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Cataloging Musical Moving Image Material:
a Guide to the Bibliographic Control of Videorecordings and Films of Musical Performances and other Music-Related Moving Image Material with Examples in MARC Format

Prepared by The Working Group on Bibliographic Control of Music Video Material, Bibliographic Control Committee, Music Library Association
Edited by Lowell Ashley
A Review



Cataloging Musical Moving Image Material is number 25 in the series MLA (Music Library Association) Technical Reports. Its purpose is to "offer guidance that could lead to more uniform practice for cataloging musical moving image materials." Books have been published previously that cover the cataloging of videorecordings and motion pictures, and other works have been published on various aspects of music cataloging such as the construction of uniform titles; however, this is the first book to be published on how to catalog musical performances on videorecordings and motion pictures. There have been many inconsistencies in the way such material has been cataloged because this type of material has not previously been acquired and cataloged by libraries. Since the Library of Congress is no longer cataloging videorecordings and motion pictures, there is no national leadership in this area.

There currently is a controversy about whether AACR2 does and should allow main entry under personal name for videos of musical composition. The authors do not make a definite decision on this issue but do point out in the examples where personal name main entry might be applicable.

This book covers not just musical performances but also interviews of musicians, documentaries on musical topics, motion pictures with notable musical scores, biographical films of musicians, instructional materials and master classes, and documentation of the music of ethnic, cultural or religious groups. The book is divided into sections on description, choice of access points, subject headings and classification. Appendices include 42 examples of MARC formatted records, some in OCLC and some in RLIN format; a bibliography of cataloging manuals for music, audiovisual materials in general, and specifically films and videorecordings plus a bibliography of general reference sources for cataloging ethnographic materials. Each example includes comments. The examples reflect format integration but do not include the rearrangement of the fixed field in OCLC that occurred after OCLC implemented format integration as that had not happened when the book was published. The examples are full records which contain many access points.

This book is very useful in clarifying many complex cataloging issues involving musical moving image material.

Published in 1996 by: Music Library Association, Canton, Mass. (xiv, 108 p.)
ISBN 0-914954-51-2. $28.00 ($22.40 to MLA members)

Reviewed by:
Katherine L. Rankin
University of Nevada, Las Vegas


Last updated: April 8, 2003
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