The University of Kansas Libraries

Collection Development Policy for Music

Revised February 2001

Principal Selector: George Gibbs, Music and Dance Librarian
Principal Location: Thomas Gorton Music and Dance Library

I. Definition

A. Subject

The music collection includes music scores, literature about music, theoretical materials in the general field of music, music sound recordings, and music videorecordings. The general purpose of the collection of these materials is to make available materials which support the University's aims, goals and functions in the field of music.

B. User Population

1. The programs of the Department of Music and Dance, and the Department of Music Education and Music Therapy are served by these materials. The emphasis is to support upper division and graduate level courses of these departments.

2. The principal clientele of the Gorton Music and Dance Library are the students and faculty in the above departments. The primary aim of the collection is to support the teaching, performance and research needs of the students and faculty in the undergraduate and graduate academic programs leading through the Ph.D., Ed.D., and D.M.A. levels in the fields of music history, music theory, musicology, composition, conducting, performance, music therapy, and music education. In addition, a substantial number of music courses are offered to the general student body and attract large numbers of students who also make use of the collection. Music materials are used by students in related disciplines, such as anthropology, education, psychology, philosophy and aesthetics, religion, folklore, dance, drama, and physics; music also figures as an integral or adjunct part in most cultural and historical studies.

C. Collection Characteristics

1. The strengths of the music collection historically have been its completeness of coverage of collected and complete editions and its collection of American music history materials. In addition, the collection of materials covering late Medieval and Renaissance music (14th-16th centuries) can be characterized as very strong, as well as the collection of Polish and Russian music. The collection of Czech and other Eastern European music is fair at this time, but growing stronger. The collection is reasonably adequate in most other areas although some weaknesses can be identified, specifically periodicals, the fields of ethnomusicology and folk and popular music, and performing editions of music.

2. No major shifts of collection priorities can be anticipated, although there is a stronger emphasis on collecting performing editions of music. Some popular and folk music anthologies are being collected, with an emphasis on acquiring anthologies intended to represent a broad overview of the subject matter presented or a significant portion of a performer's total output.

3. The music collection occasionally receives additional funding for special projects. It is with these monies that collection of European score materials was maintained throughout a fiscal crisis (in FY87), and collection of compact disc recordings was initiated. These areas are now maintained from music subject funds. Major gifts of vocal music, organ music and string music have greatly improved representation of these areas in the music score collection.

II. Collection Guidelines

A. Parameters

1. Music, both in print (score) and in sound (recording), is collected for its intrinsic value, regardless of the language of its text or accompanying commentary. Works of music are collected primarily with texts in English, German, French and Italian; works with texts in other languages, including those in the Cyrillic alphabet, are collected wherever necessary or appropriate. Scholarly texts on music are collected primarily in English; texts in German are also collected fairly heavily. Texts in French, Italian and Spanish are collected at a moderate level. Texts in other languages, including those utilizing the Cyrillic alphabet, are collected only where necessary or appropriate, although a significant amount of this material, as well as Spanish language material, is acquired through exchange programs in the Department for Spain, Portugal and Latin America and the Slavic Department.

2. There are no chronological restrictions on the collection of music materials. The collection of editions of late Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music attempts to be relatively comprehensive; the greater mass of materials from later periods requires selective representation on the basis of musical and historical significance.

3. There are no geographical restrictions on the collection of music and works about music. There is an emphasis on the western tradition in Europe and America. To the extent possible all music cultures of the world should be represented in the collection.

B. Types of Media

Music materials collected are printed books and periodicals, printed scores and parts, microformat materials, videorecordings, and sound recordings in long playing, compact disc and cassette tape formats. Reel to reel tape recordings are not actively collected. Mixed media items are not excluded, but are evaluated very carefully to determine the potential user population. These materials include score with accompanying cassette or reel to reel tape, text with tape, text with disc, text with floppy diskette, and other mixed formats. Manuscript materials are only rarely collected.

C. Collecting Priorities

Materials collected include periodicals, monographs, conference reports, Festschriften, collected essays, iconographical materials, biographical dictionaries, encyclopedias, terminological dictionaries, bibliographies, catalogs, indexes, thematic indexes, program books, facsimile reproductions of composers' sketches and manuscripts. Theses and dissertations (in format appropriate to content and expected use) are collected only if strongly urged by a member of the Music and Dance faculty, or if required for a specific research need of a graduate student.

Standard biographies (in English translations where available) and new biographies presenting significant new information or a new point of view are collected, as are autobiographies, letters and documents of composers (in the original language and in English translation where possible) and also of significant conductors, performers, or persons connected with music in other capacities.

Juvenile treatments are not collected. Textbooks are also generally excluded, but exceptions are made in the areas of theory, composition, analysis, applied music, and music education and therapy. Works on the teaching of instrumental or vocal techniques will be carefully evaluated; a comprehensive collection of "methods" has not been attempted, although some textbooks and workbooks have been acquired through donation.

Music scores and parts are collected primarily for the purpose of reference and research; it is assumed that performance majors will develop their own libraries of performance materials. However, parts are acquired for chamber music compositions (for works requiring up to ten players). Sets of parts for large chamber ensembles, orchestra and band music, and multiple scores for choral works are excluded. In addition, multiple copies of study scores are not acquired to fill classroom study needs. In cases where an accompanying recording is required for performance of a score, the recording is acquired, if possible.

Recordings of music are collected in all languages and periods. However, recordings of contemporary popular music are not collected. Recordings of jazz, musicals and major figures in recent popular music history are collected sparingly.

Manuscript materials are accepted as gifts. Purchase of manuscript and other original source materials is usually in the form of microfilm copies or facsimile reprints.

III. Future Directions

The Department of Music and Dance has exhibited some new trends recently; specifically an increased interest in performance of contemporary chamber music, and in the study and performance of jazz and other contemporary popular music forms. The new theater voice program is growing rapidly, gaining many new majors each year. The collections of the Music Library must follow these trends closely in order to provide support materials for these areas.

Much new scholarly research is being done in the areas of recent popular music history and ethnomusicology. The Department of Music and Dance has no ethnomusicology program, and only major new research studies in this area are acquired. However, courses are taught in the history of jazz and popular song, and the collection needs to support this activity.

There has been much recent publishing activity in the form of Festschriften and collections of scholarly essays in music history and musicology. These materials should be carefully evaluated and added if they meet the needs of the programs of the Department of Music and Dance.

IV. Selection Process

A. Method of Receipt

Approval plans for music literature provide new, scholarly publications from university press and other major U.S. publishers in the areas of music history and musicology, and music education. European and other foreign publishers are covered through a system of form selection. Materials not provided on approval or form selection are firm ordered. European music score publications are provided on an approval plan with carefully designed parameters, including recent scholarly publications with significant prefatory material and new compositions from a selected list of contemporary composers for specific mediums of performance. U.S. score publications are either firm ordered or selected from vendor forms. Gifts received in the Music Library are evaluated and accepted based on the condition of the material, the uniqueness of the item to the collection, and the appropriateness of the donated material to the scope of the collection. Items generally excluded from the collection policy are also generally not added to the collection.

B. Selection Tools

Selection tools used include reviewing journals, such as Notes (of the Music Library Association), Music Review, Journal of Musicology, Music & Letters, etc. Other tools include publishers catalogs, vendor selection forms and subject bibliographies relating to specific instruments or mediums of performance.

C. User Input

The Music Librarian considers user input an important factor in collection development. An interest expressed in either specific titles or areas should be regarded when make collecting decisions. Faculty input is actively solicited, and on-line and ILL requests may also be considered guides for collecting. Where needed or appropriate, specific titles may be acquired to meet an individual research need; however, if a user recommends expanding collecting efforts into a hitherto relatively undeveloped area, consultation with members of the Department may be necessary.

V. System Coordination and Resource Sharing

A. The Curriculum Laboratory of the School of Education and the Music Education Resource Center (408 Bailey) have school song books, various instructional materials, and sound recordings, especially folk and ethnic, which form a valuable supplement to the holdings of the Gorton Music & Dance Library. The various performing organizations (band, orchestra, and choral groups) have their own libraries of scores (or multiple scores) and parts for performance; these collections relieve the library of the necessity of providing performance materials in these areas. The Department of Special Collections has holdings of early rare music, printed and manuscript, and some later music, such as the collection of Gershwin music. The University Archives receives sound recordings of music performed at the University as well as some printed music and manuscript music in the papers of former faculty. The Kansas University Regents Center (Linwood Center) and the Reference Department of Watson Library both hold some music resources.

B. Interlibrary loan services extend the resources of the collection, but there is no other major source in the immediate area or at other Regents' schools upon which to depend.

VI. Main Library of Congress Classes Represented

The Library of Congress classifications that are covered by this collection are: M, ML, and MT.