Collection Development Policy
for Music Scores and Sound Recordings

Table of Contents

Introduction
Curriculum Supported
History of the Collection
Collection Parameters
Other Considerations
Selection and Implementation
Appendix: Levels of Collecting Intensity

Introduction

This policy is a supplement to the Collection Development Policy of the St. Catherine Libraries, Media Services, and Archives.   The Library maintains a collection of music scores and sound recordings (referred to here as "the music collection") primarily to support the undergraduate curriculum of the College.   Selection criteria, as well as the history and scope of the collection, are described in this document.

Curriculum Supported

The music collection supports curriculum in the following areas:

• Music
• Interdisciplinary and cultural studies in other departments, such as ART, CORE, SOCI, and FCNS

The Music Department, an accredited member of the National Association of the Schools of Music, currently offers a BA degree in music with majors in music and music education.   Students who major in music follow one of three tracks: the Liberal Arts track, the Performance and Pedagogy track, or the Music Education track, which leads to music teaching licensure.   Most students study voice or piano, but instruction in other instruments is also available.   Besides the major in music, the Department offers a music minor, a piano pedagogy certificate, and courses to fulfill humanities electives.

A secondary purpose of the collection is to meet the needs of students, faculty, staff, and neighbors who wish to experience music through listening and performance, independent of formal instruction.

History of the Collection

Prior to the 1970s, the music collection was part of the main St. Paul campus library.   In 1971, the newly-completed O’Shaughnessy complex included a music building with space for a library.   All phonograph records, scores, and most books about music were moved to this new facility to form the Performing Arts Library.   The collection was administered by Donald Bemis Jones from 1971 to 1994.   Mr. Jones developed a rich collection of scores and LP recordings and a strong retrospective book collection.   The collection was enriched over the years by gifts from Dr. Charles Buzicky, Dr. Albert Biales, Frank & Mathilda Heck, Martin & Jane Abel, the Rockefeller Foundation, the estate of Dr. Maurice Jones, and others.   In 1994, Mr. Jones retired and Amy Shaw, Reference Librarian/Performing Arts Librarian, joined the staff.  

In January 2004, the Performing Arts Library collection, with the exception of the LP recordings, was moved to the newly renovated and expanded library in the Coeur de Catherine.   The move was prompted by a number of considerations:

• The desire to make the collection available for more hours of the week, in a better facility, with wheelchair access
• The need to increase the security of the collection and the safety of student workers, especially on evenings and weekends
• The desire to integrate the collection, which had been split between the Performing Arts Library and the main library
• The need to conserve staff resources

Amy Shaw is now Systems Librarian, but continues to serve as music liaison, and she handles acquisition of most scores and sound recordings.

Collection Parameters

General Guidelines. In general, the music collection is not a research collection or sound recording archive.   Usually, titles selected for addition to the collection should conform to the “Basic Information Level” or “ Study or Instructional Support Level” of collecting intensity as defined in the WLN Collection Assessment Manual .   (See appendix.)

Formats

Scores.  Whenever possible, the Library acquires editions that represent scholarly editing techniques.    Original scoring is preferred to arrangements or transcriptions.    Anthologies containing works of a single composer are favored over those containing works by several composers.   A score of an entire work is preferred over one consisting only of excerpts or selections.  

Score formats include collected works, monuments, full scores, vocal scores, study scores, miniature scores, and performing editions.   Preferred score formats for specific genres are described below.

• Chamber music.   Score and parts are preferred when both are available.   However, parts for large ensembles (more than nine performers) are not collected.
• Orchestral music.   A miniature or study score is generally preferred due to space and cost considerations.
• Vocal & choral music.   For choral works, a piano-vocal score or study score is preferred.   Score and parts are preferred for works with solo voice accompanied by small chamber ensemble.  
• Stage works.   Piano-vocal score or study score is preferred.

Sound recordings.      Both the quality of the recording and the quality of the performance are considered.   When available, published reviews are used to inform selection decisions.   Recordings of excerpts or selections of a work are usually avoided if a copy of the entire work is available.   Preferred formats are compact disc and streaming audio.

Other formats.   A decision to change format preference or to add a new format to the collection in the future will be based on:

• The general commercial availability of titles and their cost
• Availability and cost of the playback or viewing equipment/hardware
• The obsolescence of a currently acquired format
• The durability of the format and its suitability as a long-term storage medium
• Availability of space to house the new format and related equipment

Exclusions. The following types of material are not acquired:

• Audio cassettes, LP records, and 78 RPM records
• Sets of parts for large ensembles
• Duplicate copies of materials, unless there is a demonstrated need.   However, different editions of a musical work (with differing editors, formats, continuo realizations, etc.) may be desirable, and variant recordings of a work are valuable for comparison purposes.
• Microforms, manuscripts, and facsimiles

Languages. The collection consists primarily of English-language materials.   Scores of vocal works ideally should include the text in the original language along with an English translation.   Sound recordings with English-language notes and/or libretto in the original language with an English translation are preferred.

Chronological Emphasis. Materials from all periods are collected.

Geographical Emphasis. The music of North America and Western Europe has traditionally been the focus of the collection.   However, in recent years, interest in other cultures has prompted a more international collecting scope, especially in the case of sound recordings.   Recordings of music from other traditions, including folk music, jazz, and popular music, are now collected on a selective basis.

Date of Publication. Current publications are emphasized.   Earlier publications needed to fill gaps in the collection will be purchased when possible, but acquisition of out-of-print materials is rarely attempted.

Special Collecting Interests. Because the College of St. Catherine is a women's college, the Library has a special interest in collecting materials related to women in music.  

Other considerations

Music materials located outside the circulating collection. Music-related video recordings are located in the media collection. LP recordings of CSC performances, the John Ritchie, Jr. collection of 19 th-century musical scores, and CSC concert and recital programs are housed in Special Collections.

Materials Housed in the Music Department. The Music Department maintains its own collections of performing editions for choir, orchestra, and other ensembles sponsored by the College.

Resources available electronically. The St. Catherine Library subscribes to a number of online databases for music, including Classical Music Library, a streaming audio service delivering more than 100,000 recorded tracks of classical music.

Library Consortia. The College of St. Catherine is part of the 8-member CLIC consortium.   Using the CLICnet web-based catalog, members of the CSC community may request music materials from other CLIC libraries.   Lending policies for scores and sound recordings vary by library.   When materials with an anticipated infrequent use are suggested for purchase, a major consideration is their availability from other CLIC libraries.

The Library provides interlibrary loan in cooperation with libraries across the nation.   Although lending policies vary, it is sometimes possible to obtain scores and sound recordings through interlibrary loan.

Other Music Collections in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. The University of Minnesota Music Library in Ferguson Hall on the west bank of the Minneapolis campus is a significant research collection.   The Minneapolis Central branch of the Hennepin County Libraries also has a very strong music collection.   A good source for research materials related to local music history is the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul.

Selection and Implementation

The music liaison selects materials in cooperation with the faculty of the Music Department.   Overall collection development at the Library is coordinated by the Head of Technical Services.   The Library Director is responsible for allocating the materials budget.

The music liaison seeks recommendations for new materials from music faculty members.   Recommendations also come from faculty in other departments, librarians, staff, and students.   Recommended titles will be ordered as long as they meet selection criteria and funds are available.   The music liaison also independently selects materials to fill gaps identified in the collection.

Appendix:   Levels of Collecting Intensity

These descriptions are excerpts from WLN Collection Assessment Manual, as quoted in Joanne S. Anderson, Guide for Written Collection Policy Statements , Collection Management and Development Guides, no. 7 (Chicago: American Library Association, 1996).

1. Minimal Level : A subject area in which few selections are made beyond very basic works. A collection at this level should be frequently and systematically reviewed for currency of information. Superseded editions and titles containing outdated information are withdrawn.
2. Basic Information Level : A selective collection of materials that serves to introduce and define a subject and to indicate the varieties of information available elsewhere. It may include dictionaries, encyclopedias, access to appropriate bibliographic databases, selected editions of important works, historical surveys, bibliographies, handbooks, and a few major periodicals. The collection is frequently and systematically reviewed for currency of information.
3. Study or Instructional Support Level : A collection that is adequate to impart and maintain knowledge about a subject in a systematic way but at a level of less than research intensity. The collection includes a wide range of basic works in appropriate formats, a significant number of classic retrospective materials, complete collections of the works of more important writers, selections from the works of secondary writers, a selection of retrospective journals, access to appropriate machine-readable data files, and the reference tools and fundamental bibliographical apparatus pertaining to the subject. At the study or instructional support level, a collection is adequate to support independent study and most learning needs of the clientele of public and special libraries, as well as undergraduate and some graduate instruction. The collection is systematically reviewed for currency of information and to assure that essential and significant information is retained.

Approved on May 8, 2008