Dr. Kotter is Social Sciences Librarian
in the Stewart Library at Weber
State University. He is responsible for selecting library materials
in the social sciences and music. In addition, he serves as liaison
to the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, the Music Program, teaches a course
on information resources in the social sciences, provides reference
service, and consults on an individual and group basis with library
users who have special information needs in the social sciences and music. He
also teaches one course a year for the Department of Sociology and
Anthropology.
Before coming to Weber
State in 1994, Dr. Kotter worked in the libraries of the University of Maryland (College Park, MD);
the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies (Washington,
DC); and the Savings and Community Bankers of America (Washington,
DC). In addition he worked for two years as a volunteer in
the Natural History Branch of the Smithsonian
Institution Libraries.
Dr. Kotter is also an
experienced archaeologist, having received his Ph.D. in Anthropology
from the University of Arizona
(Tucson, AZ) in 1986. Before pursuing his degree in Library
Science, Dr. Kotter taught anthropology part-time at Towson University (Towson, MD),
Montgomery College (Rockville, MD), and Prince
George's Community College (Largo, MD). He continues to conduct
active research in Near Eastern Archaeology. Current projects include
a web-based bibliography of archaeological excavations in the southern
Levant (BAESL) and a revision of his Ph.D.
dissertation on urbanization in Palestine during the Middle Bronze
Age. From June 4 to July 25, 1995, Dr. Kotter served as an Area
Supervisor for the Tel Miqne-Ekron Excavations at Kibbutz Revadim,
Israel. This large site is the location of ancient Ekron,
one of the Philistine capital cities mentioned in the Old Testament.
Finally, Dr. Kotter is an avocational performer and composer.
His primary musical experience is as a singer, having performed with various church (LDS) and community choirs for nearly thirty years, often as a soloist. He served in the past as President of the Ogden Community Choir, is currently tenor section leader in the Wasatch Master Chorale, and also is active in shape note singing in the Utah area. Ever since he can remember, he has made up songs, both serious and silly; he also plays the piano (barely) and has directed the congregational singing for a variety of church functions.
Although his degrees are in library science and anthropology, he has taken a few music courses and done extensive reading in theory, choral composition and conducting. He began to put his music on paper in 2000, shortly after the death of his mother, who during her final illness encouraged him to start writing down his songs. He is especially interested in traditional American folk hymns of the early 19th century, particularly those belonging to the shape note and LDS traditions. He has composed several new hymns in a tradtional style, a few new settings for well-known hymn texts, and some new harmonizations of well-known hymn tunes. Several more ambitious arrangements of hymns and spirituals are also in progress. Some of his music is available for free on the web (see blow)
You may also be interested
in the following sites:
Dr. Wade Kotter
Social Sciences & Music Librarian
Stewart Library
Weber State University
2901 University Circle
Ogden, UT 84408-2901
Voice: 801-626-7458
FAX: 801-626-7045
Email: wkotter@weber.edu
