April 2008

Dear Music Cataloger,

Thank you for your interest in the NACO Music Project (NMP). NMP is sponsored by the Music OCLC Users Group (MOUG). The project is not limited to libraries whose primary working relationship is with OCLC, however. Participants may use either OCLC or RLIN. NMP's goal is the cooperative contribution of name and name/uniform title authority records to the LC Name Authority File (LC NAF) as part of the national NACO project. The NMP Advisory Committee has established an application process to help in the selection of qualified participants. The process consists of returning the attached questionnaire, a portion of which requires a simple, yet important month-long study.

The month-long study is needed to answer question 12 on the questionnaire. While NMP does not expect participants to be voluminous contributors, the Advisory Committee would like to know how many name and name/uniform title headings you might be able to contribute on a monthly basis. To determine this in a uniform way, all applicants are being asked to use a four-week period of their choice to tally the number of name and name/uniform title headings they encounter that have not been established in the LC NAF. While we recognize that you may not be able to contribute all the headings you might typically come across in one month, the figure will give us some idea of the potential, a potential we expect will vary widely among applicants, as it does among current NMP participants.

It may be helpful for you to understand that participation in NMP is granted to the combination of individual and institution. Therefore, the questions on the questionnaire relate both to you as an individual and the institution at which you are employed. Should you find yourself no longer employed by your institution, both your possible participation at a new institution and your former institution's participation will be reviewed by the NMP Advisory Committee. Although retraining and retesting may not be required, the committee must evaluate any change in participation.

Please note that the questionnaire should be returned to Ann Churukian, Chair of the NACO-Music Project Advisory Committee. The address is at the end of the questionnaire.

Thank you again for your interest. Should you have any questions regarding the application or any other aspect of the NACO Music Project, please do not hesitation to contact any member of the NMP Advisory Committee.

Sincerely,

Ann Churukian, Chair, Vassar College
Joe Bartl, Library of Congress Representative
Chuck Herrold, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Ralph Papakhian, Indiana University, NMP Coordinator
Alan Ringwood, University of Texas at Austin, MOUG Board Representative

QUESTIONNAIRE

Please answer the following questions. Attach additional sheets as necessary.

NAME:
TITLE:
MAILING ADDRESS:


INSTITUTION:
WORK PHONE NUMBERS:
FAX:
E-MAIL ADDRESS:

NAMES AND TITLES OF OTHERS WHO WILL CONTRIBUTE HEADINGS:



1. Please briefly describe your library's holdings. Provide a more detailed description of your reference holdings, citing in particular the extent of your holdings of thematic catalogs, dictionaries and encyclopedias, and collected editions. Include any particularly significant titles in your description.



2. Please briefly describe the strengths of the music program your library supports.



3. Please briefly describe the personnel in your library who participate in music cataloging, e.g., the number and FTE, their titles and duties.



4. Do you have support from your immediate supervisor for your participation in this project?

         yes             no

5. If selected as an NMP participant, would you be willing and able to attend MOUG and/or Music Library Association annual meetings on a regular basis?

         yes             no

6. Is your institution currently a NACO participant?

         yes             no

7. Which utility does your institution currently use?

         OCLC             RLIN             other

8. Is your institution currently a member of MOUG? If not, would they be willing to join if you become a project participant?

         yes             no

9. A training visit may occur during the first year of participation, especially if you would be your institution's first participant in NACO. Typically MOUG pays the transportation cost associated with this visit. If MOUG was unable to fully fund this trip, would your institution be willing and able to assist with this funding?

         yes             no

10. If a training visit to your library was not feasible, would you be willing and able to travel to the coordinator's or reviewer's site for training?

         yes             no

Again, if MOUG was unable to fully fund this trip, would your institution be willing to assist with this funding?

         yes             no

11. Does your music library or music collection already have an NUC symbol specific to it?

         yes             no

If so, please indicate it:                                       

12. SELF-STUDY:

Prior to submitting this questionnaire, we ask that you conduct a month-long study to help us determine the number of new headings you could be expected to contribute to the NACO Music Project on a monthly basis. Please tally the following for a four-week period:

a) The number of music-related NAME HEADINGS (e.g., personal names, corporate names for performing groups, etc.) that your library encounters as part of its routine cataloging and retrospective conversion activities and which have NOT been established in the Library of Congress Authority File.

b) The number of NAME/UNIFORM TITLE HEADINGS for musical works that your library encounters as part of its routine cataloging and retrospective conversion activities and which have NOT been established in the Library of Congress Authority File. Keep in mind that the NACO Music Project can create name/uniform title headings for all titles, even those not requiring cross references.

Based upon the above, please specify the number of new headings in each category that you would expect to contribute on a monthly basis. Please note that NMP does not expect participants to be voluminous contributors of headings. Regularity and accuracy are foremost among our concerns.

NAME HEADINGS:                                       
NAME/UNIFORM TITLE HEADINGS:                                       

13. Please provide additional information that you feel would help the Advisory Committee as they review your application (attach sheet if neceessary)




PLEASE RETURN THIS QUESTIONNAIRE BY E-MAIL TO:
Ann Churukian, Chair
anchurukian@vassar.edu

OR BY SURFACE MAIL TO:
Ann Churukian
Music Library
Box 38
Vassar College
124 Raymond Ave.
Poughkeepsie, NY  12604-0038

Return to: OR NACO-Music Project Homepage