BIBCO Music Funnel

About the BIBCO Music Funnel

All interested music catalogers are invited to consider joining the BIBCO Music Funnel. The BIBCO Music Funnel was approved by the MLA Board and the PCC Secretariat in 2015, and is intended to provide a way to increase participation in BIBCO for music subject specialists, and to increase the number of BIBCO records created for scores and sound recordings.  The BIBCO Music Funnel, NACO-Music Project, SACO Music Funnel, and the MLA Cataloging and Metadata Committee collaborate on cataloging issues of interest to the music community. The BIBCO Music Funnel Coordinator is Casey Mullin (casey.mullin@wwu.edu).

For those who may not be familiar with the program, BIBCO is one of the branches of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC), which also includes NACO (authority records), CONSER (serials) and SACO (subject heading authority records). BIBCO members contribute high-quality bibliographic records, conforming to the BIBCO Standard Record (BSR), in which all access points are supported by authority work.  A BIBCO funnel is a group of libraries organized around a subject specialty, geographic location or consortium membership that work together to contribute BIBCO records. The funnel also coordinates training and review in the area of specialization.

The formation of the Music Funnel has provided an avenue for current and new BIBCO contributors to join a subject specialist community which will provide training and support in creation of BIBCO records for scores and sound recordings. The funnel also allows members to communicate easily with others in the BIBCO Music community, sharing information and solving problems together. Contributors to BIBCO funnels are not required to submit a minimum number of records, thus enabling institutions of varying sizes and collecting strengths to participate. Music specialists from institutions which are already full members of BIBCO are also invited to join the funnel.  

Current BIBCO libraries

Procedures and reporting for full-level BIBCO members who join the funnel remain the same. BIBCO participants who are already independent in music formats continue to contribute records as independent members and are free to train new catalogers at their own institutions to participate in the program with no intervention from the Music Funnel. However, we hope full-level BIBCO members will wish to participate as part of the community, sharing information on our listserv, sharing your contact information in our directory and volunteering to serve as reviewers for new members.

New BIBCO members

Institutions with no previous BIBCO experience may join the BIBCO Music Funnel to contribute music records, even if no other subject catalogers at the institution wish to participate. There is no requirement to submit a minimum number of records; the only requirements are NACO independence in names and name-titles, preferably through the NACO-Music Project.  Music catalogers who are interested in being part of the funnel will be matched with BIBCO-independent reviewers having music cataloging expertise.

Funnel statistics

As of 2018, the PCC collects statistics through its Directory. Each participating BIBCO cataloger reports their statistics to the PCC either through their institutional BIBCO liaison (if their institution is a full-level BIBCO member), or through their own PCC Directory login (if their institution is a funnel-level BIBCO member). Additionally, the BIBCO Music Funnel Coordinator collects format-specific statistics through a semi-annual survey; all music BIBCO record contributors are encouraged to submit statistics through this mechanism, regardless of their PCC reporting mechanism.

Review and independence

New members will be assigned a reviewer by the Funnel Coordinator.  If there are several music catalogers at the institution under review, a BIBCO contact person at that institution will forward all records to the reviewer.  The contact person will review all records locally for obvious errors and will try to have each cataloger send approximately 20 records over the course of the review.  Guidelines for review as stated in the BIBCO Participant’s Manual, 3rd edition, call for the participating institution or individual to produce 80-100 records, or a quantity sufficient to assure consistent high quality. The records may be either new or existing records that have been upgraded to BIBCO standards.

To join

Please fill out and submit a BIBCO Music Funnel Application. 

If your institution is not already a BIBCO member (either full or funnel-level), you also need to fill out the PCC BIBCO Membership Application.

If you are already contributing BIBCO music records, you do not need to submit the PCC form.

Please contact Casey Mullin, BIBCO Music Funnel Coordinator with any questions: casey.mullin@wwu.edu.

The funnel also features:

  • A website dedicated to BIBCO music issues, which will include information for new members, but also eventually will include links to useful information for music catalogers and shared tools, such as workflows and checklists developed by member libraries.
  • A listserv to share information concerning cataloging for BIBCO, as well as a forum for questions related to the process of joining the BIBCO program.
  • A directory modelled after the NACO Music Project directory, showing all participating catalogers and the contact person at each institution, and which formats they are cataloging in the BIBCO program. This will enable us to share information more efficiently, as well as to match reviewers and reviewees.

For more information see:

The PCC BIBCO Program

BIBCO Funnels

Documents