General Purpose

The Music Library is the University's primary source for music and music literature. All M-class materials are housed in this branch except for a small reference collection in Reference Services and a recreational listening collection in Audiovisual Services, both in Hodges Library.

Primary clientele include B.A. students with a music major, B.Mus. degree programs (music education, music theory/composition, organ, piano, piano pedagogy and literature, sacred music, strings, Suzuki string pedagogy, studio music and jazz, voice, woodwinds, brass, and percussion instruments), M.A. in musicology or theory, and M.Mus. degree programs (accompanying, choral conducting, composition, instrumental conducting, jazz, music education, music theory, organ, piano, piano literature and pedagogy, sacred music, strings, voice, winds or percussion), or Ed.D. in curriculum and instruction.

Music as a subject taught at UT and as a subject represented in the world of publishing and recording is very broad. Therefore, few areas of music are excluded outright from this collection, but those not included within the curricula, such as music therapy or instruction in guitar or harp, are treated very selectively.

The music collection supports instruction and research for 1) students and faculty in the Department of Music, 2) service courses to undergraduates taking humanities electives, 3) departments such as theater, dance, art, architecture, history, religion, and cultural studies when music materials are needed for interdisciplinary study, and 4) music information needs of the University community and general public. The collection serves the gamut of needs from avocational to research.

Subject Description

Music literature includes general music (appreciation, listener's guides), bibliography and reference, music history (by period, by genre, by country, biography, performance practice), ethnomusicology (non-Western folk, popular, and art music; Western folk and popular music), notation and music theory, composition, conducting, jazz, instrumental and vocal pedagogy. Music education literature includes history and philosophy, methodology, psychology and testing, administration, instrumental and vocal pedagogy, conducting, juvenile literature, and music therapy.

Overlap with Other Subjects

Generally there is very little overlap, however, there are interrelationships with other subjects such as acoustics, aesthetics, art, architecture, dance, education, psychology, religion, sociology, and technology (computers, electronics).

Languages Collected and Excluded

English is the primary language of the collection; however, works in Western European languages are selectively collected, especially those in French, German, and Italian. Scores and sound recordings are collected without regard to language.

Geographic Parameters

Publications are predominately from North America and Western Europe. For non-Western areas, content emphasis is placed on Africa and Asia.

Chronological Scope

Music from the middle ages to the present is collected.

Dates of Publications

Mainly current publications are acquired for the book collection. However, currency of publication is far less important for scores and audio materials. Weeding decisions are little affected by date of publication.

Retrospective Acquisitions

No emphasis is placed on retrospective monograph collecting, but it does occur for scores, sound recordings, and dissertations on microfilm. Acquisition of out-of-print print materials is rarely attempted.

Types of Materials Collected and Excluded

To represent historical change in scholarship and performance practices, multiple formats of scores, multiple editions of scores, and multiple performances on sound recordings are extensively acquired. Music reference materials, composers' complete works and historical sets (M2-3) are emphasized. Upper division and graduate level texts and books about all music subjects are collected.

Selectivity is applied in collecting reprints, scores for instruments not represented in the curriculum, juvenile materials for instructional purposes (including school music textbooks and accompanying recordings), books from allied subject areas (e.g., church liturgy, aesthetics, acoustics, dance), and popular, general interest titles.

Exclusions include manuscripts (original sketches, complete manuscripts, letters, and memorabilia related to music are housed in Special Collections), multiple copies, vocal and piano sheet music, octavo choral music, sets of band, choral and orchestral parts, educational filmstrips, realia, and kits containing teaching accessories.

Formats of Materials Collected and Excluded

Books, music scores (includes collected editions, monuments, study scores, full scores, vocal scores, score and parts, performance editions); sound recordings (preferred format is compact disc, secondary format is cassette); videocassettes; CD-ROM and other electronic reference sources; periodicals, microforms, facsimiles of manuscripts, music scores, sketches and treatises; libretti, standard vocal and instrumental instruction materials and pedagogical editions; theses and dissertations, especially in music education; vertical file materials (publishers' catalogs, pamphlets, illustrations) are all collected.

Excluded are scores containing more than ten performing parts (collected by Department of Music perfomance organizations), 78 rpm recordings and most LP recordings. Microformat for scores is generally avoided.

Technological advancements and the marketplace will require additional formats such as laserdisc video and interactive video in the near future.

Music itself, as represented in the collection, consists of scores, sound recordings, and video recordings. The fewest limitations of all rest on these areas except for the formats chosen for the collection.

Cooperation with Other Libraries

No formal cooperative collection development agreements are in place. Curriculum materials are selectively collected but may also be obtained through the Claxton Curriculum Laboratory. Referrals are made to the Knox County Public Library for circulating audiovisual materials.

Alternative Access to Resources

Interlibrary loan is a source of materials not in the UT collection.

Position Responsible for Collection

Head, Music Library, Pauline Bayne

Corresponding Fund

Music and restricted account, Musical Heritage Fund

Other Factors

Jazz (15-20% of music majors) is supported primarily by sound and video recordings, pedagogical texts, books on jazz history and biography and the vertical file.

May 24, 2002