Library Acquisition Of Music

Provides advice for libraries on acquiring printed and recorded music; including information on preordering, the ordering process, secondhand and out of print materials, and more.

Although music may be the most widely experienced and appreciated of the arts, its technical language renders it one of the most obscure when it is to be written down, described, analyzed, and cataloged. In addition, the peculiarities of music publishing formats, their sources of supply and acquisition, and of binding, shelving, circulation, and cataloging, mean that knowledge beyond the usual bookjournal orbits is required of librarians charged with building music collections. This Guide to Developing a Library Music Collection is intended to assist librarians who are new to music collection development, and who want some tips on how to get started.

First Published in 2005. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Music Collection Development and Management in the Digital Age offers both a theoretical context and practical approaches to the issues facing today’s music collection builders and managers. In this exciting new book, Kirstin Dougan Johnson engages readers with many of the core responsibilities involved with music collections, in both music library and general library settings. The author examines the whole of music collections, incorporating into that vision guidance on the principles and tasks involved with collection building, acquisitions, management, and assessment. Details include music formats and publishing, music identification and discoverability, the context of music collections and the tasks involved in building and scoping them, diversity and inclusion in music collections, budgets and acquisitions workflows, pre- and post-order tasks, collection management and assessment, and future directions for collection development in music. With its focus on issues related to music scores and media in physical and electronic forms, Music Collection Development and Management in the Digital Age directly addresses subject librarians who select music materials in academic libraries. The volume also serves music librarians in other settings, such as public and conservatory libraries. All in all, Music Collection Development and Management in the Digital Age is an essential reference for all who work with music collections, whether in music libraries specifically, general library collections with music holdings, or centralized library acquisitions departments.

Every music collection has its own specific features in terms of flexibility, users, and selceting criteria, therefore a universal formula for writing collection development policies doesn't exist. This study aims to help librarians who are responsible for writing policies and refers not only to the proper process of planning a library's information resources, but also to other related activities, incorporated into or coordinated with the collection development policy: collection management activities and resource sharing programmes.

Topics addressed include the unique aspects of music librarianship, the growth and diversity of the profession, a profile of persons planning to enter the field, and the question of longevity and stability of practitioners of the profession.