Vaughan Williams Memorial Library & its importance

Subject: RE: Vaughan Williams Memorial Library & its importance
From: johnadams
Date: 27 Jul 10 - 04:11 PM

Billy Weeks wrote

I feel sure that, if the society had the wherewithal (and, of course, the will) it would be possible to rejig CSH into a better shape for present requirements, but it would call for a professional, comprehensive design approach, examining every possibility for every space (including the roof) and not an amateurish 'let's colonise this broom cupboard' attitude.   The brief for any such project will be complicated by the fact that the largest single space is going to be jealously guarded for dance and also, in its present state, it represents a source of regular income for the society.

...and other relevant stuff.

Such a plan was hatched not so long ago during my stint on the NC. It involved colonising the drive and extending downwards as well as upwards. The architects plan was really fantastic and I have copies somewhere in my archives.

The then projected cost of something a little more than 5 million pounds was an ambitious target but achievable with external funding given certain basic hurdles successfully leapt during an initial stage.

Then we got the Limpics!

Subject: RE: Vaughan Williams Memorial Library & its importance
From: TheSnail
Date: 27 Jul 10 - 05:12 PM

For the sake of clarity, is the VWML a wholly owned subsidiary of the EFDSS or does it have an independent existence?

Subject: RE: Vaughan Williams Memorial Library & its importance
From: oggie
Date: 27 Jul 10 - 05:41 PM

It is an integral part of the EFDSS, it is not an independant body.

Steve

Subject: RE: Vaughan Williams Memorial Library & its importance
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 28 Jul 10 - 07:54 AM

"It is an integral part of the EFDSS, it is not an independant body."
Is this true (asking, not challenging)? - I understood that at one time it was part of The Vaughan Willimas Trust - though I might have that wrong.
I gather from the above that there is no ready answer to the library's problems and thet it must remaiun as a 'thriving' entity that can't expand or provide a decent listening system - pity.
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Vaughan Williams Memorial Library & its importance
From: johnadams
Date: 28 Jul 10 - 08:36 AM

As I understand it, there are 3 trusts bound together and people who are elected to the NC automatically become trustees of the Society, trustees of the House and trustees of the Library. The Vaughan Williams Trust is a separate organisation to the trustees of the VWML and provide support for the library as well as overseeing other aspects of Vaughan Williams' legacy, in the classical music world.

The main developments for the library are with regard to digital access and this is what most people have been carping on about these past few years. If there is similar money available for improving the physical entity of the library then no doubt the society will be applying for it, although if they are successful, the carpers will then be asking why there's money being spent in something that only Londoners can benefit from from easily.

As far as I can see from the outside but with the benefit of a decade of experience getting things sorted out on the inside, the society is playing its limited cards pretty well at the moment and more power to their elbow!

Subject: RE: Vaughan Williams Memorial Library & its importance
From: TheSnail
Date: 28 Jul 10 - 09:00 AM

I am quite sure that all the trustees are doing their best and are in a far better position than any of us to make the right decisions....but it's fun to speculate.

I was just wondering whether it was possible to separate the issue of the possibility or desirability of selling Cecil Sharpe House from the problems of the library. Does the VWML need to be in C# House? Could it relocate to more suitable premises and the space be used for other, possibly profitable, purposes? Retail outlet, recording studio, rehearsal rooms....

Subject: RE: Vaughan Williams Memorial Library & its importance
From: The Sandman
Date: 28 Jul 10 - 09:18 AM

Interesting points, Snail.

Subject: RE: Vaughan Williams Memorial Library & its importance
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 28 Jul 10 - 09:25 AM

. . . colonising the drive and extending downwards as well as upwards

I wonder if anyone consulted the current occupants of No 39 Gloucester Avenue (where, as I said before, Roy Guest used to live)? This sounds very disruptive and obtrusive unless, as I also said before, No 39 is acquired as well.

Retail outlet, recording studio, rehearsal rooms

These being other suggested used for space occupied by VWML (which really isn't very much at all). There used to be a shop in the entrance hall, now taken up by a useless reception desk and a coffee table. Storrow can be (as was for years) used as a recording studio and Trefusis was used as a rehearsal space by TV production companies and the like.

Subject: RE: Vaughan Williams Memorial Library & its importance
From: greg stephens
Date: 28 Jul 10 - 09:51 AM

The best solution, and I am surprised it hasn't been tried, would be to bombard the neighbours with incessant vastly amplified recordings of Jinky Wells' fiddle playing, day and night. They would hopefully vacate their premises and sell up for peanuts to the EFDSS, and bob's your uncle.

Subject: RE: Vaughan Williams Memorial Library & its importance
From: Old Vermin
Date: 28 Jul 10 - 01:38 PM

Or apply to the EHO for an Enforcement Order, and make trouble about the licence.

Subject: RE: Vaughan Williams Memorial Library & its importance
From: Joe Offer
Date: 10 Apr 18 - 09:48 PM

Take note that volunteers are needed to work on the Folk Song Subject Index Project:

We are pleased to announce an exciting new project to create an online subject index for folk songs along with a thesaurus of keywords. Thanks to generous funding from the National Folk Music Fund and the Marc Fitch Fund, this important resource will be made freely available via the VWML’s website alongside existing indexes and catalogues.

Background

In recent years there has been great progress indexing, cataloguing and making available our folk song heritage. The Roud Folk Song indexes and VWML online make it possible to search for songs by title, first line, place, singer, and classification numbers (such as the Roud number) helping us to bring together multiple versions of the same song. Yet there is a big hole in our achievements so far - approximately 30% of the enquiries which are received by the VWML are for songs by subject or by type (e.g. harvest songs). It may be thought that full-text searching is the answer to this problem, but the words of folk songs are not usually couched in standard natural language - they are poetical, allegorical, and imaginative. So, for example, there are many songs which feature a suicide, but none of them mention the word because the character in question 'throws herself into the briny deep' or 'falls on his sword'. Therefore, starting in May 2018, the VWML is to undertake a one year project to create a subject index for folk songs along with a related thesaurus of approved terms.

The subject index will be a publicly accessible online index to aid the finding and retrieval of traditional folk songs based on subject keywords. This index will also function as a master index, devoting a record to each song and including a brief synopsis of the song, notes on the history, and a sample text where possible. This master song index will then link to variants of the song as found in the VWML and Roud folk song indexes.

The subject index will be supported by the creation and use of a hierarchical thesaurus. The thesaurus will identify authorised keywords used in the subject index, along with their synonyms, and broader and narrower related terms. Deciding authority terms is important because it indicates to users the preferred terms on which to search, e.g. coal miners instead of colliers, etc., and will therefore make for more accurate and efficient searching.

These two resources are to be made freely available to the public via the VWML’s website (www.vwml.org). No other index like this is currently in existence, and although this project will by no means create a comprehensive index, it will at least lay the foundation for an important addition to the study and research of folk songs across the English-speaking world.

Get Involved

We are looking for volunteers to assist with the indexing of folk songs. If you are a folk song enthusiast and are able to dedicate a few hours a week to this work, then we’d love to hear from you. Please download the job description below for more information, or get in touch with our Subject Index Project Officer, Natalie Bevan, at [deleted email address]