1. Tracey Snyder Cornell University Music Library
The Embedded Librarian as Selector, Cataloger, and Instructor
Tracey Snyder Cornell University Music Library
A virtuous cycle of enriched collections, efficiency, and enriched service
Selector
Cataloger
Instructor
The virtuous cycle begins here.
Enriched collections
I am also the selector of audio-visual materials for the music library. Intimate knowledge of a course manifests itself in my selection choices.
For example, during the course on music of the African diaspora, a unit on rocksteady music inspired me to acquire some CDs of rocksteady music for the library’s collection and a documentary DVD about the history of rocksteady music. Prior to that, rocksteady had almost no presence in the collection.
At the invitation of a professor in the music department each semester, I serve as an embedded librarian in several undergraduate music history/ethnomusicology courses, including a survey of jazz history, an introduction to music of the African diaspora, and a research course centered on Cornell University Library’s hip hop collection.
I attend occasional lectures and discussion sections, create LibGuides, conduct course-specific library research sessions, post research tips on LibGuides and send them out by , consult with students one-on-one, and advertise items from the library's collections.
Efficiency
Having researched and selected audio and video recordings for purchase assists me in cataloging those items when they arrive, saving me time in comprehending, analyzing, and describing items. This principle applies to authority work as well as bibliographic work.
For example, when I received a CD marked with the words SPOEK MATHAMBO MSHINI WAM in all capital letters, I already knew that Spoek Mathambo was a personal name and not a corporate name or an album title; this saved me time in constructing the heading and creating an authority record. I also had prior knowledge of the style of music on the CD, which saved me time in assigning subject headings to the bibliographic record.
Additionally, I usually recognize newly-arriving items that I selected with a specific course in mind, and I can therefore prioritize the cataloging of those items over others.
Enriched service
Upon cataloging items that are likely to be of interest to students in a particular course, I notify the entire class population by (via Blackboard).
Building the library’s audio-visual collection and maintaining a good sense of the strengths of the collection aids in my being effective as an embedded library instructor.
2012