The value of the recordings included in this product is already well-known: Moses Asch's Folkways label, and its successor Smithsonian Folkways, released field recordings of music from around the world, spoken performances, and all manner of natural and man-made sounds. In addition to almost 29,000 tracks from Folkways, Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries includes 6,000-plus recordings from smaller labels.

A major part of the value of the original Folkways albums were the notes, which are critical for placing the recordings in their cultural context. Alexander Street has committed to adding this content in PDF form. Notes for all Folkways albums should be available by the time this review appears. There are no plans to add notes for the other labels. Currently, track information includes title, performers, genre, cultural group and country, album title, label, catalog number, release date, and source archive. Sound quality is as good as the originals at 64K stream rate; some depth is lost at 22K, but the quality is still acceptable. 

Summing Up: Highly recommended. Libraries supporting area studies and ethnomusicology; all levels.

 -- M. D. Jenkins II, Wright State University