Report for the Working Group for the Indexing of Performance Information

At the Berkeley meeting the IAML Council approved the creation of a new Working Group for the Indexing of Performance Information. Prior to the formal vote by Council one session was devoted to preliminary planning for the working group. The session was chaired by David Day and included presentations by three students from Brigham Young University who helped develop a prototype database for the project. Day began the session with a summary of events that led to the proposed project and the development of a prototype. The idea evolved from informal discussions and a grass roots swell of interest at the Périgueux meeting of 2001. Following the Périgueux meeting Day corresponded with other interested parties and developed a conceptual data structure. Day then applied for and received a Mentoring Grant from Brigham Young University that made it possible to hire student assistants to program an internet database and enter a sizable number of sample entries. As the project developed considerable interest and support was express by contacts in Belgium, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. A web site was also established to document the activities of the project and facilitate communications among interested parties. The URL for this site is: http://music.lib.byu.edu/ProgramsProj/ProgProj.html

Day continued his introduction to the proposed working group by presenting a vision of authority data shared with other established IAML projects. He also explained the hardware and software that was used in developing the prototype database.

Next a live demonstration of the database was made by Rebecca Arnott and Steven Nordstrom, two students participating in the BYU mentoring grant. Their presentation was followed by an essay on the value of performance based research by Jacob Goddard, a third student from BYU.

The student presentations were followed by an open discussion among attendees. Reaction was positive and encouraged further development of the project. Day closed the session by presenting a draft motion to be submitted to the IAML Council that would establish the project as a formal Working Group. The text of the motion follows below.

It is proposed that the IAML Council establish a Working Group for the Indexing of Performance Information under the auspices of the Bibliography Commission with the following charges.

1.    Build a network and coalition of related projects and other organizations and scholars indexing performance information.

2.    Develop (through survey and collaboration) a data structure and online database for indexing performance information found in a variety of primary source documents.

3.    Develop and present to council an organizational plan for the ongoing and sustained operation of the project

The motion was subsequently presented and approved by the Council. Rupert Ridgewell from the British Library was also appointed as the future chair of the working group.

David Day

Brigham Young University