The primary function of the Roud Folk Song Index is as a research aid correlating versions of traditional English-language folk song lyrics independently documented over past centuries by many different collectors across the UK and North America. It is possible by searching the database, for example by title, by first line, or subject matter to locate each of the often numerous variants of a particular song. Comprehensive details of those songs are then available, including details of the original collected source, and a reference to where to find the text of the song within a published volume in the EFDSS archive. A related index, the Roud Broadside Index, includes references to songs which appeared on broadsides and other cheap print publications, up to about 1920. In addition, there are many entries for music hall songs, pre-World War II radio performers' song folios, sheet music, etc. The index may be searched by title, first line etc. and the result includes details of the original imprint and where a copy may be located. The Roud number – "Roud num" – field may be used as a cross-reference to the Roud Folk Song Index itself in order to establish the traditional origin of the work. The database is recognised as a "significant index" by the EFDSS and was one of the first items to be published on its web site after the launch of the online version of the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library in 2006.
The purpose of the index is to give each song a unique identifier. The numbers were assigned on a more or less arbitrary basis, and are not intended to carry any significance in themselves. However, because of the practicalities of compiling the index it is true as a general rule that older and better-known songs tend to occupy low numbers, while songs which are obscure have higher numbers. Closely related songs are grouped under the same Roud number. If a trusted authority gives the name of a song but not the words it is assigned Roud number 000. The Index cross-references to the Child Ballad number, if one is available for the particular song in question. It also includes, where appropriate, the Laws number, a reference to a system of classification of folk songs, using one letter of the alphabet and up to two numeric digits, developed by George Malcolm Laws in the 1950s.
History
The Index was compiled and is maintained by Steve Roud, formerly the Local Studies Librarian in the London Borough of Croydon. He was also Honorary Librarian of the Folklore Society. He began it in around 1970 as a personal project, listing the source singer, their locality, the date of noting the song, the publisher, plus other fields, and crucially assigning a number to each song, including all variants to overcome the problem of songs in which even the titles were not consistent across versions. The system initially used 3x5-inch filing cards in shoeboxes. In 1993, Roud implemented his record system on a computer database, which he continues to expand and maintain and which is now hosted on the website of the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. In the past few years, the numbers have been widely accepted in academic circles.
Similar collections
's collection has 6,200 transcriptions and 1,000 recorded cylinders made between 1927 and 1955. The index gives the title, first line and the name of the source singer. When appropriate, the Child number is given. It is still a largely unexploited resource, with none of the recordings easily available. The Cabinet of Folksongs is a similar index of almost 218,000 Latvianfolksong texts, created by Latvian scholar Krišjānis Barons at the end 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. The Essen folk song database is another collection that includes songs from non-English-speaking countries, particularly Germany and China. The Folk Song Index is a collaborative project between the Oberlin College Library and the folk music journal Sing Out!. It indexes traditional folk songs of the world, with an emphasis on English-language songs, and contains over 62,000 entries and over 2,400 anthologies. Max Hunter's collection lists 1,600 songs, but each minor variant is given a distinct number. The Traditional Ballad Index at the California State University at Fresno includes Roud numbers up to number 5000 with comments on the songs, but draws on fewer sources.
