2016 Presentations (Communicative Events)

ANSCRing the question: A hands-on approach to sound recording classification for college libraries

Price, Charlotte E.

A recently conducted survey affirmed that a majority of music libraries use an accession-based and closed-stacks system for sound recordings. Yet with CD circulation dwindling, these systems make our collections even less accessible to patrons. This poster will demonstrate the benefits of a genre-based classification system and open stacks for music libraries, and present a roadmap for those interested in a similar switch. Using the example of an accession-to-ANSCR migration at Sarah Lawrence College, a small liberal arts school in New York, this poster discusses the benefits to user confidence, serendipitous discovery, and challenges such a change can bring.