Walter H. Rubsamen Music Library

This study examines metadata quality, catalog coverage, and composer representation in the UCLA Music Library's Contemporary Score Collection, an open access repository of over 5,800 contemporary music scores hosted on eScholarship. Drawing on four datasets including usage data, catalog records, full collection statistics, and confidential demographic data, the analysis investigates how metadata infrastructure supports the collection's stated goals of visibility, open access, and diversity.

Usage has grown dramatically since 2020, reaching nearly 66,000 requests in 2025. But catalog status alone does not determine whether a score gets found , scores with a format note are used nearly twice as often as those without one, and inconsistent subject vocabulary makes browsing harder. Most users arrive through Google rather than UCLA's own systems, suggesting the collection is easier to find from outside UCLA than from within it.

With composers from over 59 countries already participating and consistent publication rates across all regions, the foundation for a truly global collection is already in place. The next step is making it easier for more composers to find, submit, and be discovered.

This report presents a small-scale user experience (UX) study of the Avalon Media System, UCLA Library's platform for streaming digital audio and video content. Using platform usage statistics, page-level traffic logs, item metadata, and bot traffic logs, this study examines how students discover Avalon content, identifies underutilized materials, and evaluates the relationship between metadata completeness and usage. Findings show that most traffic arrives through direct links or external search engines rather than Avalon's own internal search and browse tools, that usage across the collection is highly uneven, and that metadata gaps do not appear to significantly affect item-level engagement. Based on these findings, the report offers practical recommendations for improving content visibility and discoverability on the platform.

This article explores the religious and spiritual dimensions in the music of William Byrd (c. 1540–1623), focusing on how his sacred convictions permeate both his liturgical compositions and his secular works. As a devout Catholic in Protestant England, Byrd navigated political and religious tensions through music that often served as both personal devotion and subtle resistance. The article analyzes two key compositions—Mass for Four Voices and the madrigal Though Amaryllis Dance in Green—to demonstrate the continuity of Byrd’s compositional language across sacred and secular genres. Techniques such as imitative polyphony, text painting, and modal harmonic writing reveal a unified artistic voice grounded in spiritual conviction. The study argues that Byrd’s secular music frequently carries encoded religious meaning, blurring the lines between public artistry and private faith. By situating Byrd’s output within its historical, political, and liturgical contexts, this article offers a reassessment of the composer’s role as both a musical innovator and a religious witness in a time of cultural conflict.