Princeton University Library

Collection Development

Collection Development Policy Statement for Music

A. Program Information

Princeton University 's Arthur Mendel Music Library is located in the Woolworth Center for Musical Studies. The Library primarily serves the Department of Music, which is housed in the same building. The Department offers undergraduate degrees as well as the Ph. D. in composition and musicology.

The historical emphasis within the Music Department's curriculum has been musicology and composition. Curricular shifts have created greater demands for world musics, American popular music, jazz, film music, and gender studies.

A history of the Department of Music can be found at: http://etc.princeton.edu/CampusWWW/Companion/musice_department.html

A history of the Mendel Music Library can be found at: http://libweb.princeton.edu/libraries/music/about/dedication.php

B. Collection Description

Princeton's music collections are strong in monuments and collected editions; musicological literature in German, Italian and French; facsimile editions; 20th century composition; commercial microfilm collections; microfilm of Bach, Handel, Nielsen, 17th century Italian music, and Byzantine music; and sound recordings in various formats.

These collections are described at: http://libweb.princeton.edu/libraries/music/collections/index.php

A description of Audio-Visual resources at Princeton can be found at: http://libweb.princeton.edu/libraries/music/about/audiovisual.php

C. General Collecting Guidelines

1. Chronological

No exclusions

2. Formats and Types

No exclusions. Manuscript materials are collected and housed in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections in Firestone Library.

3. Geographical limits

No exclusions

4. Languages

No exclusions

5. Publication Dates

It is the policy of the Music Library, whenever funds permit, to buy retrospectively to fill in gaps or to support emerging areas of interest.

6. Principal Sources of Supply and Major Selection Tools

Scores: Harrassowitz; Front

Recordings: Music Library Servicing Company

Books: Blackwell Book Service; Harrassowitz; Touzot; Casalini

7. Exclusions

The Music Library's collections are primarily intended to support academic work in historical musicology and composition. The Music Library does not collect in depth in the areas of music education and music therapy

8. Collecting Overlaps

Dance and Theater
Art & Archaeology
History
Psychology (music therapy and cognition)
Cultural Policy and the Arts
Architecture 

Subjects collected and Levels of Collecting

Collection strengths and collecting levels are:

Minimal (1) – Very few works, usually for reference or occasional general need.

Basic (2) – Collection serves as an introduction to a subject in which there are no instructional or research programs. Includes only the most important reference works and a few highly selected journals.

Instructional (3) – Collection supports instructional needs. Includes wide range of reference sources, basic bibliographical tools, significant monographs, and representative monographs. Format may be print or electronic.

Research (4) – Comprehensive collection that supports faculty and student independent research. Requires current acquisition of most monographs and serials of research value. May include microfilm or digital reproductions of important source materials and the catalogs that identify them.

Comprehensive (5) – Collection of great depth which includes all relevant material in all appropriate forms.

Subject

Collection Strength

Present Collecting Level

Complementary Collections with collecting level

Scores

 

 

 

Chamber ensembles (scores)

4

4

 

Chamber ensembles (parts)

2

2

 

Collected works

4

5

 

Collections of musical sources

4

4

 

Liturgical music

3

3

 

Music for solo instruments

3

3

 

Opera/Oratorio

4

4

 

Orchestral music

4

4

 

Songs

3

3

 

Books

 

 

 

Biographies

4

4

 

Chamber music

4

4

 

Composition

4

4

 

Ethnomusicology

4

4

 

Facsimiles

4

4

 

Hermeneutics

4

4

 

History and Criticism

 

 

 

Ancient

4

4

 

Medieval

4

4

 

Renaissance

4

4

 

17-19 th centuries

4

4

 

20 th century

4

4

 

Libretti

4

4

 

Music bibliography

4

4

 

Music theory

4

4

 

Musical instruments

4

3

 

Musical life

4

4

 

Musical paleography

4

4

 

Musical technique

3

3

 

Musicology

4

4

 

Orchestral music

4

4

 

Orchestration

4

4

 

Periodicals

4

4

 

Philosophy and physics of music

4

4

 

Popular music

3

3

 

Vocal music

4

4

 

World musics

4

4

 

Africa

 

 

 

Americas

 

 

 

Asia

 

 

 

Europe

 

 

 

U. S.

 

 

 

Recordings

 

 

 

Jazz

3

3

 

Post-1945 western art music

4

4

 

Standard concert repertoire

4

4

 

World musics

4

3

 

Africa

 

 

 

Americas

 

 

 

Asia

 

 

 

Europe

 

 

 

U. S.

 

 

 

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Last updated: April 7, 2009