Patricia Sasser

Music Librarian, Director of the Maxwell Music Library

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Patricia Sasser is the Director of the Maxwell Music Library, where she oversees collection development, research assistance, and bibliographic instruction. She has contributed to a number of large-scale collaborative projects, including the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America and the Music Treasures Consortium. She has also served on a number of committees for the American Musicological Society and the Music Library Association, most recently as a member of the national task force on Music Discovery Requirements. Her publications have appeared in Music Reference Services Quarterly, the Journal of Music History Pedagogy, and Notes: the Journal of the Music Library Association and she has presented at conferences in both the United States and Europe. Her current research examines the role of musical ephemera in the Anglo-European fin-de-siècle.

Honors

  • Research and Professional Growth Award, Furman University 2016
  • Research and Professional Growth Award, Furman University, 2015
  • Faculty Development Committee Award, Furman University 2015
  • Furman Advantage Summer Fellowship, 2015
  • Institute for Museum and Library Services’ LSTA Travel Grant Award, 2010
  • Dr. Robert V. Williams Graduate Research Award, University of South Carolina School of Library and Information Science, 2010
  • William Davis Melton University Archives Graduate Assistantship, South Caroliniana Library, 2008-2009
  • Summa cum laude, 2004
  • Phi Beta Kappa, 2004
  • Presidential Scholar, 2000

Education

  • B.A. in music, American University
  • M.Mus. in musicology, Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University
  • MLIS, University of South Carolina

Training Under:

  • Yuliya Gorenman (American University)
  • Brian Ganz (Peabody Conservatory of Music)

Philosophy

Good music research depends upon innovative, interdisciplinary inquiry. Such research begins with a basic framework of information literacy and then builds upon this framework to investigate subject-specific questions. In my work at Furman, I cultivate this process in my music students through three separate but interrelated components. First, students learn to discover and employ the standard tools of our discipline. Second, students acquire strategies and skills to interact with primary and secondary sources of all kinds. Finally, and most importantly, students develop intellectual and creative flexibility in their work. My final goal is to produce mature, thoughtful scholars who may posit both interesting research questions and compelling answers.

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