By Thomas Jilk
“People from many different journeys come to the Information School,” Cat Richmond MA’23 observed, noting that she represents a case in point: “My background is largely as a musician.”
A trained singer with graduate degrees in voice and opera, Richmond has performed all over the United States, including San Francisco, New York, and Alabama—and overseas, including a particularly formative trip to Germany. On that trip, Richmond visited the Bach Archives in Leipzig, sparking an intense fascination with the world of musical libraries and archives.
“It was this moment of total fusion between doing what I do as a performer and experiencing these beautifully preserved documents and the archives themselves, which was very moving,” she said. “That was a big discovery moment, I think, for me to see both worlds combined.”
In 2023, Richmond completed her MA in Library & Information Studies alongside an MA in Historical Musicology, a combination uniquely suited to prepare her for the role she currently holds. As Music Ensemble Librarian at UW–Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, Richmond leans on her iSchool training to effectively preserve, organize, and distribute music in digital and physical formats for talented musicians in an array of university orchestras, string ensembles, concert bands, and choirs.
Soon after starting that role, she also completed a fellowship with the Library of Congress, helping to build and refine an immense database of historical copyright cards (including original music) held by the U.S. Copyright Office—all while occasionally continuing to perform opera. In finding her place at the intersection of music and information, Richmond is composing a career that resonates with both her artistic and academic sensibilities.
An ‘exciting experience’ with the Library of Congress
In early 2024, a few months after starting her full-time role at the UW, Richmond learned she had been chosen for the selective Library of Congress (LOC) Junior Fellows Program, collaborating on projects for the world’s largest library. The LOC is the home of the U.S. Copyright Office, where Richmond’s work during the fellowship was focused. “It was such an exciting experience,” she said.
Her project involved helping develop and refine a comprehensive database of copyright cards known as the Copyright Public Records System, particularly cards involving original music. “They have digitized their physical copyright card catalog, and so they’re building a database so that people can search it more easily,” she said, adding that her role was primarily “fixing metadata.” This means she was sifting through old copyright cards of musical pieces created by some of the world’s greatest musicians, including Ella Fitzgerald.
“All of my opera and musical knowledge came into play,” Richmond said, especially work she had previously done translating musical documents from languages other than English. “I added a lot of resources for translation that I think will be very helpful for them,” she noted.
One of her favorite aspects of the monthslong project, she explained, was how it enabled her to amplify important voices by making their work accessible through the LOC. “You can trace the lineage of a song’s creation while elevating creators who you know have been marginalized, whether it’s because of language or literacy,” she said, issues that have historically contributed to musicians’ “inability to fully complete the [copyright] card.”
As a result, the project “was more in-depth than just ‘let’s fix this card,’” she explained.
“It was really piecing together the history of the creative canon of the early United States.”
Cat Richmond on her fellowship with the Library of Congress
iSchool inspirations
Looking back on her time in the iSchool’s MA program, Richmond expressed deep gratitude to two iSchool instructors, Distinguished Teaching Faculty Dorothea Salo and Collections Librarian & Teaching Faculty Megan Adams.
“Dorothea Salo really helped me understand metadata in general,” Richmond said. “She also helped write a recommendation for the [LOC fellowship]. She was so encouraging and the skills that I learned in her metadata class, the basics of how to work with records and standards, have been so helpful.”
Adams, too, has been “extremely supportive,” keeping in touch since Richmond’s graduation and offering guidance on coding projects for her full-time role at UW–Madison. Regarding Salo and Adams, Richmond said, “I tell all of my friends to meet them.”
The community Richmond found at the iSchool continues to empower her to use her unique skillset to serve musical performers—and music lovers—across Madison.
Making music possible
As Music Ensemble Librarian, Richmond oversees three separate libraries within the School of Music. “We supply the music for all the performing ensembles, so we have the orchestra library, the band library and the choir library,” she explained. “Each library holds very different things.”
In her role, Richmond works frequently with copyright and metadata, alongside 10 student librarians. Together, they ensure troves of musical materials are preserved, organized, and accessible for the musicians who need them. Throughout her work, Richmond harnesses foundational skills she learned at the iSchool to help make music possible across campus.
“I love that I’m getting to use my SQL skills and my database knowledge,” Richmond said. “And I can continue to develop my expertise in metadata and copyright as well.”
But perhaps her favorite part of the job, Richmond said, is “mentoring and passing on knowledge to my student librarians.”
“I really love being able to work with a team of librarians on projects, even when they’re grueling projects like rehousing music,” she added. “It’s very exciting to put together a team who is passionate about this work. Some of them want to continue in this specific ensemble librarianship path, and I’ve even got to write recommendations for students applying for similar roles, including with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.”
Richmond’s guidance for aspiring library and information professionals: don’t underestimate the breadth of these fields. “There are so many more paths than I thought would be available, whether you’re interested in databases or physical collections or digital collections,” she said. “That’s something I didn’t even realize coming into this career field.”
Finally, a piece of practical advice she learned from Salo and Adams is the importance of tracking and documenting skills acquired and projects completed, even in student jobs. “My students are learning how to make finding aids, learning very strong preservation skills, all while maintaining a database.”
“Keep track of those skills,” she said, “because you know more than you think you know.”
Learn more about our renowned MA Library & Information Studies program.
Learn more about the Library of Congress Junior Fellows Program.