Two UL Lafayette librarians recently made some noise in the Big Easy.
Sandy Himel and Lance Chance shared musical gems from the university’s collection of Cajun and Creole music at the Association for Recorded Sound Collection’s annual conference, which was held in New Orleans May 19-22.
They are co-coordinators of the library’s collection of commercial Cajun and Creole recordings, as well as some unpublished recordings. The collection, which includes more than 8,000 recordings, also comprises other materials, including photographs, texts and artifacts.
At the conference, Himel and Chance presented, “Working in Rhythm: Building the Foundation of the Cajun and Creole Music Collection at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.” They discussed the history of the collection and other topics, including acquisition and organization, cataloging and digitation.
As part of the presentation, they played several music clips, including “Prison Bars” by the late Creole fiddler Canray Fontenot and a lullaby by Cajun singer Marce Lacouture. “We also included an example of juré perfomance by the zydeco musician Lynn August,” Himel said. Zydeco evolved, in part, from juré, a form of syncopated, a cappella folk music that includes hand clapping and foot stomping.
“ Building and maintaining the collection is definitely a collaborative effort,” said Himel. “We work with the community, within the library and across the campus as we add to the collection, preserve it and share it with the public.”
The ARSC is a national non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and study of sound recordings, including music and the spoken word. It was founded in 1966.
Himel is an associate professor of library science and a government documents librarian. Chance is an assistant professor of library science and a library instruction librarian. He teaches a UL Lafayette course in library research.