MOUG Newsletter

Another cataloging annotation:

Music OCLC Users Group. “Newsletter.” Available to all members of MOUG in print form. Occasional publication, 1977-present. ISSN: 0161-1704

MOUG is a familiar acronym to music librarians and catalogers. It is an abbreviation for the Music OCLC Users Group, a group made up of mostly music catalogers that was established to work with the Online Computer Library Center, Inc. on their implementation of rules and standards relating to printed music, sound and video recordings with music content, and material about music. It works with librarians with oversight over music-related material who make uses OCLC-related products and services, such as Connexion and Passport. MOUG publishes an occasional newsletter (usually ever four months) called the Music OCLC Users Group Newsletter which has a number of useful articles.

The newsletter usually delivers updates about the organization and its activities; as well as those of OCLC. Because MOUG serves as an unofficial coordinating agency between OCLC and the music library community, it is the official vehicle to inform MOUG members of news and updates about OCLC’s services and products, such as updates, additions, revisions, and changes to their Bibliographic Formats and Standards.

One of the most useful features about the newsletter is Jay Weitz’s Questions and Answers, a forum to address complex questions of using the MARC format for bibliographic description and name, uniform title, and subject access. There are often reports from related organizations, as well as lists of recent additions and changes to composer/uniform title authority and subject authority records.