Eastman Librarian Takes a New Look at Old Books

By Brenda Tremblay

Rochester, NY – Old sets of encyclopedias aren't worth much these days, unless you're a librarian who likes to read between the lines.

Fortunately for Gerry Szymanski music librarian at the Eastman School, the university has kept reference books dating back to the 1800s. Szymanski teaches a bibliography class in which he and his students study back copies of the New Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians, a standard, peer-reviewed reference.

While comparing entries for the same two composers over time, he discovered two guys with wildly divergent fates.