MLA Conference Diary 1

The annual conference of the Music Library Association (USA) was held 2-5 March 2016 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. Benjamin Knysak of RIPM reflects on his experience.

As an “R” project representative and IAML member it is always a pleasure and honor to attend the annual MLA conference and to interact with so many devoted music librarians. This year’s conference was held in Cincinnati, Ohio, a city at the crossroads of the East Coast and Midwest and of the North and the South. With its musical tradition extending back to the mid-nineteenth century, the influence of the city’s founding generations, consisting largely of German immigrants, can still be felt, from the grand Music Hall, May Festivals, and excellent Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) / University of Cincinnati to the Bockfest, an imbibable alternative to its musical cousins in Leipzig and elsewhere. (Although happening during the conference, I unfortunately did not have time to sample them!)

Topics at MLA meetings encompass all aspects of music librarianship. This year, plenaries focused on diversity in the profession and applications of Linked Open Data. A broad range of program sessions, roundtables, and committee meetings demonstrate the interests of members and the intersections of librarianship with other topics. A number of hands-on workshops on aspects of “digital humanities”  techniques were highlighted on Saturday. I attended one on comparative analysis of textual content using open source tools. As this intersects with our activities at RIPM, it was beneficial to see what methods and techniques are currently employed by DH researchers. Kudos to the organizers and the to the session coordinator (Janelle Varin) for organizing such an interesting session.

As a gesture of gratitude and a way to inform MLA members about RIPM’s activities, we held a breakfast on Thursday morning, sponsored by EBSCO, similar to our lunch at the IAML Congress in New York. Such attentive commitment by MLA members—at 7:30 in the morning—was made apparent by the more than 100 colleagues that attended and by the discussions fostered afterwards. It is this aspect—networking—that is so valuable at conferences, IAML and MLA both. It was gratifying to hear so much positive commentary and much excitement especially for our latest undertaking, RIPM Jazz Periodicals.

The conference concluded with a cocktail hour and a diverse array of performers including the (famous?) MLA Big Band. As a member since 2003, it’s always a thrill to play with so many talented musicians who are also friends. This year, we had the joy of working with Darren Benton, a talented drummer from CCM, who drove a fabulous rhythm section through the whole set, especially in Arturo Sandoval’s Mambo Caliente.

The time spent at an MLA conference seems to pass so quickly that the end is almost a surprise. But we now look forward to next year in Orlando, the first Pan-American conference jointly sponsored by MLA and CAML.