More thoughts from Stellenbosch: Katharine Hogg guest post

Following our previous report on IAML Congress 2024 in Stellenbosch, more IAML (UK & Irl) members have been in touch to share their experiences of the week. First is Katharine Hogg, Librarian of the Gerald Coke Handel Collection. Katharine writes:

The Congress attracted a smaller number of delegates than usual, due to its distance from Europe, but it did allow a number of delegates from African countries to attend for the first time.

I went on the pre-Congress visit to the University of Cape Town’s WH Bell Music Library, and we were also introduced to the instrument collection which included a wide range of African and European instruments.

Across the week, we were treated to several performances of traditional African music, as well as a jazz concert and a silent movie with live organ performance. Talks ranged from the niceties of cataloguing to the desperate need to conserve some traditional musics from African communities which are endangered as populations move to the cities and lose their oral traditions.

There was a group of sessions on e-scores, considering their acquisition, cataloguing, mechanics, ethics and licensing. Sessions on special collections introduced piano rolls at Stanford, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and music manuscripts at Brigham Young University. There were thought-provoking sessions on diversity and inclusion, well-illustrated. A fruitful meeting of the Study Group on Performance Ephemera shared experiences and advice with colleagues at the University of Cape Town who are about to embark on organising their programme collections.

Slides from session on diversity and inclusion

There were two IASA (International Association of Sound and Audiovisial Archives) workshops and sessions as part of the Digital Libraries for Musicology (DLfM) programme incorporated into the week. The DLfM presentations invited participation in their annotation survey as they seek to develop implementation of software to annotate digital scores.

Slide from DLfM session

I ventured into the wonderful underground University Library at Stellenbosch – designed to withstand temperature fluctuations but surprisingly bright as a working space. At the end of the week our own Rupert Ridgewell from the British Library was elected President of IAML, and delegates departed for home, safari, or a spot more local sightseeing.

Next week, Chris Scobie from the British Library will share his thoughts on the experience of attending Congress.