Jewish Music Online: Digital Fieldwork
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Presented in the panel, "Jewish Music Online: Analog Repositories, Digital Fieldwork, and the Web of Collaborative Tools," at the 42nd Annual Conference of the Association for Jewish Studies, Boston (Mass.), December 20, 2010.
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Jewish Music Online: Digital Fieldwork
- 1. Digital FieldworkFrancesco SpagnoloThe Magnes Collection of Jewish Art & LifeBancroft Library, UC Berkeley Jewish Music Online Analog Repositories, Digital Fieldwork and the Web of Collaborative Tools Association for Jewish Studies Boston, Dec. 20 2010
- 2. Let’s try to clarify what Digital Fieldwork is NOT… I will use YouTube as an example. This is what happens in doing “research” on Jewish music in Azerbaijanonline. (Link courtesy of Edwin Seroussi)
- 3. But on YouTube I can also find… …my own wife (and primary sources on the development of new Jewish rituals)
- 4. …or a primary source on Jewish-Christians co-territorial repertoires in Piedmont, Italy Way better than the archival recordings I researched worldwide (despite the grungy video)
- 5. YET, DIGITAL FIELDWORK IS NOT THE SAME AS RETRIEVING AND VERIFYING THE AUTHENTICITY OF INFORMATION ONLINE…
- 6. Analog sources kept in archival repositories worldwide include texts (books, articles, etc.) about music literary sources describing musical practices musical sources (manuscript & printed music) audio recordings video
- 7. Digital sources kept in archival repositories worldwide and in the www jungle include: (Some of) All of the above: texts (books, articles, etc.) about music literary sources describing musical practices musical sources (manuscript & printed music) audio recordings and video + Catalogs: libraries, archives, music publishers + Social media content (Some of all of the above, but not only from institutional sources: also scholars, practitioners, culture bearers, performers, educators, collectors, listeners, fans…)
- 8. Institutional Content: The Digitized Book Repository of The National Library of Israel (Music Section) Formerly known as Jewish National and University Library (JNUL): http://jnul.huji.ac.il
- 9. JNUL Digitized Book Repository – Music: A. Z. Idelsohn Vol. 6 (DjVu format)
- 10. Institutional Content: The National Library of Israel: National Sound Archives (NSA) Full Catalog - Search Results for “nigun” (best searched in Hebrew) The NSA is about to launch its digitization project online (currently non-public beta)
- 11. Social Media (Crowdsourced) Content: piyut.org.il Piyut.org.il includes user-contributed content (texts and musical recordings of Hebrew liturgical poems) derived in part from commercial recordings and from the holdings of the National Sound Archives (NSA)
- 12. Disparity in access to sourcesakaanother aspect of the digital divide "easy" access to digital sources online may penalize analog sources available onsite yet, we all acknowledge that today’s fieldwork needs to include online sources, including social media In this presentation, I focus on sounds online
- 13. Dubious status of audio sources available through social media: lack of metadata, lack of metadata control lack of unifying standard, leading to...
- 14. The Very Pressing Problem of Sound Online How can we negotiate the contrast between: A superb commercial interface (iTunes), dedicated to selling commercial recordings The grim state of the visual representation of sound on the web (an eminently visual platform) (this includes social media: there is currently no comparable platform to YouTube/video Flickr/images available to sounds)
- 18. Options for digital sound online: SoundCloud(soundcloud.com)
- 19. Options for digital sound online: SoundCloud (soundcloud.com) Individual sound track view (“soundwave” visualization)
- 20. Options for digital sound online: SoundCloud (soundcloud.com) Sound-friendly metadata support
- 21. Options for digital sound online: SoundCloud (soundcloud.com) A host of dedicated applications
- 22. Options for digital sound online: SoundCloud (soundcloud.com) Summary: best metadata – best visualization – no directly exportable metadata – licensing – embed codes – "comments” & “tags” – LONGEVITY???
- 23. Options for digital sound online: YouTube (youtube.com) Summary: Worst metadata – visualization via images (stills, slideshows, videos) – embed codes – no directly exportable metadata – licensing – "comments” & “tags” – LONGEVITY? (google) – ANNOTATIONS – VARYING LEVES OF PERMISSIONS
- 24. Options for digital sound online: content-specific aggregators Black Sabbath (Idelsohn Society) Aggregates culturally-specific content from social media (including YouTube & SoundCloud), a dedicated platform-specific application (iPhone), and marketing tools
- 25. Options for digital sound online: content-specific aggregators Summary: Horrible metadata – visualization via images (stills, slideshows, videos) – no directly exportable metadata – no licensing – "comments” & “tags” – LONGEVITY??? – ANNOTATIONS via Social Media Aggregation – dedicated app – blurred lines between content and marketing are confusing
- 28. How collaborative fieldwork can, well, work: Flickr’s support for exportable metadata standards, dating tools, geolocation, tags (also machine-generated), licensing, comments, varying levels of permissions AND annotations looks like an excellent model for sounds online
- 29. Digital Fieldwork Emerging practice, based on: collaborative tools & research practices rather than digital sources alone notion of distributed rather than centralized knowledge brought forth by the digital humanities pilot project Jewish Digital Narratives of The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley
- 30. Digital Fieldwork Agents of collaboration may include: institutions scholars librarians & archivists practitioners, culture bearers performers educators collectors listeners & fans …
- 31. Digital Fieldwork The absence of a dedicated tool may actually present us with the opportunity of crafting one that supports all of the following: Sound-specific metadata structure – dating tools – geolocation – sound-friendly visualization – embed codes – exportable metadata – "comments” & “tags” (including machine-readable tags) – annotations options – longevity (aka digital preservation) – licensing (including CreativeCommons)
Editor's Notes
- What “digital fieldwork” is not. This is what happens if you “research” Jewish music in Azerbaijan online. (This is a nationalist song from Azerbaijan, adapted by a local Habad Rabbi to the style of the Miami Boys Choir)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L3xg8-f2j4
- Adon ‘olam set to the melody of I Will Survive, for “[Gay] Pride Shabbat” and Congregation Sha’arZahav in San Francisco.
- Despite the grungy videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wkonoSTOBU
- Issues:1. What sources are available?*Analog:,*Digital: all of the above (texts, literary sources, musical sources, recorded sources, video sources), plus discographic catalogs, library & archives catalogs, AND social media (all of the above, but not only from institutional sources)—>Disparity in access to sources (aka, "digital divide") – "easy" access to digital sources online may penalize analog sources available onsite – yet, FIELDWORK today needs to include online sources and especially social media (where the notion of participant/observer is extremely present!)
- Issues:1. What sources are available?*Analog:,*Digital: all of the above (texts, literary sources, musical sources, recorded sources, video sources), plus discographic catalogs, library & archives catalogs, AND social media (all of the above, but not only from institutional sources)—>Disparity in access to sources (aka, "digital divide") – "easy" access to digital sources online may penalize analog sources available onsite – yet, FIELDWORK today needs to include online sources and especially social media (where the notion of participant/observer is extremely present!)
- JNUL Digitized Book Repository – MUSIC
- JNUL Digitized Book Repository – MUSIC: A. Z. Idelsohn Vol. 6 (DjVu format)
- NSA Full Catalog - Search Results _nigun_
- NSA Full Catalog - Search Results _nigun_
- Issues:1. What sources are available?*Analog:,*Digital: all of the above (texts, literary sources, musical sources, recorded sources, video sources), plus discographic catalogs, library & archives catalogs, AND social media (all of the above, but not only from institutional sources)—>Disparity in access to sources (aka, "digital divide") – "easy" access to digital sources online may penalize analog sources available onsite – yet, FIELDWORK today needs to include online sources and especially social media (where the notion of participant/observer is extremely present!)
- Dubious status of sound sources available through social media: *lack of metadata, *lack of metadata control *lack of unifying standard, leading to...
- The Very Pressing Problem of Sound Online: how can we negotiate the contrast between superb commercial interface (iTunes) and grim state of visual representation of sound on the web (including social media: no comparable platform to YouTube/Flickr for sounds – perhaps SoundCloud?)*Available alternatives today:- Soundcloud: best metadata/best visualization/no directly exportable metadata/"comments"- Internet Archive: good metadata/minimal visualization/exportable metadata (xml)/"comments"- YouTube: worst metadata/visualization via images/no directly exportable metadata/"comments" and "tags"—> the many co-existing standards cause fieldwork and collaborative practices to juggle among varying standards
- *Available alternatives today:- Soundcloud: best metadata/best visualization/no directly exportable metadata/"comments"- Internet Archive: good metadata/minimal visualization/exportable metadata (xml)/"comments"- YouTube: worst metadata/visualization via images/no directly exportable metadata/"comments" and "tags"—> the many co-existing standards cause fieldwork and collaborative practices to juggle among varying standards
- *Available alternatives today:- Soundcloud: best metadata/best visualization/no directly exportable metadata/"comments"- Internet Archive: good metadata/minimal visualization/exportable metadata (xml)/"comments"- YouTube: worst metadata/visualization via images/no directly exportable metadata/"comments" and "tags"—> the many co-existing standards cause fieldwork and collaborative practices to juggle among varying standards
- *Available alternatives today:- Soundcloud: best metadata/best visualization/no directly exportable metadata/"comments"- Internet Archive: good metadata/minimal visualization/exportable metadata (xml)/"comments"- YouTube: worst metadata/visualization via images/no directly exportable metadata/"comments" and "tags"—> the many co-existing standards cause fieldwork and collaborative practices to juggle among varying standards
- *Available alternatives today:- Soundcloud: best metadata/best visualization/no directly exportable metadata/"comments"- Internet Archive: good metadata/minimal visualization/exportable metadata (xml)/"comments"- YouTube: worst metadata/visualization via images/no directly exportable metadata/"comments" and "tags"—> the many co-existing standards cause fieldwork and collaborative practices to juggle among varying standards
- *Available alternatives today:- Soundcloud: best metadata/best visualization/no directly exportable metadata/"comments"- Internet Archive: good metadata/minimal visualization/exportable metadata (xml)/"comments"- YouTube: worst metadata/visualization via images/no directly exportable metadata/"comments" and "tags"—> the many co-existing standards cause fieldwork and collaborative practices to juggle among varying standards
- *Available alternatives today:- Soundcloud: best metadata/best visualization/no directly exportable metadata/"comments"- Internet Archive: good metadata/minimal visualization/exportable metadata (xml)/"comments"- YouTube: worst metadata/visualization via images/no directly exportable metadata/"comments" and "tags"—> the many co-existing standards cause fieldwork and collaborative practices to juggle among varying standards
- *Available alternatives today:- Soundcloud: best metadata/best visualization/no directly exportable metadata/"comments"- Internet Archive: good metadata/minimal visualization/exportable metadata (xml)/"comments"- YouTube: worst metadata/visualization via images/no directly exportable metadata/"comments" and "tags"—> the many co-existing standards cause fieldwork and collaborative practices to juggle among varying standards
- *Available alternatives today:- Soundcloud: best metadata/best visualization/no directly exportable metadata/"comments"- Internet Archive: good metadata/minimal visualization/exportable metadata (xml)/"comments"- YouTube: worst metadata/visualization via images/no directly exportable metadata/"comments" and "tags"—> the many co-existing standards cause fieldwork and collaborative practices to juggle among varying standards
- *Available alternatives today:- Soundcloud: best metadata/best visualization/no directly exportable metadata/"comments"- Internet Archive: good metadata/minimal visualization/exportable metadata (xml)/"comments"- YouTube: worst metadata/visualization via images/no directly exportable metadata/"comments" and "tags"—> the many co-existing standards cause fieldwork and collaborative practices to juggle among varying standards
- Black Sabbathhttp://www.idelsohnsociety.com/blacksabbath/Idelsohn Society iPhone app
- *Available alternatives today:- Soundcloud: best metadata/best visualization/no directly exportable metadata/"comments"- Internet Archive: good metadata/minimal visualization/exportable metadata (xml)/"comments"- YouTube: worst metadata/visualization via images/no directly exportable metadata/"comments" and "tags"—> the many co-existing standards cause fieldwork and collaborative practices to juggle among varying standards
- 4. Double status of music in Social Media not as digital repository, but as* a field for research* a platform for COLLABORATIVE FIELDWORK
- 4. Double status of music in Social Media not as digital repository, but as* a field for research* a platform for COLLABORATIVE FIELDWORK
- 4. Double status of music in Social Media not as digital repository, but as* a field for research* a platform for COLLABORATIVE FIELDWORK
- 4. Double status of music in Social Media not as digital repository, but as* a field for research* a platform for COLLABORATIVE FIELDWORK