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The current bibliographer for music and dance is George Gibbs, Music and Dance Librarian.
Rev. November, 1997
I. Definition
A. Subject
B. User Population C. Collection Characteristics
II. Collection
Guidelines
A. Parameters
B. Types of Media C. Collecting Priorities
III. Future
Directions
IV. Selection
Process
A. Method of Receipt B. Selection Tools C. User Input
V. System Coordination and
Resource Sharing
VI. List of Main
Library of Congress Classes Represented
Appendix A. Twentieth-Century Composers Represented in Approval Plans for Scores
Rev. February 2001
Principal Selector: George Gibbs, Music & Dance Librarian
Principal Location: Thomas Gorton Music & Dance Library
I. Definition
A. Subject
The music collection includes music scores, literature about music, theoretical materials in the general field of music, music sound recordings, and music videorecordings. The general purpose of the collection of these materials is to make available materials which support the University's aims, goals and functions in the field of music.
1. The programs of the Department of Music and Dance, and the Department of Music Education and Music Therapy are served by these materials. The emphasis is to support upper division and graduate level courses of these departments.
2. The principal clientele of the Gorton Music & Dance Library are the students and faculty in the above departments. The primary aim of the collection is to support the teaching, performance and research needs of the students and faculty in the undergraduate and graduate academic programs leading through the Ph.D., Ed.D., and D.M.A. levels in the fields of music history, music theory, musicology, composition, conducting, performance, music therapy, and music education. In addition, a substantial number of music courses are offered to the general student body and attract large numbers of students who also make use of the collection. Music materials are used by students in related disciplines, such as anthropology, education, psychology, philosophy and aesthetics, religion, folklore, dance, drama, and physics; music also figures as an integral or adjunct part in most cultural and historical studies.
1. The strengths of the music collection historically have been its completeness of coverage of collected and complete editions and its collection of American music history materials. In addition, the collection of materials covering late Medieval and Renaissance music (14th-16th centuries) can be characterized as very strong, as well as the collection of Polish and Russian music. The collection of Czech and other Eastern European music is fair at this time, but growing stronger. The collection is reasonably adequate in most other areas although some weaknesses can be identified, specifically periodicals, the fields of ethnomusicology and folk and popular music, and performing editions of music.
2. No major shifts of collection priorities can be anticipated, although there is a stronger emphasis on collecting performing editions of music. Some popular and folk music anthologies are being collected, with an emphasis on acquiring anthologies intended to represent a broad overview of the subject matter presented or a significant portion of a performer's total output.
3. The music collection occasionally receives additional funding for special projects. It is with these monies that collection of European score materials was maintained throughout a fiscal crisis (in FY87), and collection of compact disc recordings was initiated. These areas are now maintained from music subject funds. Major gifts of vocal music, organ music and string music have greatly improved representation of these areas in the music score collection.
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A. Parameters
1. Music, both in print (score) and in sound (recording), is collected for its intrinsic value, regardless of the language of its text or accompanying commentary. Works of music are collected primarily with texts in English, German, French and Italian; works with texts in other languages, including those in the Cyrillic alphabet, are collected wherever necessary or appropriate. Scholarly texts on music are collected primarily in English; texts in German are also collected fairly heavily. Texts in French, Italian and Spanish are collected at a moderate level. Texts in other languages, including those utilizing the Cyrillic alphabet, are collected only where necessary or appropriate, although a significant amount of this material, as well as Spanish language material, is acquired through exchange programs in the Department for Spain, Portugal and Latin America and the Slavic Department.
2. There are no chronological restrictions on the collection of music materials. The collection of editions of late Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music attempts to be relatively comprehensive; the greater mass of materials from later periods requires selective representation on the basis of musical and historical significance.
3. There are no geographical restrictions on the collection of music and works about music. There is an emphasis on the western tradition in Europe and America. To the extent possible all music cultures of the world should be represented in the collection.
Music materials collected are printed books and periodicals, printed scores and parts, microformat materials, videorecordings, and sound recordings in long playing, compact disc and cassette tape formats. Reel to reel tape recordings are not actively collected. Mixed media items are not excluded, but are evaluated very carefully to determine the potential user population. These materials include score with accompanying cassette or reel to reel tape, text with tape, text with disc, text with floppy diskette, and other mixed formats. Manuscript materials are only rarely collected.
Materials collected include periodicals, monographs, conference reports, Festschriften, collected essays, iconographical materials, biographical dictionaries, encyclopedias, terminological dictionaries, bibliographies, catalogs, indexes, thematic indexes, program books, facsimile reproductions of composers' sketches and manuscripts. Theses and dissertations (in format appropriate to content and expected use) are collected only if strongly urged by a member of the Music and Dance faculty, or if required for a specific research need of a graduate student.
Standard biographies (in English translations where available) and new biographies presenting significant new information or a new point of view are collected, as are autobiographies, letters and documents of composers (in the original language and in English translation where possible) and also of significant conductors, performers, or persons connected with music in other capacities.
Juvenile treatments are not collected. Textbooks are also generally excluded, but exceptions are made in the areas of theory, composition, analysis, applied music, and music education and therapy. Works on the teaching of instrumental or vocal techniques will be carefully evaluated; a comprehensive collection of "methods" has not been attempted, although some textbooks and workbooks have been acquired through donation.
Music scores and parts are collected primarily for the purpose of reference and research; it is assumed that performance majors will develop their own libraries of performance materials. However, parts are acquired for chamber music compositions (for works requiring up to ten players). Sets of parts for large chamber ensembles, orchestra and band music, and multiple scores for choral works are excluded. In addition, multiple copies of study scores are not acquired to fill classroom study needs. In cases where an accompanying recording is required for performance of a score, the recording is acquired, if possible.
Recordings of music are collected in all languages and periods. However, recordings of contemporary popular music are not collected. Recordings of jazz, musicals and major figures in recent popular music history are collected sparingly.
Manuscript materials are accepted as gifts. Purchase of manuscript and other original source materials is usually in the form of microfilm copies or facsimile reprints.
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III. Future Directions
A. The Department of Music and Dance has exhibited some new trends recently; specifically an increased interest in performance of contemporary chamber music, and in the study and performance of jazz and other contemporary popular music forms. The new theater voice program is growing rapidly, gaining many new majors each year. The collections of the Music Library must follow these trends closely in order to provide support materials for these areas.
B. Much new scholarly research is being done in the areas of recent popular music history and ethnomusicology. The Department of Music and Dance has no ethnomusicology program, and only major new research studies in this area are acquired. However, courses are taught in the history of jazz and popular song, and the collection needs to support this activity.
C. There has been much recent publishing activity in the form of Festschriften and collections of scholarly essays in music history and musicology. These materials should be carefully evaluated and added if they meet the needs of the programs of the Department of Music and Dance.
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Approval plans for music literature provide new, scholarly publications from university press and other major U.S. publishers in the areas of music history and musicology, and music education. European and other foreign publishers are covered through a system of form selection. Materials not provided on approval or form selection are firm ordered. European music score publications are provided on an approval plan with carefully designed parameters, including recent scholarly publications with significant prefatory material and new compositions from a selected list of contemporary composers for specific mediums of performance. U.S. score publications are either firm ordered or selected from vendor forms. Gifts received in the Music Library are evaluated and accepted based on the condition of the material, the uniqueness of the item to the collection, and the appropriateness of the donated material to the scope of the collection. Items generally excluded from the collection policy are also generally not added to the collection.
Selection tools used include reviewing journals, such as Notes (of the Music Library Association), Music Review, Journal of Musicology, Music & Letters, etc. Other tools include publishers catalogs, vendor selection forms and subject bibliographies relating to specific instruments or mediums of performance.
C. User Input
The Music Librarian considers user input an important factor in collection development. An interest expressed in either specific titles or areas should be regarded when make collecting decisions. Faculty input is actively solicited, and on-line and ILL requests may also be considered guides for collecting. Where needed or appropriate, specific titles may be acquired to meet an individual research need; however, if a user recommends expanding collecting efforts into a hitherto relatively undeveloped area, consultation with members of the Department may be necessary.
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V. System Coordination and Resource Sharing
A. The Curriculum Laboratory of the School of Education and the Music Education Resource Center (408 Bailey) have school song books, various instructional materials, and sound recordings, especially folk and ethnic, which form a valuable supplement to the holdings of the Gorton Music & Dance Library. The various performing organizations (band, orchestra, and choral groups) have their own libraries of scores (or multiple scores) and parts for performance; these collections relieve the library of the necessity of providing performance materials in these areas. The Department of Special Collections has holdings of early rare music, printed and manuscript, and some later music, such as the collection of Gershwin music. The University Archives receives sound recordings of music performed at the University as well as some printed music and manuscript music in the papers of former faculty. The Kansas University Regents Center (Linwood Center) and the Reference Department of Watson Library both hold some music resources.
B. Interlibrary loan services extend the resources of the collection, but there is no other major source in the immediate area or at other Regents' schools upon which to depend.
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VI. List of Main Library of Congress Classes Represented
The Library of Congress classifications that are covered by this collection are: M, ML, and MT.
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Appendix A. Twentieth-Century Composers Represented in Approval Plans for Scores
Rev. November, 1997
I. Definition
A. Subject
B. User Population C. Collection Characteristics
II. Collection
Guidelines
A. Parameters
B. Types of Media C. Collecting Priorities
III. Future
Directions
IV. Selection
Process
A. Method
of Receipt B. Selection Tools
C. User Input
V. System Coordination and Resource
Sharing
VI. List of Main Library of Congress Classes Represented
Collection Development Policy for Dance
Rev. February 2001
Principal Selector: George Gibbs, Music & Dance Librarian
Principal Location: Thomas Gorton Music & Dance Library
Dance is a field which apparently needs little definition. For most people it is taken for granted that dance is simply rhythmic movement performed either in conventionalized sequences, as in social or folk dancing, or choreographed in the 'high art' of theatrical dance--ballet, modern dance, etc. This is all very well as far as it goes. What is not so apparent, probably because movement is such a transparently mundane, ordinary aspect of life, is the extraordinary range of ways of looking at dance and the variety of its connections with other fields. There are any number of focuses, depending on whether one is considering the cultural shaping of dance movements, the historical development of dance, dance as communication, the behavioral factors that influence movement, the physiology involved, or the aesthetic qualities of dance. This last focus, which looks at the aesthetic qualities of the flow of dance movement, the spatial relationships created in the course of a dance performance, etc., is the obvious concern of the dance critic, but dance scholars are concerned with all of these aspects of dance. One or more of them underlie the standard divisions of dance scholarship into which the field sorts itself: dance history, the anthropology of dance, dance therapy, aesthetics of dance, dance education, and even the professional concerns of the dance practitioner, such as choreography, dance production, etc. Scholars in many related areas, such as anthropology, cultural history, music, art, theater, linguistics (particularly semeiotics) and kinesiology share some of the interests of dance scholars.
The primary users of the dance collections are the student majors and faculty in the Division of Dance of the Department of Music and Dance. (There are also typically a number of non-majors taking course work in dance who make some use of the collections.) Some graduate level course work is offered, especially in the areas of Laban movement and dance history/choreography, although there is no graduate degree program in dance. The students' primary needs are for materials on movement analysis, the anthropological basis of dance, dance aesthetics, dance therapy and dance education. Also needed is literature on the professional concerns of the dancer (choreography, dance production and performance) and on dance history worldwide, including ethnic dance of various nations and cultures. Of less interest are works on particular performers or companies; although these are of interest to general readers and to cultural historians. The linkages of dance with cultural history, anthropology, music history, theater and semeiotics are significant: works in many of the areas identified above as important to dance scholars are also of interest to scholars in these areas. Faculty of the Music History Department, in particular, have an interest in dance history as an aspect of music history. The Department's Collegium Musicum sometimes collaborates on performances with the Dance Division, as does the Voice Department on opera productions. Such performances require some Library research, usually involving historical aspects of dance. Special and physical educators and physical therapists share interests in dance therapy and movement education materials.
The general level of materials in the dance collections supports master's level research and independent study. Considering that dance borders on a number of fields which have graduate level programs, this is an appropriate level. The majority of the materials are in English, but some material, especially works related to dance history, are in other European languages. The collection levels do vary considerably from specialty to specialty. In some areas the collections approach a doctoral research level: dance ethnology, especially as related to native Americans, is one such area. The Library's collections on ethnic dance for other geographic regions of the world varies: they are close to an advanced study level for Great Britain, Asia and India but somewhat below that level in other areas.
Another area in which the collections support at least advanced level study is dance history from the 19th century forward. Although some short-lived dance periodicals for this period are lacking, the Library does have the major aesthetic and critical works produced from the 19th century through the twentieth century as well as commentaries from contemporary observers. The Library also owns a number of scarce works of dance masters, critics and observers of dance from the 16th through the 18th centuries. Not all of these works are cataloged, however, and the collections are more uneven than for later periods. Availability of reprints is steadily improving the Library's coverage of these early sources: the collection is now somewhere between a study and an advanced study level depending on place and period. In some of the areas emphasized in the instructional programs the collections are limited by the amount of research and printed material produced. The Library has much of the available literature on movement analysis, including the works of the early pioneers in this field. The Library's collections in this area are growing toward a level appropriate for master's level research and independent study as more research articles are published in the journals to which the Library subscribes. This is also true of the areas of dance therapy and dance education, both developing areas within the field. In the cases of movement analysis, ethnic dance and choreographic analysis, recent additions of new periodicals and of primary material in the form of videos has done much to support the programs so as to assure at least a sound study level collection for students and to provide more of the independent research level support needed faculty research in these areas.
Although the predominant language of the collection is English, philosophical and historical material is also collected in other languages, especially French, Spanish, German and Italian. The collection contains materials on all periods, but has a stronger representation of works relating to the 19th and 20th centuries. The geographic emphasis is the U.S. and Europe (including eastern Europe and Russia), but materials are also collected relating to Latin America, Africa, India and Asia. Both current and retrospective materials are acquired, but no preference is give to original editions over reprints.
Much of the collection could be characterized as resource material for scholars. Juvenile works are seldom collected. Some of the works selected for the collection, such as memoirs and biographies of notable people connected with dance, do have popular interest. These are acquired selectively, preference being given to works that provide some insight on dance history and its cultural milieu. Dance souvenir programs are not acquired. Scholarly journals are collected: journals of a more journalistic nature are acquired very selectively. Newsletters or publications of local organizations (square dance clubs and the like) are not purchased. Reference books, such as bibliographies, directories, indexes, etc. are collected in conjunction with the Reference Department and are usually shelved in Reference. Video cassettes are acquired, preference being given to videos needed by specific classes.
Dance is collected at an advanced study level. Preference is given to English language materials, but works in other European languages are acquired, especially in the area of dance history and ethnology. Works on social and ballroom dance are collected at a basic information level.
Publishing of materials in dance has been increasing in recent years. There is a keen interest in dance which is not likely to be short-lived, because it has been supported by a growth in the number of regional dance companies and by the establishment, in a number of colleges and universities, of dance as a separate field of study. (Dance as an academic study has, in the past, tended to be subsumed under physical education, as indeed it was at this university until very recently.) In the past, a major share of the publishing was directed at the general market. That will probably continue to be the case; however, a stable production of scholarly works on dance and reprinting of older scholarly works is occurring. Dance history, in particular, is likely to be a growing field, both nationally and at the University, because of the interest in it of scholars in a number of fields.
The more scholarly output of major U.S. and British publishers, such as Princeton Books, comes in through the Yankee approval plan. European publishers and a number of small specialty U.S. and British publishers, a number of which are mainly reprint publishers are not covered by the approval plan. Part of the dance fund is spent on the current publications of these publishers: the rest is spend on purchasing from o-p dealers.
In selecting material for the dance collection, catalogs of dance publishers and reprint publishers are regularly checked, as are the review sections of dance journals, such as Dance Research Journal and Dance Chronicle. In addition the catalogs of out-of-print dealers are checked for older works the collection lacks. Occasionally a check of a more general list, such as the American Book Publishing Record and similar sources for European books, is made to monitor our coverage of current books on dance.
There are several ways in which users provide input in the selection process. Many students and faculty take advantage of an online catalog option allowing them to recommend a title for purchase. The faculty in the Dance Division tend to make their needs known directly to the bibliographer. Even when particular requests are for materials that will come automatically on approval plans, this input is valuable as an indication of areas of strong interest and need.
V. System Coordination and Resource Sharing
The dance collection is of interest to scholars in cultural history, musical history, theater, physical education, recreation, and anthropology as well as to linguistics scholars or psychologists interested in body language or semeiotics. Some especially evident interests include the interest of several theater faculty in Asian, especially Japanese dance, (traditional Japanese drama, sometimes presented at the University Theater, has a strong dance element) and the music faculty's shared need for works on dance music and for materials on dance history as an aspect of music history. Music educators share an interest with dancers in materials on the Dalcroze system (eurythmics), which uses body movement to teach musical rhythms. Music faculty sometimes make recommendations for purchases in dance history: there is also some referring of faculty recommendations between the music and dance bibliographers, depending on whether the items are predominately about music or about dance.
Dance students and faculty use the Gorton Music & Dance Library in Murphy Hall for materials on ballet and dance music and for books on eurythmics, which has a limited literature classified in the 780's. They also may use the Art and Architecture Library, especially for pictorial material which serves to supplement the limited written record on early periods of dance. Another pictorial resource for early periods are works on costume, most of which are in Watson Library. The collections of art objects in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery in Kansas City are also a resource for dance scholars and are especially valuable for the study of Asian culture, including dance. Anschutz Science Library provides material on dance therapy and kinesiology.
The Special Collections Department in Spencer Research Library has many works from the Renaissance which concern the cultural life of the times and may contain material on dance. Some of the recent acquisitions of purchases of rare or scarce works in dance history are housed in Special Collections. For students interested in dance ethnology the Bureau of American Ethnology publications, which are housed in Government Documents, are important sources.
VI. List of Main LC Classes Represented
GV 1580-1600 Dance Philosophy and Aesthetics
GV 1601-1619 Dance History (General)
GV 1621-1728 Ethnic and National Dance
GV 1743 Folk Dances and Dancing (General)
GV 1746-1779 Social and Ballroom Dance
GV 1781-1799 Theatrical Dancing
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