ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 1090 / C&RL News ■ D ecem ber 2001 C o l l e g e & R e s e a r c h L i b r a r i e s news Innovation in international library programs The Slovenian Music Collection at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee by Peter G. Watson-Boone T h anks to a g e n ero u s b e q u est received m ore th an 20 years ago, the G olda Meir Library at the University o f W isconsin, Mil­ w a u k ee (UWM), has b e e n able to d e velop an interesting a nd possibly u n iq u e set o f ini­ tiatives in international library activity cen ­ tere d u p o n th e m usic o f Slovenia. UWM is a n ur­ b a n research uni­ versity w ith m ore 24,000 students. T h e m u s ic d e ­ p a r tm e n t o ffers program s to the m aster’s level in th e o r y , p e r f o r ­ m a n c e , h isto ry , a n d e d u c a t i o n a n d has long had an in v o lv e m e n t w ith various tra­ ditions o f ethnic music. As is fairly typical o f n o n-standard col­ lecting m issio n s in u n iv e rsity lib ra ries, th is o n e b e g a n th ro u g h th e sc h o la rly in te rests o f o n e fa cu lty m em b e r. UWM P ro fe ss o r of M usic Leo M uscatevc, w h o w as Slovenian- b o rn , d o n a te d h is o w n m a te ria ls a n d p e r ­ s u a d e d M ary E rm enc, a local Slovenian- N ation al & U niversity Library, Ljubljana, Slovenia. A m erican, to b e q u e a th fu n d s fo r th e c o l­ le c tio n a n d p e rfo rm a n c e o f th e m usic o f Slovenia. Slovenia Slovenia, part of the form er Yugoslavia, gained its in d ep e n d en c e in 1991, b u t it has h a d its o w n d i s t in c tiv e language, culture, a n d sense of n a ­ tio n h o o d for h u n ­ d r e d s o f y e a r s . Before ever b eing part of Yugoslavia, it w as part o f the A ustro-H ungarian Empire. It is a nation of 2 m illion p e o p le , s i t u a t e d a t th e h e a d o f th e Adriatic Sea, a nd e x te n d in g n o rth ­ east tow ard Austria a n d H ungary. The capi­ tal city, Ljubljana, boasts o n e of the oldest p ublic sym phonic societies in E urope, the A cadem ia Philharm onicorum , established in 1701, a tim e w h e n m ost E uropean orchestras w e re the p ro p e rty o f kings, princes, arch­ d ukes, a n d others. A b o u t t h e a u th o r Peter G. Watson-Boone is library director a t the University o f Wisconsin, Milwaukee, e-mail: pwb@gml.lib.uwm.edu mailto:pwb@gml.lib.uwm.edu C&RL News ■ D ec e m b e r 2001 / 1097 Building the collection To c o m p le m e n t th e UWM library’s m ission o f building a Slovenian m usic collection, a local com m unity g roup, the Slovenian Arts Council, w o rk s u n d e r a related b e q u e s t by Mary E rm enc to a rra n g e concerts, p e rfo r­ m ances, a n d related activities. For m any years, the library ’s sole collecting activity w as the acquisition o f m odern printed scores as they b ecam e available in the United States from the Society of Slovenian Com pos­ ers, w hich has a n agent in N ew York City. A radical c h an g e cam e in 1998, w h e n I w as able to inco rp o ra te a visit to Slovenia into m y trip to Eu­ ro p e for the IFLA c o n f e r e n c e in A m ste rd am . This highly fruitful visit tu rn e d o u t to be a n e x c e lle n t e x ­ am ple o f the cru­ cial im portance of d i r e c t, p e r s o n a l c o n ta c ts in v e n ­ tures o f this kind. T his e x p o s u re to the Slovenian m u ­ sic a l c o m m u n ity established a basis o f p e rso n a l trust, o p e n e d up several n e w ch an n els o f c o o p e ra ­ tion, m ad e us aw are o f additional m aterials w e c o u ld a cq u ire, a n d th e re b y lifted o u r Slovenian collecting m ission to a new , a nd v ery exciting level. We still collect scores via the p rin te d cata­ log o f th e Society o f Slovenian C om posers, b u t w e have e x p a n d e d o u r sc o p e to include so u n d recordings a n d m usicological w orks, co n te m p o ra ry Slovenian art, literature, archi­ tecture, culture, history, a n d g e o g ra p h y to furnish th e essential c o ntext for th o se w h o will u se the m usic materials. I returned from my 1998 visit with m ore than 90 CDs of Slovenian music, most of them un­ available through commercial channels in the United States. I chatted with th e hotel concierge about w hy I was visiting his country; w hen he came to w ork the next day, h e gave m e an LP record (which I later found to be very rare in North America) of Slovenian folk music. I am told that the UWM Slovenian music collection is now the largest in North America. Home o f th e o lde st p u b lic sym phony society in Europe, th e A cadem ia P hilh a rm o n ic o ru m , 1701, Ljubljana. Other recent activities P rofession al visits: T he h e ad o f the UWM M usic L ibrary h a s v isite d S lo v e n ia to a c ­ q u a in t h e r s e lf w ith th e p e o p le a n d th e n a tio n ’s m u sic lib ra ria n sh ip . In a d d itio n , I w a s a b le to fully fu n d a o n e - m o n th visit from th e h e a d o f th e M usic Library o f th e N a tional a n d U niversity Library in Ljubljana to im p ro v e UWM L ib rary ’s p ro fic ie n c y in c a t a l o g i n g o u r g r o w i n g c o l l e c t i o n o f S lo v e n ia n m u sic m ate ria ls. E xchange agreements: We have estab­ lished agreem ents w ith the National a n d Uni­ v ersity Library in Ljubljana a n d w ith tw o b r a n c h e s o f th e S lo v e n ia n A c a d ­ e m y o f Sciences a n d Arts, nam ely the Institute o f Mu­ sicology a n d the I n s t i t u t e o f Ethnomusicol-ogy. T h e b a sis fo r the a greem ents is s i m p le : o u r Slovenian partners se n d us their cur­ re n t p u b lic a tio n s a n d /o r library e x ­ c h an g e lists, a n d th e UWM Library, not itself b e in g a regular publisher, obtains an d sends N orth Am erican m usicological a n d e th n o m u s i c o - l o g i c a l p u b l i c a t i o n s th e Slovenians tell us th ey n e ed . All parties u n ­ d e rstan d th at exact m o n eta ry equality for the services re ce iv e d is n o t p o ssible; th e in te n ­ tio n is fo r e a c h p a rty to receive b e n efits th at are g e nerally e q u al in v alue. T he G olda Meir Library has o b ta in e d m an y exce lle n t p u b li­ cations th ro u g h th e s e a greem ents. N ational E thnom usic Archive: A p a r­ ticularly exciting p a rt o f th e initiative is a re ­ l a t i o n s h i p w i t h t h e I n s t i t u t e o f E thnom usicology, w h e re b y co p ies o f th e e n ­ tire Slovenian National E thnom usic Archive scores will b e m ad e available to th e UWM Library. W hile to uring this archive, h o u se d in a n o ld building o f w o o d e n infrastructure, I le a rn e d that the staff w as p lan n in g to p h o to ­ c o p y th e entire p rin te d archive for storage in a different building. I su g g e ste d th at they m ake an additional co p y for us, at the UWM Library’s e x p en se, a n d this w as a g re e d to in 1092 / C&RL News ■ D ecem ber 2001 principle. T he institute later d e c id e d to scan th e archive, w h ic h will lea d to n e w a n d in­ teresting opp o rtu n ities for technical c o o p e ra ­ tio n b e tw e e n us, a n d s h o u ld re su lt in an e n d -p ro d u c t that is m u ch m ore accessible to scholars w orldw ide. P ossib le student visit: O n e en terp risin g UWM faculty m em b e r w ith a n existing inter­ e st in th e c horal m usic o f e aste rn E urope has re s p o n d e d enthusiastically to publicizing o u r Slovenian m usic m aterials. She h as b e g u n to p ro g ram the m usic in local concerts, b o th o n a n d off cam pus, a n d is p lan n in g to tak e the UWM stu d e n t choristers o n a su m m er trip to Slovenia in 2002, w h e re th ey will give c o n ­ certs, p e rh a p s w ith Slovenian students. S lovenia b o a sts fo u r e x c e lle n t su m m e r m usic festivals. I w as privileged to a tte n d a stu d e n t co n ce rt at o n e o f them , th e Brezice Early Music Festival 2000, w h e re a m ost im ­ pressive stu d e n t e n se m b le from K rakow , P o ­ land, w as perform ing. C om m ission : D u rin g th e m id-1990s I w o u ld occasionally joke to c o lleagues that o u r Ermenc fund w as sufficiently large e n ough that if th e Slovenian m usic w e w a n te d d id n ’t exist, w e c o u ld c om m ission it. A w o n d e rfu l m o m e n t cam e w h e n I re aliz e d th at institu­ tional policy c h an g e s at UWM w o u ld p erm it m e to d o exactly that. T he UWM Library has therefore com m is­ sioned a p iece o f m usic from an accom plished Slovenian co m p o ser and, given a successful outcom e, m ay com m ission further works. This is a n o th e r exam ple o f h o w a d e ep e n in g n e t­ w ork of contacts a n d trust can p ro d u c e n ew options. In sum m ary, w h a t w as at its in ce p tio n a v ery low -key, traditional ty p e o f library o p ­ eration to collect specialized material has b e en d e v e lo p e d into a m ultifaceted, active, a n d highly re w ard in g v e n tu re in international li­ brary c o o p e ra tio n w ith direct links to schol­ a rship a n d learning. T he benefits o f in cre ased k n o w le d g e a nd a w are n e ss o f a little-know n p a rt o f E urope a re accruing to UWM students, faculty a n d s ta ff, in c l u d i n g l ib r a r y sta ff; t h e lo c a l S lovenian-A m erican c o m m unity in so u th e ast W isconsin is d elig h ted to find o u t m ore a bout its e th n ic h o m e la n d ; a n d in Slovenia, the m usic c o m m unity n o w h as M ilw aukee firmly in its sights as a prim ary c en ter o f interest a n d activity. ■ ( “Information literacy . . . ” continued from page 1088) that w e fit outside-the-library/inside-the-class- ro o m tim e into o u r schedule. Spending time in classrooms, listening in o n discussions, b e ing aw are o f the sp o n ta n e ­ ou s suggestions/ideas/topics that arise during a class (o r m eeting) that either students o r fac­ ulty o r b oth w a n t to p u rsu e gives the librarian the opportunity to b e there at the m om ent of need. Being able to advertise th e n a nd there the kinds o f resources stu dents a nd faculty have available to th em is far m ore m eaningful than instructing them w h e n th ey d o n ’t perceive an imm ediate need. B eyond advertising our wares, librarians can follow -up w ith e-mail, cam pus mail, o r even by delivering a b o o k or tw o to the office, class­ room , studio. O ver the course o f a semester, seeds can b e planted for future library sessions, individual ap p o in tm en ts w ith students, and class-tailored resource guides. More a n d m ore, I see th e pivotal role of librarians as o ne o f relationship-builder: the better yo u a n d y our patrons k n o w e ac h other, the m ore com fortable y ou are w ith each other, the b etter y ou are able to k n o w their needs a n d to serve them. ■