Columns:: Campus Closeup

since 12/15/98

Columns::March 10, 2003

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Campus News

Campus Closeup

JIMMY BROWN
Senior Acquired Cataloguer
for Music Libraries

JOB DESCRIPTION: “My primary responsibility is to produce cataloguing records for music scores, sound recordings and

Jimmy Brown to Athens to play in a band, and how he’s worked at the UGA Libraries for nearly a decade. (Photo by Peter Frey)

video recordings. I produce the records by editing and cataloguing copy produced by other libraries and put it in a national utility called OCLC, Online Computer Library Center. I also assist the library technical assistant for music in training student workers.”

A TYPICAL DAY: “My goal for the day is to catalogue six titles, but I try to do more than that. First, call numbers are assigned to the items. Then I begin the actual cataloguing.
“There are two parts to cataloguing: description, which is the process of transcribing data to identify an item; and access, which is the process used to identify and index the work. For a simplified example, say I had a CD of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. The disc, its container, and the booklet in the container are collectively the item. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 is the work. Looking at the cataloguing record in OCLC, I verify that these two things have been done according to the rules and make changes to the cataloguing record as necessary. Once that is done, I import the record into GIL and add it to the database where our patrons can use the record to find the item.
“The thing that takes the longest is verifying the access points, the subject headings, names, etc. For music, at least, the names and uniform titles are very important because publishers tend to give things different titles in different printings. It’s all the same work, but the title may be in a different language or in several languages. Sometimes the composer’s name is spelled differently. There has to be one form of name and title where you can find all the items that are manifestations of that work.”

YEARS IN CURRENT POSITION: “Ten this September.”

OTHER UGA EXPERIENCE: “This is the only position I’ve had with the university.”

OTHER WORK EXPERIENCE: “I moved to Athens to deliver pizzas. I had a friend who asked me to play in his band so I did that and delivered pizzas. I worked at a cabinet shop after that. Then I had other odd jobs until I came to work at the Libraries.
“I liked the idea of working in a library so I kept applying for the library assistant II position every time there was an opening. I got this job through persistence. I was hired as a library assistant III in music cataloguing.”

IF I WASN’T DOING THIS JOB, I’D MOST LIKE TO: “I enjoy performing, mainly singing. So, if I could do that for a living that would be really nice.
“I earned a bachelor of arts in music with a concentration in composition from Mercer University, but not since Beethoven has someone been able to make a living composing classical pieces.”

OFF-THE-JOB INTERESTS: “I sing in the Athens Chamber Singers as well as in the First Presbyterian Choir. I was also in the chorus for the recent production of Madama Butterfly by the Athena Grand Opera Company.”

FAVORITE MUSIC: “I like music that achieves some intensity of expression. I like Bach, John Coltrane and James McMillan. As long as it has the qualities I appreciate, I enjoy it.”

A BOOK THAT I’D RECOMMEND TO OTHERS: “I read a lot of non-fiction. I read a fair amount of biographies and enjoyed the biographies of Winston Churchill written by Sir Martin Gilbert, Churchill’s official biographer.
“I also would recommend Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives by Dallas Willard. It’s about the classical, spiritual disciplines. I think the practice of what’s in there is very useful.”

THE PEOPLE I MOST ADMIRE: “My parents, Henrietta and W.E. Brown. They sacrificed a lot for me to get me where I am. They taught me a lot about my faith in God, life and appreciation for learning.
“My mother is an avid reader and singer. My father is a painter and a writer. I draw a lot of inspiration from those things.”

THE ISSUE THAT CONCERNS ME MOST ABOUT TODAY’S WORLD: “Our fear of silence.
“Our culture, abetted by our vast array of entertainment and communication technology, offers us the possibility to be constantly distracted. It’s really only a symptom.
“We are so full of our own words, so anxious to adjust our public image and ensure we’re not misunderstood, control what people think about us, that there’s no room left inside to listen.
“If we could each be quiet, even just once in a while, we would be able to truly hear what people are saying.
“We could even hear what’s truly inside ourselves.
“We might even hear the quiet voice that’s been trying to speak to us but we prefer to drown it out.”

--Leslie Bakun

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