Improving Music Discovery with LCGFT and LCMPT Vocabularies

1. 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

2. Genre/Form & Medium of performance in LCSH  Genre/Form Tangos Heavy metal (Music)  Medium of performance Trios (Violins (2), piano) Violin and oboe music  Combinations  Genre/Form + Medium Sonatas (Piano)  Genre/Form + partial Medium Concertos (Bassoon)  Medium + Genre/Form Bass clarinet music (Jazz)  Genre/Form + Genre/Form Sacred songs Methods (Bluegrass) So what is wrong with this…?

4. 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

5. 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)

6. LCSH vs LCGFT +LCMPT LCSH: 650 _0 $a Sonatas (Cello and piano), Arranged $v Scores and parts. LCMPT/LCGFT: 382 01 $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

7. Other data in LCSH  Creator/Contributor characteristics Heavy metal (Music)—Norway Music by African American composers Mexican Americans—Music  Audience characteristics Children’s songs School songbooks Music for the hearing impaired  Time period Rock music—2001-2010 Music—19th century  Language Songs, Chinese Folk songs, German

8. 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

9. 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

10. Medium of performance display

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

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

13. Basic Genre/Form display

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

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

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

17. Domain-specific discovery

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

19. In a Music Specific Search Environment Medium of performance Geographical Place Genre/Form Asia - Central Asia - East Asia - South Asia - South East Asia Europe North America South America More… 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… Score Recording Video

20. 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 

21. 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