Canadian Society for Traditional Music: Archivist’s Report, Sunday, October 28th, 2001

The Society’s Archive is lodged in the University of Calgary archival collections and its books, journals and sound recordings are combined into the collections of the University of Calgary Music Library. The collections have grown significantly during the years 2000-2001. Concerning the Archives, the University’s archivist Apollonia Steele reports that material is being steadily added, with the contributions and assistance of John Leeder, and that the heaviest usages have been of the Society’s own Archive, the Richard Johnston collection and the Edith Fowke collection in relation to a tribute video of Edith Fowke, for film research relating to the Travellers, for a master’s thesis, a doctoral dissertation, and a book. The Archives were also used by six researchers in 2000 and five so far in 2001.

Concerning the University of Calgary Library’s holding on traditional folk music, librarian Marilyn Nasserden reports that usage is continually increasing, due both to donations and acquisitions. In her recent letter, she reports further as follows:

“In the Performing Arts Library one can find 1500 titles by executing a search in the Library’s online catalogue with the search terms “folk or traditional” and limiting titles to the music collection on the 9th floor of the Library Tower. In addition, we have approximately 200 CD’s and 3200 albums on traditional and folk music.

Many books about or supporting the traditional music collection appear in other parts of our collection. A search on our Library’s online catalogue for any of the following commands:

folk song$ or folksong$ or folk music$ or folk singer$ or

traditional music$ or children’s song$ or gift fowke or gift sarjeant

Such a search identifies over 3300 items in our collection as a whole. There are many more related items in the collection. Including search terms such as ballads, oral tradition, world music, folklore and so on would retrieve additional items.

The above collections include at least 240 books and journals donated by yourself and 1030 items donated by Edith Fowke as well as many album donations. We also have a couple of shelves of material donated by you yet to be processed.

In the past couple of years, the Library has also acquired several books (new publications as well as out-of-print songbooks) and CD’s on traditional and folk music to support the teaching and research of two newer faculty members in the Department of Music with related specialties: Jerry Kerlin and Dr. Brita Heimarck.

Although I cannot provide exact usage statistics on these materials, I do know that they are used from the questions we receive in the Performing Arts Library and by quickly scanning the results of the searches for items checked out. In addition, in the past two years we have had three graduate students who have carried out their research and theses on topics within the field of traditional music.”

I am still having trouble in obtaining, for the Archives, journals, newsletters and notices relating to the activity of folk music organizations in Canada. We have had particular difficulties in obtaining material from such long serving organizations as Mariposa, despite repeated requests to a variety of persons. Even the organizations that are direct affiliates of CSTM only send their material to me very intermittently. Obviously, I would like to receive such material on a more regular basis.

Another problem is broken runs of journals; I strive to obtain gap-filling items, but receive responses ton only about one in four of my letters. This can be extremely frustrating. Even so, we are assembling at Calgary a truly remarkable library, one of the best in Canada and with few peers anywhere in North American. It is freely open for consultation by members of this Society, wishing to undertake research on folk music or song, to check up on music or texts, or simply to listen.

We welcome donations of relevant material, including letters or documents relating to folk music activities and performers as well as the items listed above. Details of proposed donations should be addressed to me at: 674 University Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 0J2. The donations themselves should, after formal request, be sent to me for assembling and where appropriate, binding before forwarding to the University of Calgary.

(Dr.) William A.S. Sarjeant, Archivist

Honorary Member, Canadian Society for Traditional Music