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Old Jones Music Library - About: Collection Development

Information about the hours, collections, services, facilities, and policies of Jones Music Library

BACKGROUND

In 2019, library staff, in cooperation with faculty and administrators, developed a joint collection development policy for Jones Music Library and the Riemenschneider Bach Institute. The policy, shown below, defines what materials the libraries collect, in what content areas, and at what depth. This new policy aligns the collecting goals of the two libraries to ensure coverage without unnecessary duplication. For questions, please contact the Consevatory Librarian.

Collection Development

BALDWIN WALLACE UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY FOR

THE RIEMENSCHNEIDER BACH INSTITUTE AND

JONES MUSIC LIBRARY

INTRODUCTION

Purpose of the policy

This policy defines what kinds of materials the Conservatory libraries collect, in what subjects, and at what depth. It is meant to be a flexible document, and should be frequently reviewed and revised. It is not meant to serve as an absolute prescription of what materials can and cannot be purchased, but as a guide to be used at the discretion of the library staff. New courses and faculty, budgetary considerations, strategic directions, and other factors may dictate the selection or deselection of materials seemingly in contradiction to this policy.

The University and the Conservatory

Baldwin Wallace University is a four-year liberal arts college with graduate schools in education, nursing, and business. The Conservatory has approximately 320 undergraduate students studying performance, composition, music history, music theory, musical theater, music education, arts management, and music therapy. In addition to music courses, students in the Conservatory are required to take a variety of liberal arts courses in other disciplines.

Conservatory Libraries

The Conservatory of Music is supported and enriched by two music libraries, Jones Music Library and the Riemenschneider Bach Institute (RBI).

Jones Music Library supports the Conservatory curriculum and other departments of the University by providing collections, both print and electronic, instruction in research and information literacy, technology support, and a welcoming environment in which to study.

The Riemenschneider Bach Institute is a research institute that focuses on the Bach family and the Baroque period. The library of the RBI collects books and scores relevant to its focus. In addition to a circulating collection of books and a reference collection of monuments and collected editions, the RBI houses an important collection of rare books and scores, and archival materials relating to several individuals and organizations. RBI also includes a teaching space for seminars of up to twelve students.

History

The beginnings of the Conservatory libraries go back to the first half of the twentieth century, when Dr. Albert Riemenschneider, the founder of the Conservatory, and his wife, Selma Marting Riemenschneider, made their personal collection of scores available to students in the Conservatory. That collection was eventually given to the University by Mrs. Riemenschneider and served as the foundation of the RBI library. The RBI collections have been augmented through the years by collections of rare and archival materials from Dr. Hans T. David, Mrs. Emmy Martin, and Tom Villella. The RBI’s collection was initially housed at Ritter Library and was later moved to a space in the Conservatory’s complex that features a specially-constructed vault to house the special collections.

 

Jones Music Library has been in operation since 1976. For about the first twenty-five years, the library’s collections were limited to scores and recordings and a small collection of donated books. The primary collections of books and periodicals were housed at Ritter Library. In 2002, Jones Library was renovated and a grant was obtained from the Kulas Foundation to install compact shelving. This allowed us to move the books and periodicals from Ritter to Jones, uniting the music collections in one building. In 2011, as part of the overall Conservatory renovation, the library was expanded to allow more room for study and better listening and viewing facilities.

 

Information on Jones Music Library

Jones Music Library serves as the basic, undergraduate music library of the University. Collections and services are determined largely by curricular requirements. In addition to print and media collections, Jones staff selects and administers the electronic resources required by the Conservatory.

 

Information on the Riemenschneider Bach Institute

The Riemenschneider Bach Institute is a research institute focusing on the Bach family and the Baroque period. Its mission statement is:

 

To preserve and enhance Baldwin Wallace University’s distinctive and internationally recognized tradition of cultivating the music of J. S. Bach, to preserve and enhance our rare holdings in music of many eras and styles, and to provide Conservatory students with exemplary models of musicological research and scholarly resources needed for their academic development.

 

The R.B.I. will fulfill its mission by:

1.            acting as stewards of the valuable library materials entrusted to the Conservatory by the Riemenschneider, Martin, David, and Villella families

2.            acquiring new materials related to the scholarly study of Bach to ensure that the collection remains up-to-date

3.            when possible, acquiring rare items of interest to the Conservatory community

4.            publishing a Bach journal of internationally recognized caliber

5.            serving as the research arm of the Baldwin Wallace Bach Festival and other Conservatory events as deemed possible and appropriate

6.            funding scholars and students from around the world to travel to utilize the collection and interact with the Conservatory community

7.            funding and supporting student research with the RBI collections

8.            sponsoring events related to the RBI’s rare materials and its scholarly focus

 

Basis for Selection

All library materials are purchased or accepted at the discretion of the RBI’s library staff. Faculty and students may make requests for purchase. The library will honor faculty requests to the extent possible consistent with budgetary constraints and equity between departments. Student requests will be evaluated to determine whether the materials meet the criteria defined in this policy.

 

Gifts of Materials

The libraries accept gifts of materials in accord with the College’s policy: gifts are accepted with the understanding that the disposition of the materials is at the discretion of library staff. Items given to the library may be added to the collections in accord with this policy, sold in a book sale, or discarded. The library reserves the right to refuse any gift outright. Such decisions will be made in consultation with the Conservatory Dean when appropriate.

 

Consortial Arrangements

Baldwin Wallace University is a member of two library consortia, Ohio Private Academic Libraries and OhioLINK. Through these consortia, students and faculty can request items (from a database of approximately 45 million items) for delivery to Ritter Library. These remarkable resources offer the opportunity to obtain, usually within about five days, almost any item needed for undergraduate study. Items unavailable through the consortia can be obtained through standard interlibrary loan procedures. These arrangements alleviate the need for certain more specialized materials, but not for a basic collection of scores, periodicals, books, and recordings.

 

PRINTED MUSIC

General

Jones Library intends to collect all basic repertoire in the areas it supports. Less basic repertoire will be collected based on musical merits, faculty interests and curriculum. It is a goal of the library to collect significant contemporary music in all genres.

 

In pursuit of that goal re: contemporary music, the library has set up a standing order plan with Theodore Front Musical Literature. Through that plan, we get anything published in certain genres by a specified list of composers. That list was initially established in 2012 by Paul Cary at around 165 composers. After pruning, the list now stands at 95 composers (since 2015). The list of composers is attached as Appendix B.

 

Collected Sets

The Riemenschneider Bach Institute purchases collected sets and monuments of music. The exception is the Neue Liszt-Ausgabe, which is housed in Jones at the request of the piano faculty, so that it can circulate and be used for performance and study. See Appendix A for a list of our current subscriptions to monuments and collected editions.

 

 

Printed Music - Multiple Copies and Editions

Neither library has space nor budget to keep multiple copies of all repertoire. Basic repertoire may be held in multiple copies, particularly in different editions. This is not a basis for faculty and students to expect that we will collect multiple copies of a specific work. Library holdings are not a substitute for the purchase by students of basic repertoire in their own field.

 

When purchasing new music or “replacement” copies, it is the library’s intention to purchase the most current, reliable editions of performance repertoire. An older edition may be replaced with a newer edition. Replacement solely on the basis of upgrading to a newer edition will be done as funds allow. Faculty will be consulted on the selection of editions in their fields.

 

It is the intention of the Riemenschneider Bach Institute to collect the music of the Bach family in the most authoritative editions. RBI may collect multiple editions of its core Baroque repertoire, including superseded ones, so that students and scholars can compare them to see how music of the past has been interpreted throughout time. RBI will not generally collect multiple exact copies.

 

Instrumental Music

Jones Library collects solo music (including works with keyboard accompaniment) for the following instruments: violin, viola, violoncello, double bass, flute, piccolo, oboe, English horn, clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone, bassoon, contrabassoon, trumpet, trombone, euphonium, horn, tuba, percussion, keyboard instruments, harp, guitar, and electronics. Jones Library will prioritize authoritative performing editions.

 

The library collects chamber music for combinations of these instruments with the following goals:

•             To collect all of the basic repertoire for the standard string and wind chamber ensembles

•             To collect non-standard ensembles and less well-known repertoire as faculty interests, musical merit, and curriculum indicate

 

The Riemenschneider Bach Institute collects solo and chamber music of the Baroque period and of composers with relevance to the collections.

 

Orchestral Music

The libraries are neither an orchestra library nor an ensemble library. The libraries will collect the basic orchestral repertoire in score format, as well as specific works in support of the curriculum and performances on campus. Jones Library also attempts to collect scores of all works being performed at Cleveland Orchestra subscription concerts. These scores may be collected in either miniature score or full-size score. The library does not collect individual parts or sets of parts for orchestral works. We may collect books of orchestral excerpts or books of orchestra parts, though at this time we do not actively do so.

 

Vocal Music

The libraries collect solo and small ensemble vocal works with the same basic criteria as instrumental music: all basic repertoire, and other works as musical merit, faculty interests and curriculum indicate. Differing keys and voice ranges will be collected as necessary. Such differing editions are not considered duplications. The library prefers to collect anthologies of songs, by a particular composer or of a particular country or era. We do not generally collect single songs, with the exception of sheet music in the Jack Lee Collection.

 

Opera and Musical Theater

Jones Library will collect standard operas and musicals in full score and vocal score, with vocal score being the predominant format, in line with our emphasis on performance. Other works will be collected as indicated by performance requirements and curriculum. The library also collects anthologies of arias and scenes for use by students and faculty. The Riemenschneider Bach Institute may collect scholarly editions of Baroque opera.

 

Electronic Sources for Printed (or Printable) Music

The library has also collected CD-ROM resources, including many of the CD Sheet Music titles from Theodore Presser. These are taken from unspecified public domain editions. As such, they may not be the most reliable, accurate editions. In some instances, these discs contain the only copies of printed music in the library. They are not, however, to be seen as a substitute for buying printed editions that might otherwise be critical to the collections. Many of these editions are now available freely on the Internet and this CD-ROM collection can be viewed as a legacy collection. It may be worth reassessing the value of retaining it.

 

RECORDINGS

Recorded music is held in Jones Library. As of 2019, those collections consist of approximately:

•             7000 commercial compact discs

•             4800 vinyl records

•             1000 compact discs of BW performances

•             1500 cassette tapes of BW performances

•             Digitized copies of several hundred of the above-mentioned cassette tapes, on hard drives

 

Use and acquisition of physical recordings have dropped off quite a bit in recent years. We are no longer adding vinyl records and are acquiring few compact discs.

 

Most of our recording budget is spent on online, streaming audio services. We currently subscribe to Naxos Music Library, Naxos Music Library World, and Naxos Jazz Library. We have in the past subscribed to Classical Music Library and DRAM, but usage was no longer enough to justify the expense.

 

BOOKS

Jones Library supports the undergraduate curriculum of the Conservatory.  As such, the library does not collect at a graduate level.  Although we try to support faculty interests, in the face of budgetary restraints, curricular requirements must take precedence. Jones Library collects only works in English.

 

The RBI specializes in the study of the Bach family and the Baroque period. Although the collections contain many legacy items that deal with other periods and cultures, the RBI will actively collect only those that have a connection to Bach and the Baroque. That may include items on earlier or later periods (e.g. Mendelssohn and the Bach revival) but there must be a connection to our core subject area.

 

One of the RBI’s missions is to support and enhance the education of the Conservatory’s undergraduate students. However, the RBI also serves as an international center for Bach scholarship. As such, our collections must maintain a balance between introductory materials (in English) in support of students and the more specialized needs of Bach researchers, including those in German and other foreign languages.

 

The libraries will collect the following types of books:

•             Reference books

•             Bibliographies of printed music, and of writings on music appropriate for undergraduates

•             Individual and collective biographies of composers and performers

•             Histories of music

•             Period and genre studies

•             Writings on music theory and musicianship,

•             Histories and theoretical works on relevant instruments and families of instruments

 

In addition, in the RBI’s core areas, we will collect:

•             Writings in English and other languages

•             Materials at a variety of levels, including specialized studies at a graduate level

 

Books are generally collected in single copies only.

 

The physical collections are enriched by extensive leased collections of electronic books. These come in packages from various vendors, managed by the staff of Ritter Library. The libraries do not currently have an established program of purchasing electronic books.

 

PERIODICALS

The libraries currently have approximately thirty print periodical subscriptions, in the areas of musicology, music theory, performance, instrumental studies, and music education. In 2019 we brought all current periodical subscriptions (and their back issues) from RBI to Jones, consolidating them in one place. They are still paid for from separate budgets and handled separately. In addition to peer-reviewed journals necessary for academic research, Jones Library subscribes to a number of trade journals and magazines relevant to the study and practice of music, music education, and music therapy.

 

These holdings are augmented by an extensive collection of electronic serials, totaling over 350 in music. Some of these are “owned” through JSTOR or the OhioLINK Electronic Journal Center, while others are leased content included in packages that we subscribe to through aggregators.

 

VIDEOS

Jones Library maintains a collection of approximately 650 DVDs, including opera, musicals, orchestral performances, masterclasses and other instructional materials, and documentaries. We also subscribe to two streaming video collections, Met Opera on Demand and Naxos Video Library, which account for the bulk of our content. Streaming video services will continue to be evaluated for addition or cancellation on the basis of their quality, their relevance to the programs, and usage statistics.

 

ELECTRONIC COLLECTIONS

The University has access to several scholarly electronic resources in music, including Grove Music Online, Music Index Online, IPA Source, Music Reference Online, the Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, and RILM Abstracts. Streaming media subscriptions include Naxos Music Library, Naxos Jazz Library, DRAM, Met Opera On Demand, and Naxos Video Library. These subscriptions are maintained by the staff of Jones Library.

 

All electronic resources will continue to be evaluated for addition or cancellation on the basis of their quality, their relevance to the programs, and usage statistics.

 

Many other databases and electronic subscriptions are available from Ritter Library’s lists of databases (http://libguides.bw.edu/databases) and periodicals (http://bw.opal-libraries.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?authtype=guest&custid=s8879276&groupid=main)).

 

 

This document was written by Paul Cary, Conservatory Librarian, in May 2019 and approved by the Bach Institute faculty and the Dean of the Conservatory.

 

APPENDIX A

MONUMENTS OF MUSIC AND COLLECTED EDITIONS

This list consists only of monuments and collected editions to which the libraries have current subscriptions. It is somewhat simplified in the sense that subscriptions with duplicate entries (e.g. one for scores and one for piano-vocal scores) have been de-duped. All of these are in RBI except for the Liszt complete works, which is in Jones.

 

MONUMENTS

Corpus of early keyboard music <American Institute of Musicology>

Early English church music

The English madrigalists

Musica Britannica : a national collection of music

COLLECTED EDITIONS

Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel. The Complete Works

Bach, Johann Sebastian. Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke : Partituren <Leinen>

Bach, Wilhelm Friedemann. Gesammelte Werke <Subscription price>

Bruckner, Anton. Sämtliche Werke : Revisionsberichte = Critical reports

Gabrieli, Giovanni. Opera omnia <American Institute of Musicology/ = CMM 12>. (Corpus mensurabilis musicae)

Froberger, Johann Jacob. Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke = New edition of the complete works <formerly: Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Clavier- und Orgelwerke>

Gabrieli, Andrea. Edizione nazionale delle opere di Andrea Gabrieli <Ricordi ; Fondazione G. Cini>

Händel, Georg Friedrich. Hallische Händel-Ausgabe. Kritische Gesamtausgabe : Partituren = Scores <Fortsetzungspreis>

Monteverdi, Claudio. Opera omnia. (Instituta et Monumenta. Serie 1, Monumenta)

Keiser, Reinhard. Ausgewählte Werke

Liszt, Franz. Complete Works. [In Jones]

Lully, Jean-Baptiste. Oeuvres completes <Partituren = Scores> <Subscriptionprice>

Purcell, Henry. Works / The Purcell Society

Rameau, Jean-Philippe. Opera omnia <Partituren = Scores>

Schönberg, Arnold. Sämtliche Werke Reihe A, Partituren

Schumann, Robert. Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke = New edition of the complete works <Subscription price>

Schütz, Heinrich. Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke <Fortsetzungspreis>

Telemann, Georg Philipp. Musikalische Werke / Gesellschaft für Musikforschung <Fortsetzungspreis>

Vivaldi, Antonio. Nuova edizione critica delle opere = New critical edition of the works <Venezia : Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi ; Fondazione G. Cini>

New Acquisitions and Withdrawals

Jones Music Library

Jones Music Library
440-826-2375
jonesml@bw.edu