _7$a Scores. $2 lcgft 655 _7 $a Parts (Music) $2 lcgft

Other data in LCSH  Creator/Contributor characteristicsHeavy metal (Music)—Norway Music by African American composers Mexican Americans—Music  Audience characteristicsChildren’s songs School songbooks Music for the hearing impaired  Time periodRock music— Music—19th century  LanguageSongs, Chinese Folk songs, German

LCSH vs LCGFT + LCDGT + … LCSH: 650 _0 School songbooks, African. LCGFT: 370 __ $g Africa. $2 lcsh 385 __ $a School children. $2 lcdgt 655 _7 $a Songbooks. $2 lcgft

Discovery requirements  Distinguish between genre/form headings and topical subjects for purposes of searching and faceting or limiting.  Index separately from topical subjects, but possibly also a combined index for those who won’t distinguish topic vs genre  Accommodate whatever genre-related thesauri are desired, including those that are locally developed  Machine-actionable, granular description of expressions for medium of performance

Medium of performance display

Medium of performance discovery? Medium of performance piano 2,175 violin 1,147 orchestra 614 string orchestra 503 instrumental ensemble 362 er hu 280 cello 161 pi pa 154 More…

Music Medium 1 Music Medium 3 Music Medium 2 In a Music Specific Search Environment Strings Winds Percussion Keyboards Plucked instruments Other More… Music Medium 4 Music Medium 7 Music Medium 6 Music Medium 5 Music Medium 8 Piano Harpsichord Celesta Keyboard Num.

Basic Genre/Form display

Genre Popular music 2,175 Operas 1,147 Symphonies 614 Popular music 503 Jazz 362 Sonatas 280 Oratorios 161 Concertos 154 More… Popular music 2,175 Beatboxing Bhangra (Music) Blues (Music) Rock music Alternative rock music Garage rock music Heavy metal (Music) Surf music

Genre Format of notated music Scores Chorus scores Fakebooks (Music) Intabulations Piano scores Vocal scores Musical sketches Part books Parts (Music) Service books (Music) Songbooks Tune books

CONTRIBUTOR CHARACTERISTICS women; composers TIME PERIOD 20th century PlaceContributor characteristics Time Period France United States More… Composers Women More…

Domain-specific discovery

ScoreRecording Video Art music Folk music Popular music Functional music Chants Sound art/ Experimental music Sacred music Songs Beatboxing Dance music Cumbia (Music) Zouk (Music) Rock music Surf music Noise music Garage rock (Music) Wizard rock (Music) Genre

Genre/Form Geographical Place Medium of performance ScoreRecordingVideo In a Music Specific Search Environment Art music Folk music Popular music Chants Dance music Event music Functional music Sacred music Songs Sound art More… Solo instrument(s) Solo voice(s) Chamber music Choruses Large ensembles More… Asia - Central Asia - East Asia - South Asia - South East Asia Europe North America South America More…

Challenges  Legacy Data  Automated conversion of LCSH headings into separate genre/form, medium, time, etc. terms  Cleanup of LCSH headings that won’t convert easily  What to do with terms in LCSH?  Training  Understanding thesaurus structure  Understanding genre/form vs subject  New search techniques  Display  Hierarchical—not what our ILS’s tend to be good at  Works best in facet display and/or as linked data  Requires customization of field displays for best effect

Benefits for Discovery  Atomized terms allow for infinite combinations of searches without creating a new term (and authority record)  Faceted approach lends itself to flexible displays and searches, leading to greater power of discovery  Hierarchies allow a searcher to move easily in the level of granularity of a search  One term per identifier—easier for validation both in MARC and in linked data applications—leading to cleaner and more flexible data