Library Professional Listserv
Throughout this semester I have been following a professional listserv for the Music Library Association. The listserv is managed by Indiana University.
This listserv is very interesting to someone who is interested in music librarianship, or someone who wants to be a subject librarian regarding the fine arts and music. Several topics are discussed from meetings/conferences, to membership info and topics related to music and libraries. Through my time spent on the listserv, I saw that this is a very good (and easy) way to connect with other people in this field. It is informative for people who are interested in music or libraries or who are in the field. This listserv keeps professionals up to date in what is happening in the field in regards to both the people in the field (social aspect) and the actual information involving the field. Some things that were discussed and are very nice to have were the streaming of the music conference and February, and also advertisements to become more involved in the MLA and in the field through round tables and committees.
Some topics that stood out to me were talking about recording circulation in libraries and how to avoid copyright problems with a transfer of a collection. Another interesting topic was braille scores and how to access them.
Circulation of recordings was very interesting to me because my ethics scenario topic was about this very topic. A subscriber voices her concerns over circulation of recording and wants feedback on how to go about this. Through the listserv, several people answer her giving her ideas through their experience and what their libraries’ policies are. https://list.indiana.edu/sympa/arc/mla-l/2015-04/
Overall, I think this is a very good way to keep up with this field and help to understand and develop more with music and libraries. I think it is important to have listservs like this because it helps professional music librarians (and other types of professionals) continue development and stay connected. It also helps promote safer, more informative libraries for patrons all over the world. I will continue to follow this listserv even after the class in order to stay current with what is happening with music in libraries.
Here is link to this website. In order to subscribe you have to email the listserv and make a username and password.
https://list.indiana.edu/sympa/info/mla-l