Date:         Thu, 12 Jul 2007 14:34:23 -0700
Reply-To:     Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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Sender:       Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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From:         Brandon Burke <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: quotation marks in lists?
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Hi Trey,

Just a thought..

Often quotation marks are used to differentiate performances of
titled works from text-based descriptions of an event. Especially
in an archival setting where many of the recordings therein are
unique and may (or may not) include musical performances. Take for
example the John Fahey song "On the Banks of the Owchita". With a
title like that, it could just as easily be a field recording meant
to chronicle the sounds heard in such a setting (birds, etc). That
said, quotation marks are especially helpful on carriers housing
both titled musical performances and *ambient* field recordings,
interview footage, etc.


take care,
Brandon Burke



Quoting Trey Bunn <[log in to unmask]>:

> Here's an odd one for you.
>
> I've completed a finding aid at the archives where I work, and it
> references 24 reel tapes of field recordings of fiddler players.  For
> each tape, I've done a track listing, a small excerpt of which looks
> like this:
>
> 1. Little Lucy
> 2. Gathering Flowers from the Hillside
> 3. Allgood Special
>
> ...and so on.  However, my supervisor wants me to redo the track
> listings with quotation marks around the song titles.  I can't recall
> ever seeing a track listing done with quotation marks, and this just
> seems wrong.
>
> 1. "Little Lucy"
> 2. "Gathering Flowers from the Hillside"
> 3. "Allgood Special"
>
> I don't have my Little Brown Handbook handy, but I've usually got very
> good grammar instincts, and that list just looks wrong to me.  I know
> some of you have worked on discographies before, so I thought I'd
> check for some opinions on the listserv.  Of course, it could just be
> company policy where I work to do finding aids like this, that is,
> with awkward-looking quotation marks on song titles, but it might have
> been helpful had I been told that thirteen pages ago.
>
> Anyway, any thoughts?
>
>
> Trey Bunn



-- 
Brandon Burke
Archivist for Audio Collections
Hoover Institution Archives
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6010
vox: 650.724.9711
fax: 650.725.3445
email: [log in to unmask]