An Investigation into Current Practice Concerning the Preservation of Sheet Music within Academic Libraries

A study submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Librarianship

at

THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD

by

ANNA BAINES

September 2005

ABSTRACT

This dissertation will answer the research question: ‘is the preservation of sheet music a

priority within academic libraries, and how is it being carried out? The question has been

broken into an aim and five objectives which the dissertation meets. The introduction

relates the impetus for the study, and orients the reader, explaining how and why the study

has been carried out. It draws on literature from the field of academic librarianship to

create a background of knowledge regarding music libraries and librarianship and current

use of preservation within libraries, providing the context for this new research. A

methodology chapter outlines the different research methods used, which includes the

triangulation method of both quantitative and qualitative research, and shows how they

were selected over other methods. It explains how the data collected from the qualitative

interviews expands and complements the data gathered from the quantitative questionnaire.

The creation of the questionnaire is analysed, and the methods of data analysis expounded.

The methodological limitations are also recorded in this chapter. The combined results and

discussion chapter provides both written and pictorial descriptions of the data and analyses

the findings. The questionnaires and interviews are recorded in sections and quotes

provided to give an accurate report of what was said. The final chapter draws together the

body of the report and provides conclusions and recommendations for further research. The

report has found that the editions of sheet music most normally found in working

undergraduate music libraries are not valued. It is felt the most modern editions are more

accurate and easily replaceable and the older, rarer editions would be worth preserving, but

those copies that are in between these dates are worthless. The idea of creating a new

catalogue to show where the last copies of the mid-range editions are held was not met

with enthusiasm as it was felt the end result would not merit the time and cost of the

exercise.

CONTENTS Title Page 1

Abstract 2

Contents 3

Table of Figures 6

Acknowledgements 7

Chapter 1: Introduction 8

1.1 Aim 9

1.2 Objectives 9

1.3 Ethics 9

1.4 Resources 10

Chapter 2: Literature Review 11

2.1 Current State of Music Libraries 11

2.1.1 Current Views on and of Music Librarians 12

2.1.1.1 Library and Information Plan for Music 14

2.1.2 Music Reference Librarianship 14

2.1.3 Music library materials, equipment and facilities 15

2.1.4 Cataloguing and classification 15

2.1.5 Selection 15

2.1.6 The literature of music 16

2.1.7 The background to academic sheet music 17

2.2 Current state of preservation 17

2.2.1 Definitions 17

2.2.2 Background to preservation 18

2.2.3 Types of conservation available to sheet music 18

Chapter 3: Methodology 20

3.1 Methodology of Literature Review 20

3.1.1 The Samples 22

3.1.2 Creating the Questionnaire 23

3.1.3 Piloting the Questionnaire 24

3.1.4 The Final Questionnaire 25

3.1.5 Planning the Interviews 26

3.1.6 Conducting the Interviews 28

3.1.7 Data Analysis 28

3.2 Methodology of Literature Review 28

3.3 Overcoming Methodological Limitations 29

Chapter 4: Results and Discussion 31

4.1 Results of questionnaire 31

4.1.1 Results of Section 1: Personal and General Information 31

4.1.2 Results of Section 2: Preservation Policies 31

4.1.3 Results of Section 3: Attitudes Towards the Preservation of Sheet 36

Music

4.2 Discussion of Questionnaire Results 41

4.2.1 Discussion of Section 1 Personal and General Information 41

4.2.2 Discussion of Section 2: Preservation Policies 41

4.2.3 Discussion of Section 3: Attitudes Towards the Preservation of 42

Sheet Music

4.3 Results of Interviews 44

4.3.1 Section 1 Results 46

4.3.2 Section 2 Results 47

4.3.3 Section 3 Results 48

4.3.4 Extra information provided throughout the interviews 49

4.4 Discussion of Interview Results 50

4.4.1 Discussion of Section 1 50

4.4.2 Discussion of Section 2 51

4.4.3 Discussion of Section 3 52

4.4.4 Discussion of Extra Information 53

Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations 54

5.1 Conclusions from the report 54

5.2 Conclusions from the research 55

5.3 Recommendations 57

5.4 Recommendations for further research 58

References 59

Bibliography 62

Appendices 67

Appendix 1. Pilot email and questionnaire 68

Appendix 2. Covering email, final questionnaire and Participant Information 75

Sheet

Appendix 3. Initial questionnaire results table 82

Appendix 4. Interview transcripts 85

TABLE OF FIGURES: Figure

Number:

Title of Figure

3.1 Table to Show Details of the Objectives Met by Each Question

4.1 Percentage of Libraries with a Policy for Preservation of Sheet Music

4.2 Do You Feel it is Important to have a Policy Regarding the

Preservation of Sheet Music?

4.3 Methods of Preservation

4.4 Percentage of Libraries with Preservation Policy for all Stock

4.5 Graph to Show Factors Taken into Account in Weeding Policies

4.6 Chart to Show the Reason for Buying Replacement Items

4.7 Chart to Show Who was Involved in Developing the Policy

4.8 Chart to Show if a National Repository Would Aid Collection

Development

4.9 Chart to Show Whether Checks are made before Disposing of Items

4.10 Table to Show Policy Type and Percentage of Libraries Holding this

Policy

4.11 Questions Asked at Interview

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Professor Nigel Ford and Professor Sheila Corrall, my dissertation

supervisor and personal tutor respectively, for all their help and assistance throughout the

duration of this project, which was most gratefully received.

My thanks go to Christopher Cipkin and Kathryn Adamson for their initial encouragement

of this project. Thank you to all the participants who have provided the raw data, both

questionnaires and interviews, for their time and interest in this topic.

Thanks also to my parents, for their support, patience and the use of their computer and to

Joel for your persistent encouragement; I needed it.

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

The research question this dissertation will address is: is the preservation of sheet

music a priority within academic libraries, and how is it being carried out? This question

has arisen from an interest in music as a whole, and the importance of musical scores to

many types of people, including performers, conductors, composers and the general public.

The author feels it is a hugely important task to ensure that the preservation of such items

occurs, not only to preserve historical artefacts, but usable music scores, allowing the

music of the past to be understood and enjoyed. Sheet music can be reproduced in many

different editions, and the editors ensure each edition is slightly different, be it different

fingering, phrasing or even optional note changes. Each different edition is unique and

consequently useful for study or performance. Modern sheet music is still very important

in bringing the work of composers to students, and it would be wrong to let any of these

editions die out. Consequently, this dissertation will look at the ways in which university

libraries are preserving their sheet music collections and will address the idea of whether a

repository for the last copies of each edition of all the sheet music available would be of

use in ensuring the music is not irretrievably lost.

The state of music librarianship within academia is currently looking unsure, as

many Universities are closing, or threatening to close their music departments, such as

Exeter1 and Reading2 within the United Kingdom, and Sydney, Australia3. Others are

removing their music librarians, such as the University of Wales, Bangor4. This

dissertation hopes to reveal some of the concerns facing these librarians, and discover

whether the preservation of sheet music collections, is a priority within academic library

circles.

When considering the research question this dissertation will answer, the key

variables that were identified consisted of the three characteristics: academic music

librarians. The state of music librarianship today, as outlined in the literature review will

1 http://exepose.ex.ac.uk/pages_2005/week9/002-003%20-%20newsspecial.pdf 2 http://education.guardian.co.uk/universitiesincrisis/story/0,12028,1251449,00.html 3 http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/sep2001/sff5-s07.shtml 4 Research Student’s reactions to this can be found in the minutes of their general meeting on the 28th January 2005 at http://www.bangor.ac.uk/ar/rsf/minutes/minutes280105.php

help ascertain the mindset of our academic music librarians, and place into context their

responses to the questions asked of them.

Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the topic and lays out the aims and objectives

of the project. Chapter 2 is a self-contained literature review, which assesses the current

literature relevant to the research topic. Chapter 3 provides details of the methodology

used and describes the research process, revealing how certain choices were made and why

different methods were disregarded in favour of others. In Chapter 4 the results of the data

collection can be located, alongside discussion of the findings. Chapter 5 provides a

conclusion to the research project, and written report, which will include recommendations

for further action or research. A reference and bibliography section follows and

appendices will also be included, which hold relevant useful information.

1.1 Aim: To find out which, if any, music scores are being preserved within academic

libraries, the methods being employed to preserve them, and why they are being preserved.

1.2 Objectives: • Explore whether music scores are being preserved

• Determine whether the same importance is being placed on sheet music as a

medium, as other printed material

• Discover what type of policies academic libraries have in place for preserving

sheet music

• Find out whether these are perceived to be satisfactory in the eyes of the

respondents; and

• Determine the reasoning behind the preservation of music scores

1.3 Ethics This project will involve interaction with people; however, they are not classed as

vulnerable people. The project will involve people completing questionnaires and

participating in interviews. Informed consent was gained for the questionnaire respondents

by the signing of a statement confirming they have read the Participant Information Sheet

and are willing to take part. The interviewee’s were invited to take part by an email and

consent was assumed when they replied, confirming times and dates for the interviews.

Participants’ anonymity was preserved by the allocation of a code to each questionnaire

response and each interview. Participants were consulted regarding the taping of their

interview and the tape was destroyed once the research was completed. Within the body of

the report respondents were not named even when quoted, merely a code number allocated

to the quote, allowing for any patterns in response to be traced to a single person. Any

places mentioned during the interviews have been cut out of the transcripts, which can be

found in appendix 4. The author has read, and will abide by the Ethical Approval section

of the Dissertation Handbook produced by the University of Sheffield. This project has

gained approval from the University Research Ethics Committee.

1.4 Resources Any costs for the production of this dissertation, such as stationary and printing

will be met by the author. Travel costs to interviews have been eliminated, although

telephone costs in organising and conducting some of the interviews have been met. Email

was the primary form of communication between the researcher and the respondents,

interviewees and supervisor. Analysis of the data was undertaken using Microsoft Excel so

no extra costs were necessary. St. George’s Library and the Main Library at the University

of Sheffield were used in the writing of the literature review and methodology chapters.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This literature review aims to highlight some of the key areas of music librarianship

and bring to light some issues regarding the preservation of sheet music. Not all the

literature available has been reviewed as this is an ongoing process. Some more

information can be located in the bibliography at the end of this dissertation. Some of the

headings within this section have been taken from Rebman (1993).

2.1 Current state of music libraries Music libraries can be defined as: “any ordered collection of music, whether in the public

or commercial sector” (Thompson & Lewis, 2003). Music libraries hold varied collections

of written music, recorded music in different formats, such as vinyl, cassette tapes or CDs,

and books about making music, people who make music, and analysis of the music itself.

Music can be separated into genres, and these imply the type of music it is, such as

Classical, Modern or Non-European. These genres can then be subdivided, for example

Classical can include, Baroque, Renaissance, Classical, Romantic, Impressionist and

Modern; and Modern (or Contemporary) can include Jazz, Pop, Soul, Funk, Rap, Reggae

and Rock. Both of these genres can be notated (written down), and thus form part of a

collection of sheet music to be played and studied.

Music is a language in itself, and adopts many spoken languages depending on the

nationality of the composer. Music librarians need to understand the many different types

of music, their purpose and uses. Electronic databases of holdings and special music

collections are now becoming available, such as CECILIA5, RILM6 and RISM7, providing

a wealth of new resources for researchers and students alike. RISM (Répertoire

International des Sources Musicales) provides access to musical sources such as “printed

and manuscript music, works of music theory and libretti” (RISM, 1997) and as such is of

more interest within this dissertation than RILM (Répertoire International de Littérature

Musicale), which is an “international database of musicological writings” (RILM, 2005).

5 www.cecilia-uk.org 6 http://pages.britishlibrary.net/rilm-uk/ 7 http://www.rism.org.uk/

CECILIA is a wide-scoping national database providing information on different types of

music, different collections and locations, and different genre/tradition.

Multiple copies of sheet music are normally held for use in performances, and

copies of scores can be extended, short, complete or with reductions. As such, the role of

the music librarian is vital in navigating through the many types of resources available and

providing access to these resources, both physically and electronically. Rebman, taking the

view of American music libraries in 1993 considers the profile of music in three categories:

composition, performance and musicology (the study of music). Composition is the

creation of music which is notated. The publication of this music is what creates the sheet

music which is read and performed from repeatedly. Musicology is the study and analysis

of music and is a more scholarly activity.

Talja (2001) has analysed official music library policy statements from the 1950’s

to the 1990’s and yet according to the index the word ‘preserve’ does not appear once in

her book. Emphasis is given to collection management, stock selection and policy-making,

but without the publishers printing the music, and collectors maintaining a collection then

certain editions of sheet music would die out. This scenario begs the question: is the bigger

picture the music publishing industry as a whole producing so much sheet music that

copies can always be obtained, thus rendering the need to preserve copies as obsolete? The

findings of this dissertation will touch on the issue raised here.

2.1.1 Current views on and of music librarians According to Griscom, quoted in Goodes (2004) a music librarian needs to have “a

thorough knowledge of the history and repertory of all types of music”. This quote

identifies that music librarianship is a two-fold profession, requiring depth of knowledge in

both music and librarianship. In an article aptly named ‘Music Librarianship’ Fazekas and

Philpott (2005) further expound the intricacies of music librarianship, describing the

aspects of collection development and access with reference to Rebman (1993) and

commenting on the delicate nature of copyright, and the fact “a musician entering a festival

competition with photocopied music is automatically disqualified” (p3). This shows that

providing access to sheet music for performers is an essential role and one that demands

nothing less than 100% accuracy and dedication – corners cannot afford to be cut. It is also

noted that “weeding is based on an item’s condition rather than its currency” (p.2). This is

taken to mean that age is irrelevant when weeding sheet music, and is a point which is

raised later, during the discussion of the questionnaire results.

Many websites can be located with information on access to sheet music, such as the

Film Music Society (Bradford, 2005), the National Sheet Music Society (Brown, 2002) and

WW1 Military Sheet Music (Davidsmeyer, 2004) which all mention the value of

preserving sheet music. Although these sites are not academic, and have a strong focus on

the commercial aspect, they do provide some background to the types of sheet music

available, and the societies that have an active interest in sheet music.

Michael Gorman (2004) provides a concise but thorough review of a new book

entitled ‘Careers in Music Librarianship II: Tradition and Transition’ edited by Paula Elliot

and Linda Blair, and published by the Scarecrow Press and the MLA in 2004. From the

overview provided it can be seen that music librarianship is still as important to those that

practice it as it ever has been, and the educational and professional requirements needed to

become a music librarian are identified, along with the development of the profession, the

process of becoming a professional music librarian and many resources that are relevant to

the field. This type of book shows that music librarianship is an essential feature of the

umbrella profession of librarianship and that it is still a desirable and enjoyable occupation.

Richard Turbet (2003) comments, in the introduction to a new book of essays

commemorating fifty years of the International Association for Music Libraries, Archives

and Documentations Centres UK & Ireland Branch:

“Music librarianship is rigorously democratic and egalitarian, yet there

is frustration and despair at those who see it as elitist, inconvenient,

incomprehensible or a threat. Money is short.”

These points demonstrate that music librarianship is a misunderstood profession, and that

funding, as always, is in short supply. This latter point is one which occurs in the findings

of this project, in Chapter 4.

2.1.1.1 Library and Information Plan for Music

A Library and Information Plan (LIP) for Music was created in 1993 and Thompson

(2003) of the Royal College of London, stated another was needed as the situation with

music librarianship was much altered in the decade that has passed. Thompson and Lewis

created the ‘Access to Music’ document, published in 2003 as a second LIP, complete with

eleven major recommendations and one hundred and thirty four further recommendations

for future access. None of these related directly to preservation policies. However, one of

the major recommendations states “Given the extremely high level of interest in music

amongst the population and the Government’s commitment to cultural development, the

decline in music library services should be addressed and reversed” (p.12). This concurs

with the view of one music librarian, informally interviewed, who commented on the

“pressing need to address the issue of vanishing music librarians”. As mentioned

previously in the introduction to this report, the number of traditional music courses is

dropping, with the Universities of Exeter and Reading both closing their music departments

recently.

The further recommendations section within the ‘Access to Music’ document is

further divided in to headings. Within ‘Documentation and Systems’ (p.16)

recommendations are made regarding unifying catalogues and training more skilled

cataloguers, but again, no mention is made of preserving any music for future reference

and enjoyment.

2.1.2 Music reference librarianship Reference librarianship is an area which has been given much acclaim through the

writings of David Lasocki (2000). It can be seen as a furtherance of the aspect of subject

expertise, and one that is essential to the smooth running of a music library. Reference

librarianship is about providing answers to queries, it is a method of helping users

understand what they want, and also teaching them how to find their own answers. User

education is a large part of reference librarianship, both individually and in a class or group

setting. Knowledge of the subject includes awareness of the resources, databases, search

engines, current and past projects, different languages, publishing and printing, types of

instrumentation and all the minutiae relating to the performance and study of music.

2.1.3 Music library materials, equipment and facilities Music libraries hold a wide range of resources such as books and periodicals, printed

music and manuscripts, microfilm, sound recordings such as vinyl, cassette tape, CDs and

AV material such as video cassettes and DVDs. Some music libraries provide electric

keyboards and/or pianos with headphones for trying out music. Some have computer

software that allows composition. Reference works can now be found within electronic

databases and as resources to complement the large, multi-volume print versions.

2.1.4 Cataloguing and classification Classification of music normally uses Dewey Decimal classification although the Library

of Congress scheme is also popular. According to Rebman (1993) specialized schemes

such as Dickinson Classification, used at Vassar College Library have been created to

favour the study of music over the performance. Specialized schemes such as this are not

frequently used.

Papakhian (2000) notes “music cataloguing was transformed with the

implementation of the MARC music format…in 1978”. For the first time music catalogue

records could be unified, and cataloguing produced at one library could be instantly used

by another. Development continued and by 1999 the OCLC (Online Computer Library

Centre) database held 2 235 530 bibliographic records for scores and recordings combined

(Papakhian, 2000:582). The retrospective conversion of the card catalogues of several

American universities was a feat not replicated in other disciplines. It enabled numerous

other library catalogues to convert their card catalogues (Papakhian, 2000).

2.1.5 Selection The acquisition of materials for the music library is usually done by the music librarian

rather than a general librarian as there are many complexities concerning the titles and

forms of music. Rebman (1993) tells us there are no adequate bibliographies of current

music in print as there are for books due to the vagaries with the titles. The projects RISM

and RILM, however, are making significant inroads into the provision of a complete

bibliography. There are incomplete resources that provide an idea, such as the Music in

Print Series published in Philadelphia, U.S. Current discographies are available, however,

such as the Gramophone Classical Catalogue, published in Harrow, U.K. Catalogue

records which have been produced by the British Library can be sold to libraries to ensure

a unified record across the field. This eases the burden of selecting slightly as catalogue

records can simply be downloaded.

Donations of collections are a significant asset to music libraries and Heskes, writing in

1983, noted the worth of collectors and their impact on “the direction of scholarly

research” (p.263). This statement is evidenced through the realisation that the researchers

use the collections created by the collectors, rather than search for items that may be lost,

and thus the collector is able to shape history through his collection.

2.1.6 The literature of music Music can be produced in many different types of written format. These include: scores,

libretti, writings on music, histories of music, biographies and writings of musicians,

theoretical, technical and instructional works, concert programmes, music periodicals and

reference tools (Rebman 1993). Scores are written music, including the texts if composed

for voices. Libretti are just the words to songs, operas etc., without the actual music. They

are usually provided in both the original language and translation. Writings on music can

incorporate any genre of music and there is a wealth of literature available about many

different genres. Histories of music constitute timelines and general works regarding what

was composed when. Biographies and musicians’ writings can form a valuable insight into

the background of their compositions. The theoretical, technical and practical books are

essential to the application of practical techniques of performance, and understanding how

instruments work. Concert programmes can form the basis of a collection about a

particular performance group, or venue and are of historical interest. Periodicals are useful

for providing current information on the music profession and can be valuable for study

and careers information. Reference tools, such as dictionaries and bibliographies can also

locate pieces of music and provide information about them.

2.1.7 The background to academic sheet music The collection of sheet music in the past has formed valuable resources by which

today’s scholars can refer. Indeed, it has been said the collectors shape the studies of the

future, by which it is meant that the studies are dependant on the resources available, which

have been collected in the past (Heskes, 1983). As previously mentioned in the

introduction, the state of music libraries within academia is proving to be a cause for

concern, with the level of music degrees on offer dropping. This has prompted some

serious actions from those who are concerned, with the percussionist Evelyn Glennie

returning her honorary degree to Exeter University as a protest against the plans to close its

music department (Taylor, 2004). However, popular music courses have been increasing,

as reported by Abrams (2002).

2.2 Current state of preservation According to Feather et al (1996) areas of preservation can include disaster

management, security, housing and substitution. A seminal report within this field, known

as the Ratcliffe Report after its main author, was published in 1984 and criticised the state

of preservation and conservation in British libraries, and offered recommendations for

improvement (Feather et al, 1996). Since that time an increased awareness of these issues

has developed and policies have been created to ensure the preservation of valuable

collections and resources.

2.2.1 Definitions Feather et al (1996) offer the following definitions:

Preservation: The managerial, financial and technical issues involved in preserving library

materials in all formats – and/or their information content – so as to maximise their useful

life

Conservation: The maintenance and/or repair of individual items

Emphasis is placed on the managerial role of preservation, against the more practical and

technical role of conservation. Thus it can be seen preservation is related to policy and

decision making, rather than the science behind conservation.

2.2.2 Background to preservation According to Feather (1996), for librarians to provide access to information that

information has to be stored in an accessible form. If preservation does not occur, then all

that will be left of the original information will be a catalogue record or database entry.

Feather (1996:11) explains how the issue of preservation first came to the fore in 1974, and

in 1975 a Conservation Branch was created to form a “policy for the care of the stock”.

Resources were redirected to cope with the work that needed to be done and “in 1979-80,

for the first time, expenditure on conservation exceeded that on acquisitions” (p.11). “In

1983-4, the Conservation Branch was replaced by a Preservation Service” (p.12) and “the

first major study of preservation in British libraries” (p.12) occurred in 1987. This

signalled the start of a greater importance being placed on preservation of resources.

Nelson-Strauss, writing in 1991, notes

“The importance of drafting preservation policies and initiating

conservation measures for library collections has been emphasized

in recent years to the extent that many librarians now consider

conservation to be one of their primary responsibilities” (p.425)

She continues to state there is no nationally-organised policy for the preservation of audio

materials, from which it can be seen that preservation is not an area of priority in any facet

of music librarianship. An interesting point is raised by Nelson-Strauss when she

comments on the fact commercial recordings are not actively conserved as they are mass-

produced and it is possible to buy another copy. This may also apply to sheet music: thus

the general collections held in undergraduate music libraries may be so modern that

replacing them is not an issue, because there are so many copies available.

2.2.3 Types of conservation available to sheet music Little has been written within professional librarian spheres about the issues

surrounding conservation of sheet music, however, conservation of books and paper have

been considered and according to Kathryn Adamson (2005), current president of the

International Association of Music Librarians “there is nothing intrinsic in its being music

which affects its preservation”. Consequently, specific technical issues of conserving

music will not be considered, unless the initial quantitative research findings reveal a

different view. Shepard (in Griscom & Maple, 2000) comments music is used for

performance and therefore needs to be portable and large enough to play from. Conserving

music onto microfilm or microfiche is not possible if the pieces are to be used in

performance as they would be too small to read. This method of conservation would work

if the pieces were for study only. Shepard also identifies shelving units as a “preservation

problem nearly unique to music” (p.13). This feature will be acknowledged in the results

section of Chapter 4, as will the problem of marking scores and parts, also observed by

Shepard. A valuable point is noted on page 14, regarding outside performances:

“which subjects music to sun, wind, rain insects and bird droppings.

Those who manage performance collections scoff at these problems –

the materials are meant to be used as long as they can be, and then

replaced. But music librarians have been arguing with orchestral

librarians…that there is a time in the life of performance parts when

they become sources that document historical facts, period performance practice,

or a particular version of an orchestral or stage work”

This feature is the point behind the following research project, as even though modern

printed sheet music is easily replaceable and relatively worthless, it is still an original

source of the three reasons mentioned in the above quote. For that reason it can, and maybe

should, be considered an important document of our music history even though it may still

be present at the moment.

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

This chapter will consider the types of research methodology applied. It will note

the process and progress of data collection and analysis and will also consider the methods

behind completing the Literature Review. This dissertation consists of two types of

research, quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative research takes the form of a semi-

structured questionnaire in which questions are asked on different topics and under

different headings. The qualitative research will takes the form of an unstructured

interview, according to the definition by Hague (1993), and looks at parts of the structured

questionnaire in depth. This chapter will also note the methodological limitations and

problems incurred.

3.1 Selecting Research Tools Initial research was undertaken during the early stages of the project, which took

the form of brief consultative interviews conducted at opportunistic times. An

understanding of the topic and the likely factors which would affect the preservation of

sheet music was created at this time, and verification was obtained regarding the validity of

the research topic chosen. A literature review was also started at this time and formed a

bed of knowledge on which to base the research question, and identify the many factors

surrounding music librarianship and preservation. The method of triangulation was

applied, with emphasis being placed on the qualitative method of the interview acting as a

complimentary form of research, allowing the findings of the quantitative research to be

examined in more depth, and also fill in the gaps from the questionnaire, where the

respondents did not clarify or justify their answers. Bell (1999:102) states:

“if possible, efforts should be made to cross-check findings, and in a more

extensive study, to use more than one method of data-collecting. This multi-

method approach is known as triangulation.”

According to Gorman and Clayton (1997) there are five distinctive features of

qualitative research: context, description, process, participant perspective and induction.

This dissertation has worked within its set context of academic music libraries, it has

described the occurrences regarding preservation policies and behaviour, it has been able to

comment on the process behind the lack of preservation policies that exist, it has tried to

discover why the participants feel as they do and it has used an inductive method to remove

or clarify initial assumptions and refine the data until set conclusions can be drawn. The

data that has been collected can be categorised as behavioural and opinionated and as such

“may involve simple observation, interviews, psychological tests, questionnaires and many

other methods” (Losee & Worley, 1993: 106). Psychological tests were not considered

relevant to the research question, but the methods of questionnaires and interviews were

undertaken.

The reliability checks for scales and tests, such as “test-retest (administering the

same test some time after the first), the alternative forms method (where equivalent

versions of the same items are given and results correlated) or the split-half method (where

the items in the test are split into two matched halves and scores then correlated” were not

used within this project as they were not deemed relevant to the type of data being gathered

(Bell, 1999:104). The project was not creating a test or scale. Qualitative methods such as

focus-groups, observation and keeping a diary, or log of professional activity were

considered, but disregarded as their limitations made them unnecessary. A focus group

could have gleaned the correct type of data if it was structured effectively, but the logistics

of organising the time and location for a group of busy music librarians to meet could not

be overcome. Observing a sample of music librarians at work, and/or keeping a log of

their professional activity would not provide the correct type of data. However, two types

of questionnaire were chosen as valid data-gathering tools for the type of information

desired: a structured self-completion questionnaire and a semi-structured interview

questionnaire.

The notion of self-reporting, rather than indirect reporting was selected as a

method of measurement for the questionnaire and the interview. It was selected so the

respondents would have the opportunity of answering the questions without being guided,

or led to a particular answer. A limitation of this method is provided by Losee and Worley

(1993: 106):

“the fact that the person answering questions is (consciously or unconsciously)

trying to determine the interests of the persons asking the questions means

that the answers provided may be biased…what people do is often not what

they say they do”

Indirect reporting ensures the answers given are not biased because the respondent can not

understand the relationship between an answer and a psychological state. It was decided

that self-reporting was an adequate method of measurement as it would have been

impossible to gain the correct type of information from indirect reporting.

3.1.1 The Samples According to Losee and Worley (1993:119) sampling is “the process of extracting a

subset of the population called a sample”. Within this research project the sample was

chosen using theoretical sampling.

“The logic of theoretical or purposive sampling is that you select units which

will enable you to make meaningful comparisons in relation to your research

questions, your theory and the type of explanation you wish to develop…”

(Mason, 1996:96)

This method was chosen as it was felt a specific type of sample was needed to

enable the most valuable, data-rich results to be obtained. The sample chosen had to be the

most relevant people, with the appropriate knowledge and interest in the topic. These

equated to academic music librarians. Choosing the sample was undertaken using two

methods. Firstly, by using the IAML directory to locate institutional members, selecting

only those members belonging to a university, and secondly by selecting universities and

higher education colleges that offer a music programme. These places were found by using

the Google search engine and locating universities within areas of the UK which offer

music degrees. The areas were split into East Anglia, London, East Midlands, West

Midlands, the Northeast, the Northwest, the Southeast and the Southwest. In total, in

addition to the sample found using the directory, 71 courses were located. The websites

were then checked to find the correct Subject Liaison Librarian or the Librarian most likely

to be in charge of the music collection. Email addresses were then located either from the

directory or from the university website and finally postal addresses were also located from

the websites. Methods such as cluster sampling, systematic sampling and stratified random

sampling were not chosen as the sample numbers were so low that randomly selecting a

few would not leave enough respondents to make a meaningful study. The entire sample

that had been located through the theoretical sampling process had to be used.

In selecting the sample for qualitative interviewing, theoretical sampling was

again used. Cases were selected that offered maximum diversity and the option of

providing the widest range of responses. The diversity of the number of items in the

collection was taken into consideration, as was whether a preservation policy was held or

not. A degree of randomness was present, in that out of the possible interviewees those

that responded first were interviewed.

3.1.2 Creating the Questionnaire It is essential the questionnaire was constructed suitably, with unambiguous

questions and a logical format, as self-completion questionnaires are “without anyone to

provide advice, answer queries or ensure the respondent understands the meaning of the

questions” (Hague, 1993:10). It was decided to start with a general section to allow for

quick completion and a sense of confidence, so the remaining sections of the questionnaire

were more likely to be attempted. Thought was given as to whether the coding should be

included next to the answers of the relevant questions, but it was felt this would make the

questionnaire visually confusing. The coding, to aid analysis of the results, was added

once the completed questionnaires had been returned. In creating the questions they were

given careful thought and each question can be justified according to the objectives of the

project as outlined in the Introduction. This was done to ensure the objectives were

comprehensively met. The general section verifies who has responded, the scope of the

collections held and the size of the sheet music collection. The following table provides

details of the objectives met by each question.

Fig. 3.1

Question Number Objective(s) met

7 1, 3

8 3

9 2, 5

10 3

11 2

12 1, 2, 3

13 2

14 3

15 4

16 4

17 2, 3

18 4

19 3, 5

20 4, 5

21 5

22 1, 2, 5

23 5

24 5

The type of question asked was mainly verbal, where the expected answer was a

word, phrase or extended comment. This type of question is the least structured, compared

to the six other types, all listed by Youngman, in Bell (1999: 120). These include: list,

category, ranking, scale, quantity and grid. The list question was asked five times, where

answers are provided in a list and the respondent can mark as many as apply; and the

quantity question asked once, in regard to the number of items of sheet music in stock. The

remaining types of question were not used, as the style of information gathering was

inductive rather than deductive: the questions did not expect set answers; they were looking

for the respondents opinions. Losee and Worley (1993:135) state the following question

types to be avoided: double-barrelled questions, socially sensitive questions and those with

quantitative answers. The questionnaire used in this study did avoid double-barrelled

questions (asking two questions in one sentence). It also avoided socially sensitive

questions, asking only straightforward questions and only asked one quantitative question

in regard to the collection size, which should have been simple to answer.

3.1.3 Piloting the Questionnaire According to Bell (1999: 127) “All data-gathering instruments should be piloted”.

This is to test how long it takes to complete the questionnaire, check the questions are clear

and allow for the removal of unnecessary questions. I selected three recipients with which

to pilot my questionnaire. They were chosen as they were all academic librarians working

closely with music, who were known to me. I used email as the medium by which to

contact them as this was the method by which I intended to distribute the final

questionnaire. The piloted questionnaire had been drafted and altered once, so it was the

second draft that was disseminated. The pilot email and questionnaire can be found in

appendix 1. The questionnaires were emailed within minutes of each other and all were

opened the same day. The response rate was 100%, although two reminder emails were

sent out after six days.

The feedback produced was very valuable and enabled me to make some changes

to the format and structure of the questionnaire. The format was altered to provide a more

compact document, and the structure in place for answering the questions was amended.

The wording of some questions were altered, with some being deleted and a question being

included asking whether special consideration was given to early printed music within the

library’s preservation policy. Also, more answers were provided for the interviewee to tick

if relevant. The altered questionnaire still meets the aims and objectives of the research,

but also provides a more manageable topic for the respondents to consider.

Feedback had suggested the format of the questionnaire did not allow for easy

completion online and therefore the option of distributing the questionnaire by post was

considered. Bell (1999) however, notes that postal questionnaires have a low response

rate, and are expensive, and Losee and Worley (1993: 141) comment “return rates on

mailed surveys can fall into the single percentage figures”, so it was decided to email the

questionnaires as originally planned, but include the option of having a questionnaire

posted to the respondent if requested.

Definitions of terminology were included at the beginning of the final draft of the

questionnaire to eliminate ambiguity within the questions, as this was another area of

concern raised by the pilot. With the guidance of my supervisor it was decided to offer a

one-sided executive summary of the findings to those who requested it, in the hope of

gaining a high response rate. The self-completion questionnaire was checked for reliability

and validity through the opinions of my supervisor and the pilot questionnaire respondents,

and alterations were made as necessary.

3.1.4 The Final Questionnaire The final questionnaire was distributed by email, as an attachment, with a covering email

and a copy of the Participant Information Sheet. These documents can be found in

appendix 2. The covering email had undergone modifications before it was sent. The

Participant Information Sheet was part of the ethics procedure and each member of the

sample was required to mark the end of the questionnaire to prove their informed consent

had been given to complete the questionnaire. It was decided to split the questionnaire into

three separately headed sections. Under the ‘Personal and General Information’ section

were six questions, within the ‘Preservation Policies’ section were twelve questions and

within the ‘Attitudes Towards the Preservation of Sheet Music’ section were six questions.

By marking two dotted lines under the required question it was possible to indicate a

longer, fuller answer was required. Not all the respondents responded as anticipated, with

many refusing to explain their single word answers, or provide any detail.

The documents were distributed over two days at the beginning of July, and

incorporated in the covering email was a deadline of Friday 15th July by which to respond.

On the day of the deadline there had been eighteen responses but only fourteen completed

questionnaires. The possibility of non-response had been considered so identifying

questions such as name, organisation and telephone number were included so a record of

who had responded could be kept. A reminder email was also constructed in advance.

This reminder email was distributed on Monday 18th July, which gleaned only nine more

responses on the day, of which only four contained completed questionnaires. No requests

were made for a postal questionnaire to be sent, although two questionnaires did arrive

through the post. A table charting the progress of the questionnaire results can be found in

appendix 3.

3.1.5 Planning the Interviews Those respondents who were willing to take part in an interview had indicated this

at the bottom of their questionnaire. There were twelve in total. These names were then

separated and their questionnaires studied to ascertain which would be the most likely to

provide valuable information at interview. Five respondents were chosen as the main

sample and three were selected as back-up. It was decided to email the candidates and

suggest a telephone interview at their convenience. The medium of telephone was chosen

as likely to be the most successful, as it was likely that face-to-face interviews would take

too long to organise, and travel costs would have to be defrayed, due to the diverse

locations of the organisations selected. Also, for the short duration of the interviews, it

would not be worth the time and expense incurred from travelling for many hours.

Credibility of the interviewer was taken into account and telephone interviews were again

chosen over face to face interviews because, as Losee and Worley (1993:143) point out:

“interviewers who appear significantly older than the subject often have ‘better’ results;

this may be due to increased credibility and perceived seriousness”. Telephone interviews

also limited the need for non-verbal language and so all the meaning came from the words

and the tone of voice, rather than any distracting or conflicting body language on the part

of either the interviewer or the interviewee. Another reason why telephone interviews

were selected is as follows: “Telephone interviews can be less threatening to a subject,

since it can provide a sense of distance and anonymity not possible face to face” (Losee

and Worley, 1993:144).

The basic questions were created before the initial emails were sent, so that if a

date were chosen soon after the emails were received, there would not be problems in

preparing for the interview. It was decided to create a structured questionnaire to allow for

ease of analysis, and to ensure the same topics were covered in each interview. The

questions were kept pertinent and only eight were asked, so as to allow the interviewee

time to answer them fully. The questions varied slightly with each interview depending on

how certain questions had been answered in the questionnaire, although each interview

complied with the main theme. The main theme of the interviews was to establish whether

it is easier to simply replace items, than try and preserve them; what happens to the weeded

stock and the superseded editions; whether they would use a national repository for modern

sheet music if it existed; and whether there is anything about sheet music that makes

preserving it different to preserving normal book stock. The questions allowed the

interviewees to expand their questionnaire responses and fill in some of the gaps created by

the questionnaire responses. The initial email also informed the recipient the interview was

likely to take no longer than fifteen minutes, and that confidentiality would be ensured

throughout the process.

It was decided that if permission was given by the interviewee the interviews

would be recorded by tape. Otherwise they would be recorded by notes. Recording the

interviews aided the process of analysing the answers, and guaranteed a more detailed

response than simply working from memory, and notes.

3.1.6 Conducting the Interviews The interviews were conducted by telephone at dates and times convenient to the

interviewee. It was possible to record the interviews, with the promise of preserving

anonymity and destroying the tape afterwards. The recording was achieved by using a

cassette player with built-in microphone and setting the mobile telephone to speaker phone

so as to make the conversation more audible. Notes were also taken in case there was a

fault with the recording. The recorded conversations were transcribed as fully as possible,

and these transcripts can be found in appendix 4. The interviews followed the structure of

the questionnaire well, although deviations were made when the interviewees identified

new areas for consideration. Also some questions were omitted if it was felt they were

unnecessary in light of the previous response.

3.1.7 Data Analysis It was thought the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), a computer

software programme, would be too advanced for the small number of data gathered and the

statistical test available would be invalid; therefore it was decided to use Microsoft Excel

for a basic analysis of the questionnaire results. A second reason for rejecting SPSS for the

analysis is that it produces inferential statistical tests. Statistical tests require a sample to

be random and representative, but the data collected required the method of theoretical

sampling, so SPSS could not be used. It was felt the diagrams would be sufficient to show

a visual representation of the figures that were being discussed. Percentages and actual

figures were included so avoid ambiguity and ensure the reader knew the size of sample of

respondents for each question.

For the data analysis concerning the interviews an inductive approach was chosen,

so that whilst certain themes were being looked for the interviewer was still open to new

ideas, and the interview was semi-structured so as to allow for digression during the

conversation and exploration of new ideas thrown out by the interviewee.

3.2 Methodology of Literature Review The literature review has been an ongoing process, with much time employed in

searching for documents relevant to the topic. The Internet search engine ‘Dogpile’ was

selected to search, as the search engines it checks include Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask

Jeeves. The search term ‘preservation sheet music’ was entered and returned seventy

seven results. The University of Sheffield library catalogue ‘Star’ was searched using the

term ‘music librarianship’ and returned eleven results. By using the databases Library

Literature and Information Science, Library and Information Science Abstracts and Jstor;

and journals such as Notes and Brio, many articles were located.

3.3 Overcoming Methodological Limitations It was decided to distribute the questionnaires via email as this would be a faster,

more cost-effective method. However, this method only gleaned twenty-four results out of

a possible seventy-one in the sample. If the questionnaire had been sent by post, then it is

possible there may have been more respondents. However, as previously mentioned in

Section 3.1.3 Piloting the Questionnaire, Bell (1999) notes postal questionnaires also have

a low response rate. Although an option of requesting a questionnaire by post was

provided in the covering email no one followed through with a request.

The timing of the questionnaire proved to be detrimental to the response rate, as

many respondents stated they were too busy to complete the questionnaire. Similarly,

many respondents were on holiday and automated replies were returned advising the date

of their return to work. It was possible to wait for some to return to work, but others were

unable to respond in time. If the questionnaire were to be repeated it would be better for

them to be sent out in June, rather than any later, to provide the best time for replies.

The wording of the closing statement of the questionnaire appears to be

misleading, as not all respondents marked the statement with a cross. It was added as an

ethical requirement to state the respondents were providing informed consent about

participating in the research. Were the questionnaire to be repeated, the final statement

would be re-worded to ensure the respondents knew it applied to the questionnaire itself

and not the interview, or any other means of participation.

Within Chapter 4.2.3 it has been noted the wording to questions 19 and 21 may

have been slightly ambiguous. Although every effort was made to avoid this, if a repeat

questionnaire was distributed clarification would be given to those questions in the hope of

gaining a higher response rate.

If a higher number of interviews were being conducted then a more technical method of

recording the conversations would need to be employed to ensure a higher quality of

recording, as it was not always easy to transcribe the interviews due to the bad recordings.

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Results of questionnaire

The questionnaire elicited 24 responses from 71, which is 33.8%. The results will

be stated in the three sections which formed the structure of the questionnaire. Following

these sections the results will then be discussed, again within three sections.

4.1.1 Results of Section 1: ‘Personal and General Information’ The general information section was well answered with 87.5% of respondents

answering all the questions in this first section. The collection sizes range from 40 to 110

000 items, with the average collection size being 21 994 items. These results are slightly

skewed with the smallest three collections numbering 640 and the greatest two collections

numbering 210 000. Eliminating these figures, the average collection size is 16 401 items.

In order to ensure confidentiality, the details of the personal information will not be

provided, in accordance with the ethics proceedure.

4.1.2 Results of Section 2: ‘Preservation Policies’ With regard to the section entitled ‘Preservation Policies’ 17% of respondents do

have a policy in place regarding the preservation of sheet music. This can be seen in the

pie chart below. Of these, 25% have formally documented their policy. In real figures this

equates to four academic libraries from the twenty four who responded having a policy and

only one library which has formalized the policy.

Fig. 4.1

Percentage of libraries with a policy for preservation of sheet music

17%

83%

Libraries with Policy Libraries without policy

The question was asked whether the respondents felt it was important for their organisation

to have a policy regarding the preservation of sheet music. 30% declined to answer and of

the remaining 70%, 22% felt it was important and 48% though it was not important. A

visual representation of this information is provided below.

Fig 4.2 Do You Feel it is Important to have a Policy Regarding the Preservation of Sheet Music?

Yes22%

No48%

Declined to Respond30%

Yes No Declined to Respond

Different methods of preservation were listed for the respondents to mark, if they used

them. Space was provided for any other methods to be mentioned. Replication onto

microfilm and replication onto microfiche were not used by any libraries as a method of

preservation. Three libraries used digital copying to preserve stock and two libraries used

photocopying. Nine libraries mentioned other methods of preservation, such as retention

of original format, physical conservation and rebinding with hard covers before circulation.

Fig 4.3

0 0

3

2

9

12

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Microfilm Microfiche Digital Photocopies Other Declined toRespond

Methods of Preservation

The respondents were asked whether their organisation has a policy regarding the

preservation of the stock generally. Eight said they did have such a policy, fourteen said

they did not and one declined to respond. The pie chart below shows this information as

percentages.

Fig 4.4

Percentage of Libraries with Preservation Policy for all Stock

35%

61%

4%

Libraries with Policy Libraries without Policy No response

Of the 35% of respondents that did have a general preservation policy, 62.5% responded

their policy did not make specific reference to sheet music and 37.5% declined to answer.

None of the general policies made any specific reference to sheet music.

It was asked whether the general policy covered only older material, to which two replied

positively, leaving fifteen respondents who declined to answer, five that said their policy

did not cover older materials only and one who specifically mentioned a conservation

policy which covered only older material. Of the two positive responses one policy

covered items pre-1850 and one policy covered items pre-1900.

82.6% of respondents said their organisation had a policy regarding the weeding of stock,

which in actual numbers is nineteen. Of that number, sixteen said their policy took into

account usage statistics, fifteen said it took into account the age of the item, sixteen said it

took into account whether they held a newer edition of the item and nineteen said their

policy took into account whether the item was physically damaged. Fig. 4.5 shows these

figures:

Fig. 4.5

1615

16

19

4

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

1 2 3 4 51.Usage Statistics, 2.Age, 3. Recent Editions, 4. Physical Damage,

5. Declined to Respond

Graph to Show Factors Taken into Account in Weeding Policies

34.8% of respondents added other features taken into account by their policy regarding the

weeding of stock. These features included composer’s local connections, relevance of

material for research and teaching, likely importance for researchers outside the University,

rarity of publication, language of material, current courses taught, and whether the item

was donated.

Regarding the replacement of sheet music, 39% of respondents do have a policy

and 61% do not. Regardless of whether there is a formal policy, the question was posed

‘Are replacements bought for any of the following reasons?’ Sixteen organisations bought

replacements if there were missing parts in sets, seventeen replaced items missing at stock

check, twenty-one replaced items if they were lost by the borrower, twenty replaced those

items that were physically damaged, fourteen replaced the item if it was superseded by a

newer edition, and one declined to respond. Of the three respondents who marked the

‘Other’ box one noted the decision to replace items was made by the music department and

not the library staff, one said they did not replace items unless specifically requested to do

so by the School and a third noted orders for replacements were sometimes made by the

teaching staff.

Fig. 4.6

0

5

10

15

20

25

1.Missing Parts 2.Missing atStock Check

3.Lost byBorrower

4.PhysicalDamage

5.SupersededEdition

6.Other 7.Declined toRespond

Chart to Show the Reasons for Buying Replacement Items

4.1.3 Results of Section 3: ‘Attitudes Towards the Preservation of Sheet Music’

Within the third section of the questionnaire, entitled ‘Attitudes Towards the

Preservation of Sheet Music’, when asked who was involved in developing the policy three

respondents said the Head of Collections, nine said the Music Librarian, three said a

Committee Working Group, two said the Library Users and seven listed others, including a

Conservation Specialist, Professional Library Staff, the Music Department, Senior

Colleagues, Subject Librarians and Learning Resource Manager. A visual representation

of this information, using percentages follows.

Fig. 4.7

Chart to Show Who was Involved in Developing the Policy

9%

26%

9%6%

21%

29%

Head of Collections Music Librarian Committee Working Group Library Users Other Declined to Respond

The respondents were asked if they felt their policy was appropriate to the needs of

the users and their own collection development. Of the 56.5% that responded, 77% felt

their policy was appropriate, 8% felt it was not and 15% did not know. This equates to ten

respondents who felt their policy was appropriate and two who were unsure. One

respondent noted:

“Preservation of most valuable items allows for them to be available for future

as well as current users. Many of them would not be easily replaceable so they

are for reference only” Respondent 2

The 8% equates to one respondent who felt their policy was not appropriate

because after their retirement the policy will lapse, due to them not being replaced.

The idea of a national repository for sheet music was suggested and it was asked

whether it would aid the process of removing items from the collection. 22% agreed it

would help, 44% thought it would not help, 22% did not know and 13% declined to

answer. Some reasons why it was thought a national repository would not be a helpful aid

were that the British Library Document Supply Centre was already thought of in such a

role; the collection would not want to be weeded whilst it is growing; and the collection

only reflects the taught courses, so nothing is disposed of. Some reasons as to why it might

be a good idea were: it might aid weeding if there were somewhere to send the items;

knowledge copies could easily be obtained if needed; and it would be somewhere to send

some of the more obscure items without feeling guilty for disposing of them. Some

reasons people were unsure were that it depended on the terms of access; and it might help

music libraries in general, but not their specific collection.

Fig. 4.8

Chart to show if a National Repository would Aid Collection Development

22%

43%

22%

13%

Yes No Don't Know Declined to Answer

To broaden this idea, the question was asked whether the respondents already check

different institutions for an item before they dispose of it. Three respondents said they did,

sixteen said they did not, two said they sometimes did and two declined to respond. These

figures are shown below:

Fig.4.9

Chart to show whether Checks are made before Disposing of Items

13%

69%

9%

9%

YesNoSometimesDeclined to Respond

Of the three respondents that do check different institutions, one thought a National

Repository of sheet music would not aid their collection development and two were unsure.

The institutions that are checked range from the British Library, COPAC (an online

catalogue providing access to University research libraries across the UK and the British

Library and National Library of Scotland) Birmingham Conservatoire, National Library of

Scotland, RSAMD (Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama), Scottish Music

Librarians mailing list and IAML (International Association of Music Libraries, Archives

and Documentation Centres) mailing list.

To conclude the questionnaire space was left for any other comments. These comments

included:

“[The] use of digital preservation [is] only just beginning” Respondent 2

“I have taken over the Music Collection fairly recently, and this questionnaire has

again highlighted how much there is to do!” Respondent 4

“We are a working undergraduate library with very little rare material, and will

tend to replace with new purchases rather than preserve existing copies. We

dispose of very little, even if under- (or non-) used.” Respondent 10

“Our music collection is pretty small and mostly mainstream” Respondent 17

“As a legal deposit library for the UK and Ireland, our policy is to preserve all

materials received through legal deposit in hard copy. No specific policy for

replication of materials has so far been developed” Respondent 23

4.2 Discussion of Questionnaire Results The following chapter will outline some discussion of the above results, drawing

out similarities, comparisons and themes within the data collected.

4.2.1 Discussion of Section 1: Personal and General Information The general response rate of the questionnaire was around a third. It is possible

that if the questionnaire had been sent out by post the response rate may have been higher.

However, it may still be possible to generalise on some of the topics covered within the

questionnaire, for the sector as a whole. The mean collection size is around 16,500 items,

which is comparatively small against the collections of other subject areas, as music is a

specialized subject.

4.2.2 Discussion of Section 2: Preservation Policies The number of formalized policies regarding the preservation of sheet music is

very low, with only one library noting they have a policy. When compared to the number

of respondents who thought having a policy would be a good idea, 22% thought it was,

contrasted with 48% who thought it was not, it can be seen that generally, music libraries

are not concerned with creating a formalized policy regarding the preservation of their

sheet music. Some comment was given with the responses, such as:

“We apply the same standards of retention and care as for other library

materials” Respondent 3

and

“It would be nice, but there are other priorities, financial and in staff time”

Respondent 1

From these ideas it can be seen that preserving sheet music is not a priority with academic

librarians as it is felt sheet music can be treated in the same way as general book stock, and

that time and money can be spent in different pursuits.

35% of respondents do have a policy regarding the preservation of their stock

generally, so it can be seen there is a lack of differentiation between sheet music and

normal book stock. This is surprising as sheet music has to be treated differently in regard

to catalogue records and loan periods, and is likely to become more marked than books

generally, due to the addition of performance marks from both students and teachers alike.

It was noted that physical damage, including heavy marking was a significant reason for

weeding stock, with 100% of those responding stating they consider physical damage when

weeding stock. 83% of the respondents also cited physical damage as a reason for

replacing stock. The weeding policies appear to be well-constructed with eleven factors

being identified by this questionnaire as reasons to take into consideration before weeding

the sheet music. As previously noted in the Literature Review (p13), it is unsurprising

physical damage is such a significant motive for weeding, compared with age of an item,

which is the least cited reason. This is because the age is irrelevant as long as the material

is in good condition. A piece of music has no use-by date, and every performance will be

different, so it is vitally important to ensure the preservation of at least one copy of all

sheet music so the chance to recreate a piece of history is not lost.

Replacing sheet music was one of the questions that produced the most responses,

with only 1% declining to answer the two relevant questions. The questions were asked

with the aim of understanding why sheet music is replaced and it can be seen that the most

popular category for replacing sheet music was ‘lost by borrowers’, with twenty-one

respondents citing it. It is interesting to note that the decision to replace items of sheet

music does not always fall to the library staff, but in some cases it is the responsibility of

the music staff to order replacement music. This aim automatically assumes the pieces are

available to replace, and that they are modern enough to still be produced. This statement

further implies active conservation methods are irrelevant as it would be less time

consuming and more cost-effective to simply replace the lost/damaged piece. This idea is

also found in the literature review, on page 18.

4.2.3 Discussion of Section 3: Attitudes Towards the Preservation of Sheet Music

At the start of section three of the questionnaire, it can be seen not many

respondents chose to answer all the questions within the section. 29% declined to answer

question 19, 43.5% declined to answer question 20, 13% declined to answer question

21and 9% declined to answer question 22. It is thought the wording of questions nineteen

and twenty is slightly ambiguous, and the respondents may not have been sure which

policy they were being asked about. They may also have been ignored by those

respondents who earlier stated they do not have a policy regarding the preservation of sheet

music.

Question twenty-one asked whether a national repository of sheet music would aid

the process regarding removing items from the collection. A majority of 43% thought it

would not help. This negative response may have been because the idea had not been

expounded and there was no detail of how the repository would work. 22% thought it

would be a good idea, citing reasons such as:

“It might encourage a bit more weeding to know that there was somewhere to

send the stuff (as used to be the case with BLDSC [British Library Document

Supply Centre])” Respondent 10

and

“I suppose if a library had a large collection of scores it might be useful”

Respondent 8

An equal number were unsure, and this again may have been due to the lack of detail

surrounding the repository. The logic behind question twenty-two was to see if librarians

already check with different institutions before disposing of items, with the idea that they

might accept a different repository to check. As 69% responded negatively, the idea of a

National Repository being used by music librarians is not a realistic notion.

When observed together it can be seen the number of libraries that have policies

regarding the different aspects mentioned above is significantly lower than the libraries that

do not have such policies. It can also be noted that with regard to the different types of

policies the most common policy is weeding of stock, with 83% of respondents having one.

The second most common policy is replacing sheet music, with 39%, followed by 35% of

respondents having a preservation policy regarding the whole of their stock generally.

Finally, the most specific policy regarding the preservation of sheet music was only held by

17% of the libraries asked. These figures have been tabulated below:

Fig. 4.10: Table to show policy type and percentage of libraries holding this policy

Policy Type Percentage of Libraries holding this

Policy

Weeding of stock 83%

Replacing sheet music 39%

Preservation of general stock 35%

Preservation of sheet music 17%

4.3 Results of Interviews The interviews were semi-structured and as such, the questions varied according to

the questionnaire results and the flow of the interview. Some respondents pre-empted the

questions and some did not always answer fully. The interviews lasted between ten and

fifteen minutes and all were conducted over the telephone at the respondents’ convenience.

Not all the initial emails were answered so some interviews were undertaken directly from

an initial telephone call.

The first questions asked were in relation to the preservation policy for sheet music

which is already held, or in relation to the possibility of creating such a policy. The middle

section of the interview considered the weeded and replaced stock, questioning what

happens to it, how it is bought and whether it is easy to care for. The final section related

to a national catalogue and queried whether one would be of use, or whether they would be

willing to contribute to such a catalogue, for the ease of locating items before disposal.

The results will not be direct quotes from the interviews, but will accurately portray the

meaning of what has been said.

Due to the variety of questions asked, the following table will show which question

was asked at which interview:

Fig. 4.11 Questions asked at interview

Question

Number

Question Asked Interview

Number

1 Will you be creating a preservation policy in

the future for your sheet music collection?

1,2,4,6

1 Is the policy you have regarding the

preservation of sheet music informal? How

does that work?

3

1 Do you feel it is important to have a policy

regarding the preservation of your stock?

5

2 How might that policy ensure preservation

occurs?

1,2,4,5,6

2 How does the policy ensure preservation

occurs?

3

3 Is it easy to replace sheet music? Do you

always get the same edition?

1,2,3,4,5,6

4 Do you think sheet music can be cared for in

the same way as normal book resources, or

are there factors which make it different?

1,2,3,4,5,6

5 What happens to the superseded editions once

they are replaced?

1,2,

5 You mention textbooks are replaced by newer

editions; does this also apply to your sheet

music? What happens to the older editions?

3

5 Do you ever buy newer editions of sheet

music? What happens to the older editions?

4,5,6

6 What happens to the weeded stock? 1,2,3,4,5,6

7 Would you be prepared to add your music

catalogue to a national catalogue, allowing

others to check if you have holdings of pieces

before they dispose of them?

1,4,5

7 Do you feel it is important to check if any

other institutions have a copy of any sheet

2,3,6

music you dispose of?

8 RISM is the international project for

cataloguing sheet music pre-1800. Would a

more modern catalogue assist you if you

disposed of sheet music?

1,3,5

8 RISM is the international project for

cataloguing sheet music pre-1800. Would a

more modern catalogue assist you when you

dispose of sheet music?

2,6

8 Would you say you preserved your sheet

music passively, in not disposing of it?

4

4.3.1 Section 1 Results QUESTION 1

Interview 1: It is not likely a formal policy will be drafted in the near future

Interview 2: It is something that will definitely be looked into in the future

Interview 3: The policy ensures preservation occurs by outlining handling and care

regulations.

Interview 4: Funding is a major area concerning the provision of policies.

Interview 5: There is no need to have a formal policy because our stock is very small and

is treated in the same way as our book stock, because it is bound.

Interview 6: It is possible the policy will be formalized in the light of this research.

QUESTION 2

Interview 2: the policy will take into account the current method of storage and look into

binding and redesigning the shelving. It will also include checking whether other

institutions have copies of the same music, with regard to removing unnecessary stock.

Interview 3: the policy ensures preservation by the way the music is kept and handled.

Interview 4: it is more likely the Special Collections and Archives department would deal

with any preservation matters.

Interview 6: the policy does not ensure preservation occurs.

This question was not asked during interviews one or five.

4.3.2 Section 2 Results

QUESTION 3 Interview 1: It is relatively easy if it is affordable – the same edition would not

automatically be bought

Interview 2: The same edition is not always bought and staff favour certain editions.

Replacing it is not always a straightforward process.

Interview 3: We would not necessarily replace sheet music with the same edition, if a

more modern edition were better.

Interview 4: It is possible to get more sheet music second hand now, than it used to be.

Interview 5: We probably would not replace our sheet music as it is not used very often.

Interview 6: Most sheet music is easy to replace. Some pieces are no longer being

published so inter-library loan system is used.

QUESTION 4

Interview 1: The shape and size make it harder to care for. It is bent backwards to make

sure it stays on the stand. A no-marking policy is in place.

Interview 2: Sheet music is much more difficult to care for. It is thin and can be easy to

lose and difficult to find.

Interview 3: Two factors which make sheet music different to monographs are: it’s

flimsiness and it’s susceptibility to being marked – binding music such as sets of songs or

piano music helps preserve the originals as the covers are more durable and protect the

paper from dust and light.

Interview 4: Special shelving, as sheet music is larger than normal monographs. Also,

having a limited cleaning budget means the materials gather more dust than they should

and it is difficult keeping it clean.

Interview 5: Our music is bound so we treat it the same as books.

Interview 6: The factors which differentiate sheet music from books are the fact music can

have multiple parts. It is fragile and requires special shelving.

QUESTION 5

Interview 1: If they are still usable they are kept, if they are falling apart they will be

dumped. If it is being disposed of due to lack of space it is offered to the students.

Interview 2: If the material is in good condition it would go into store.

Interview 3: Some prefer to have the latest editions of music, rather than replacing like for

like. Modern editions are bought, but older editions are donated to us.

Interview 4: A new edition would be bought if it was significantly changed to justify the

expenditure. The older edition would stay where it was until it was weeded, and then it

would be relegated to a different stack.

Interview 5: Our collection is not being developed and we have not bought any new music

for over ten years.

Interview 6: We prefer to buy new editions and sell the older editions to students. Some

older editions are not as good as the modern ones.

QUESTION 6

Interview 1: Sometimes weeded stock is offered on the IAML mailing list. If it’s not

worth us keeping, we would just dispose of it.

Interview 2: Weeded stock goes into store unless it is very badly damaged, and then it

would be thrown away. Replacements would be bought for it, if there was not already a

duplicate copy.

Interview 3: Weeding occurs if parts of an orchestral set go missing, as they cannot be

replaced. Therefore the whole set would be replaced and the remaining parts of the

previous set would be disregarded.

Interview 4: Weeded stock is transferred to stacks within the main building. It could be

sold or thrown away.

Interview 5: We do not weed our collection because it is so small.

Interview 6: Weeded stock is sold or given to students.

4.3.3 Section 3 Results QUESTION 7

Interview 1: We would be happy to add our collection to another catalogue, but it makes

more sense to join Copac than try and re-invent the wheel with a new catalogue.

Interview 2: I haven’t thought of it because we do not dispose of stock, but even if you did

check to see if another institution held the same piece, there is no guarantee the institution

will not dispose of the piece the next week.

Interview 3: The thought process behind checking other institutions tends to be ‘check if

they have something missing and you can give it to them’, rather than ‘if no-one else has

got it then I should keep hold of it’ – it depends on whether you want to keep the pieces or

get rid of them.

Interview 4: We would be happy to add our catalogue to a national catalogue, but whether

or not we allowed it to be loaned to anyone other than our students would depend on the

item.

Interview 5: I do not think it would be worth adding our catalogue to a national catalogue

as it is so small.

Interview 6: If I though I was getting rid of something valuable I would check Copac first.

QUESTION 8

Interview 1: I do not check anywhere, because if we are disposing of it, then it is not worth

having.

Interview 2: A catalogue would be very helpful, but I do not expect it will be done in the

near future.

Interview 3: A more modern catalogue would not assist them personally, as they do not

dispose of sheet music.

Interview 4: Our policy at the moment is not pro-active, simply because, as the proportion

of stock and the time spent on it, sheet music is a relatively small section

Interview 5: A more modern catalogue would not assist them, other than making them

more likely to dispose of items.

Interview 6: I feel it is far more important to have a catalogue of the manuscripts (original

handwritten scores) than any published editions. It would be useful for creating new

editions and for research.

4.3.4 Extra information provided throughout the interviews: Interview 6: we don’t have the money to do all the binding that is necessary – only the

most important pieces are bound.

Interview 5: we have bought our music already bound – we could not cope with unbound

music.

Interview 4: only rare material would be worth preserving in a different format

Interview 6: only have a few rare items and wouldn’t get rid of those

Interview 4: copyright regulations mean it is very difficult to change the format of sheet

music

Interview 6: most of the withdrawn stock is not of value as there are many copies of it

within the country

Interview 2: binding can help alleviate the loss of sheet music, but it is expensive – would

you want to spend £20 on a piece of music, and then another £10 to have it bound?

Interview 1: Scholarship is advancing so new editions would be considered rather than

older editions

Interview 1: Superseded editions can be useful musicologically as a guide to what people

were playing from in the past.

4.4 Discussion of interview results This section will provide analysis of the results gained from the six interviews

undertaken. The various themes which emerged from the five interviews; including that of

funding and buying the best edition of a piece rather than replacing like with like, will be

commented on.

4.4.1 Discussion of Section 1 The first section of the interview focused on discovering the interviewees’ views on their

own preservation policy for sheet music, or the notion of creating one. One interviewee

was positive about the idea of creating a preservation policy for sheet music in the near

future, one said it was possible the policy might be formalized and three answered

negatively with funding and a small stock being two of the reasons cited.

When asked how the policy might or does allow the preservation to occur a variety

of answers were provided. The methods given were current method of storage; binding;

redesigning the shelving; checking other institutions with regard to removing unnecessary

stock; and the way the stock is handled. Interviewee 4 noted the Special Collections and

Archives department would deal with preservation matters, and interviewee 6 said that his

policy did not ensure preservation occurred. This comment was based on a wrongly

worded question however, and so the question was misunderstood and resulted in the

wrong answer. The mistake was unable to be rectified within the duration of the interview.

4.4.2 Discussion of Section 2

Three interviewees agreed it was easy, or getting easier to replace sheet music and one

commented it is not always straightforward. It was generally felt that when replacing sheet

music it was preferable to get a ‘better’ edition, usually a more modern edition, than simply

replacing like with like. This behaviour indicates that as the older editions wear out they

are not replaced, and therefore more likely to go out of print because of lack of demand.

Therefore, they will die out faster, and the last copy of a particular edition will be created

sooner than if the older editions were still being bought. The comment was provided that

staff favoured certain editions, consequently it can be noted the academic staff has some

input into the stock bought by the library. Interviewee 5 also noted that because of the

nature of their collection they were not developing it, and probably would not be buying

any new stock in the future.

Comments which came out from discussion of the methods for caring for sheet music

were: its flimsiness, its shape and size, its susceptibility to being marked, its multiple parts;

its need for special shelving. One method of overcoming its flimsiness was binding,

although only certain pieces can be bound, and it can be costly. Binding would protect the

paper from light and dust. It might also prevent the spine from being damaged when being

bent back to stay open. Interviewee 5 noted that their stock was bought pre-bound so they

were able to treat it in the same way as normal book stock. From this statement an

implication can be seen, that if it were bought in the usual unbound format it would need

special shelving and care, thus reiterating the fact sheet music needs particular care.

When questioned about the fate of their older editions, after replacements had been

acquired, condition of the item was raised as a variable. In one case if the item was in bad

condition it would be thrown out; three relegate them to different shelving, including one

who would leave the old edition on the shelf until it was weeded; two sell or offer old

editions to staff and students; and one was not buying any music. Interviewee 6 noted that

modern editions were preferable to the older editions, as the editors have usually edited

them too heavily. Interviewee 3 stated that they bought new editions but older editions

were donated to them.

Similar things happened to the weeded stock, with the main change being disposal, if the

copy is in disrepair. Stock is also sold to students, offered on the IAML mailing list, or put

into store. Interviewee 5 informs us their stock is not weeded due to the small size of the

collection and two interviewees noted that replacements would be bought if the item was

being weeded due to missing parts or damage.

4.4.3 Discussion of Section 3 Within question 7 interviewees 2, 3 and 6 were asked the same question and

commented that the mindset behind checking to see if you hold the last copy of an edition

may vary, and the variety may cause a difference response. It was thought that when

librarians are weeding unwanted stock they check to see if any of their holdings may be

able to fill a gap in someone else’s catalogue. It was decided that librarians do not check to

see if they have the last copy of a piece of sheet music, with the aim of preserving it. It

was also suggested that checking one day was no guarantee the institution that did hold the

piece might not throw it away the next day. The value of the item was also considered a

factor in checking if another institution had a copy or not. Interviewees 1, 4 and 5 were

asked if they would add their collection to a national catalogue and the response was two to

one in favour, with respondent 6 stating their collection was so small it would not be worth

it. Comment was made by interviewee 4 that allowing people to check if they had a piece

did not automatically mean they could borrow the piece and interviewee 1 stated a

preference toward joining the existing Copac catalogue rather than helping to found a new

catalogue.

The idea of music librarians not using a national repository, was re-iterated by interviewee

4 who commented:

“I don’t expect every other university library is doing this, I can’t see what

enormous advantage there would be in doing it”

Five interviewees responded negatively to the idea of a new catalogue for modern editions

and Interviewee 2 thought it would be helpful. Interviewee 3 said it would not help them

personally, allowing the implication that it might help others. Interviewee 6 thought a

catalogue of the sources would be of far more use to researchers and scholars as it would

offer the basis for new editions, thus implying a catalogue of modern editions would not be

deemed valuable. Interviewee 4 noted that their policy was passive due the small size of

the collection and the amount of time spent on it in proportion to the rest of the stock,

which was also small.

4.4.4 Discussion of extra information The interviews also raised some extra points for consideration. Interviewee 1 noted that

scholarship is advancing and better editions are now being produced. This may mean they

are closer to the original scores and better represent what the composer wanted. These new

editions are to be preferred over older, less accurate editions. This may provide a reason

why there is a lack of interest in preserving sheet music from the last century.

Binding is noted as an expensive method of preservation, one that interviewee 6 would

do more of, if at all possible, but interviewee 2 feels is not always worth the expense.

Interviewee 6 thinks most of their withdrawn stock is without value, and there are many

copies of it left, however, interviewee 1 claims superseded editions can be useful

musicologically, as documents that provide primary evidence of what used to be played in

the past. This view is one agreed by Shepard (2000), which is expanded on page 19 of the

Literature Review.

5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter will identify the conclusions drawn from the results, commenting on

their validity, reliability and neutrality. Due to the small numbers of respondents

generalising the findings for the entire population may not be possible, as the conclusions

drawn may be inaccurate. However, the conclusions drawn do represent the opinions of

those asked and as such are still valid as personal opinions. Recommendations for further

study and actions to be taken will also be outlined within this chapter, in section 5.3.

5.1 Conclusions from the report

The research has thrown up many unanswered questions and a second round of

interviews would have been useful to clarify certain issues which only emerged after the

collation and analysis of the first interviews. Better time management may have made this

possible, but a lack of time rendered it impossible.

The results took a long time to come back, to the extent that it was too late to

include one questionnaire, because the results had already undergone analysis. Equally,

one interview could not happen because the results were already undergoing analysis.

Were there more time then these additional results could have been taken into

consideration.

66.2% of the sample did not respond to the initial email and questionnaire. Some

provided reasons for their non-reply, from being too busy to not deeming themselves

suitable for this type of research, but others simply did not respond. Actual response data

can be found in Appendix 4. This high percentage can be interpreted as a lack of interest in

the topic, or the fact it is not a priority within academic music libraries.

Concerning the reliability of the data produced it can be seen the nature of

reliability conflicts with the idea of freedom of thought, when it is opinions that are sought

rather than the same answer time and again. This is not to say if everyone responded with

the same answer it would be accepted as definite and would be generalised. However the

presence of many different answers does not indicate a non-reliable source of information,

merely the incidence of many individual opinions.

According to Gorman and Clayton (1997) validity of results can take three forms:

face validity, criterion validity and construct validity. The findings of this research can be

accepted as having face validity as the logic behind the answers matches the background

context and the respondents are answering truthfully. Criterion validity has also been

established by using the interview process to reiterate the accuracy of the findings, thus two

processes are better than one. “to some extent…criterion validity can be equated to what

we elsewhere term ‘triangulation’” (p.62). The concept of construct validity has not been

employed as such within this dissertation, as the results thrown out have not been

“examined in light of constructs based on the appropriate theory” (p.62).

Neutrality, or lack of bias can never be totally eliminated where human data is

involved (Bell, 1999; Losee & Worley, 1993), but every attempt has been made to ensure

the results have come from neutral sources and no unnecessary implications have been

made either whilst the data were being collected, or during the subsequent analysis.

5.2 Conclusions from the research

From the results it can be seen the majority of music libraries do not have policies

concerning the preservation of sheet music. It can be concluded this is because modern

editions are not deemed worthy of the time and expense of preservation, because they are

easily replaceable. It was also thought as long as the originals are held, the later editions

are not as important. The RISM project already provides this source of information (see

p.11 for details). However the fact the ‘worthless’ editions of today will become the rare

documents of tomorrow must not be overlooked. The idea of a national repository to retain

unwanted last editions of sheet music was not received with enthusiasm, although this

would allow a single point of reference for these documents, and provide a safe-house to

ensure the editions are preserved for future reference and use. Building on an existing

catalogue was mooted as a possible alternative to creating a new catalogue, and this notion

is expanded in the recommendations section, p.55.

The preservation of sheet music in alternative formats was not widely undertaken,

as there are copyright laws surrounding photocopying. However, some respondents said

they did use photocopies, without expanding on how they achieved this without infringing

the copyright laws. Preserving sheet music in formats such as microfilm and microfiche

would not be viable for a performing collection as it is not possible to perform from these

formats. However, they would be suitable for research. Again, using these formats as a

method of preservation was not seen as worthy of the time and expense, compared to the

amount of use they would have.

It can be concluded that the age of an item of sheet music is immaterial when

weeding stock as sheet music does not go out of date. This point was raised in the

literature review (p.13) and built on by the findings of this research project (p.39). It can

also be seen physical damage is a factor which occurs more with sheet music than general

stock, due to the addition of performance marks by students and staff alike and the flimsy

nature of unbound sheet music.

Funding occurs in both questionnaire and interview results as an important factor

to consider. It is a factor which affects the issue of sheet music preservation, from the lack

of cleaning budget to remove the dust from the music, to the cost of binding music as a

more permanent method of protecting the music from dust, light and mishandling. Funding

is always tight and a government allowance for preservation costs may be very welcome,

but is not likely to appear in the near future.

One theme introduced in the literature and developed within the findings of the

dissertation is that of the amount of sheet music being produced. It was suggested the

music publishing industry is currently producing so much sheet music that it can be easily

obtained (three interviewees concurred with this statement) and therefore renders the need

for preservation obsolete. This theme can be translated into a research question, but no

conclusion can be drawn about this observation within this report as it requires further in-

depth study to ascertain the truth of the statement.

It can be concluded academic music libraries are generally preserving their sheet

music passively, ensuring it is kept in the proper conditions. Nearly 50% of questionnaire

respondents felt it was not important to have a policy regarding the preservation of sheet

music. Further studies could determine whether this figure would alter if a greater number

of librarians were questioned, and also the logic behind such a response; whether it were

related to a lack of knowledge or interest in preservation, or the sheet music collection, or

if any other factors featured in the reasoning.

In reference to the objectives of this research project, as outlined in the

introduction (p.9), it has been found academic libraries do not consider preservation a

priority within their day-to-day job. Some respondents have clearly stated that sheet music

is a very small part of their stock and is not a priority for them. For those with larger

collections, and a special focus on music it is a greater priority, therefore more specialized

study is required to ascertain whether the same importance is being placed on sheet music

as other printed materials, generally.

It is felt the interview question asking for specific details of the preservation

policies currently held was not well answered, and a secondary interview would be able to

establish the kind of detail necessary to discover the nature of the preservation policies and

whether they were felt to be effective in their aims and implementation. It can be

concluded the reasoning behind the preservation of printed music scores is to allow them to

be available for future use (see p.36).

The research question being answered in this report was: is the preservation of

sheet music a priority within academic libraries, and how is it being carried out? From the

conclusions drawn, based on the data gathered through quantitative and qualitative means,

this report can conclude the preservation of sheet music is not a priority within academic

libraries. It is only being carried out at a basic level and in a manner, such as special

shelving and binding, which could be interpreted as basic care of stock. Overwhelmingly,

the feeling is that modern editions are very common, easy to replace and not worth much

either in monetary value or staff time and effort. The librarians interviewed do not feel the

need to preserve their sheet music collections beyond taking appropriate care for them.

5.3 Recommendations It is the recommendation of this report that more university libraries be allowed to

join Copac and provide a more in-depth resource to allow for the location and loan of

materials throughout the country. As only members of CURL (Consortium of Research

Libraries) are allowed to add their catalogues, this immediately limits the universities that

can join. By adding an entire catalogue to Copac there would be no need to attempt to

collate the final copies as they would be accessible via this catalogue. It may be possible to

attach an indicator to the record if it is known to be the last copy of a particular edition of

sheet music.

It is felt now is the time for a university-wide project to create preservation policies

that will ensure the protection of sheet music, particularly those final rare editions within

the working academic libraries. Attention needs to be drawn to these issues as they are not

being recognised as being worthy of time and effort, when it is vitally important they

should be considered.

5.4 Recommendations for further research If this study were to be repeated a second round of interviews would be advised, to

continue the inductive approach until no new ideas were forthcoming. This study would

benefit from more time being available, and a greater number of respondents. If it were to

take place at a different time of year the reliability of the results would not be affected in

any way, but a greater number of respondents may be available, thus giving greater validity

to the findings.

It is the recommendation of this report that further research be undertaken to

discover the true nature of the music publishing industry, with a focus on examining the

statement: The music publishing industry now produces so much sheet music, preservation

techniques are rendered obsolete.

“What carries music librarians through, and what makes most of them want to

remain music librarians, is love and knowledge of music, and the evangelistic

desire to provide whatever kind of music and information is required for whoever

wants it”

Turbet (2003)

REFERENCES Abrams, F. (2002) So You Wanna Be A Pop Idol? [Online] The Guardian Tuesday February 26 http://education.guardian.co.uk/chooseadegree/story/0,11601,658349,00.html [Accessed 04.07.05] Adamson, K (2005) (K.ADAMSON@ram.ac.uk) 7th March, 2005 Re: Preservation of Music Dissertation. Personal email to A. Baines (lip04arb@sheffield.ac.uk) Bell, J. (1999) Doing Your Research Project: A Guide for First-time Researchers in Education and Social Science 3rd ed. Buckingham: Open University Bourque, L. & Fielder, E. (1995) How to Conduct Self-Administered and Mail Surveys Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Bradford, M. (c.2005) About the Film Music Society [Online] The Film Music Society, Sherman Oaks, CA: The Film Music Society http://www.filmmusicsociety.org/about/about.html [Accessed 02.08.05] Brown, J.N. (c.2002) National Sheet Music Society Homepage [Online] Los Angeles: National Sheet Music Society http://www.nsmsmusic.org/ [Accessed 02.08.05] Davidsmeyer, J. (2004) Popular and Patriotic Music from ‘The Great War’ or ‘The War to End All Wars’ [Online] WW1 Military Sheet Music [USA]: Jo Davidsmeyer http://www.militarysheetmusic.com/ [Accessed 02.08.05] Fazekas, M. & Philpott, L.R. (2005) Music Librarianship [Online] Feliciter 51(3) pp.128-30 http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/shared/shared_main.jhtml;jsessionid=0G4NX5MJYNIKPQA3DIKSFGOADUNGIIV0?_requestid=82200 [Accessed 03.08.05] Feather, J. et al (1996) Preservation Management: Policies and Practices in British Libraries Aldershot: Gower Fink, A. (1995) How to Design Surveys Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Goodes, P.A. (2004) The Composition of a Music Librarian [Online] American Libraries 35(10) p.41 http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/shared/shared_main.jhtml;jsessionid=0G4NX5MJYNIKPQA3DIKSFGOADUNGIIV0?_requestid=82200 [Accessed 03.08.05] Gorman, G.E. & Clayton, P. (1997) Qualitative Research for the Information Professional: A Practical Handbook London: Library Association Hague, P. (1993) Questionnaire Design London: Kogan Page Heske, I. (1983) A Duty of Preservation and Continuity: Collectors and Collections of Jewish Music in America [Online] Notes 40(2) pp.263-70 http://uk.jstor.org/view/00274380/ap030224/03a00020/0?frame=noframe&userID=514c6be0@shef.ac.uk/018258cb3a2d9104c8cd60a3&dpi=3&config=jstor [Accessed 29.06.05]

IAML (1993) Library and Information Plan for Music Written Statement [Online] [London]: International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres http://www.iaml-uk-irl.org/ [Accessed 06.06.05] Losee, R. & Worley, K. (1993) Research and Evaluation for Information Professionals San Diego: Academic Press Mason, J. (1996) Qualitative Researching London: Sage National Preservation Office [2005] Services: National Preservation Office [Online] http://www.bl.uk/services/npo/npo.html [Accessed 06.05.05] Nelson-Strauss, B. (1991) Preservation Policies and Priorities for Recorded Sound Collections [Online] Notes 48(2) pp.425-36 http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0027-4380%28199112%292%3A48%3A2%3C425%3APPAPFR%3E2.0.CO%3B2-4 [Accessed 29.06.05] Papakhian, A.R. (2000) Cataloguing [Online] Notes 56(3) pp. 581-90 http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/shared/shared_main.jhtml;jsessionid=0G4NX5MJYNIKPQA3DIKSFGOADUNGIIV0?_requestid=82200 [Accessed 03.08.05] Rebman, E (1993) “Music” IN: Couch, N. & Allen, N. The Humanities and the Library 2nd ed Chicago: American Library Association Shepard, J. (2000) “Preservation” IN: Griscom, R. & Maple, A. Music Librarianship at the Turn of the Century Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press Talja, S. (2001) Music, Culture and the Library: an Analysis of Discourses” Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press Tashakkori, A. & Teddlie, C. (1998) Mixed Methodology: Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Taylor, M. (2004) Glennie Bangs the Drum for Music Degrees [Online] The Guardian, Friday December 10th 2004 http://education.guardian.co.uk/universitiesincrisis/story/0,12028,1370587,00.html [Accessed 04.07.05] Thompson, P. (2003) A Framework and a Fanfare for the Future of Music in Libraries: the Gestation of ‘Access to Music’. Brio 40(2) pp.3-7 Thompson, P. & Lewis, M. (2003) Access to Music: Music Libraries and Archives in the United Kingdom and Ireland: Current Themes and a Realistic Vision for the Future [London]: International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres: United Kingdom and Ireland Branch Turbet, R. (ed.) (2003) Music Librarianship on the United Kingdom: Fifty Years of the United Kingdom Branch of the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres Aldershot: Ashgate

BIBLIOGRAPHY8

A

Anderson, J. (1996) Guide to Written Collection Policy Statements 2nd ed. Chicago: American Library Association

B

Baker, N. (2002) Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper London: Vintage

Banks, P. & Pilette, R. (2000) Preservation: Issues and Planning Chicago: American Library Association

Barnhart, L. (2002) Guide to Writing Collection Development Policies for Music [Online] Notes, June 2002 p.863-4 http://psea1.swetswise.com/swetsfo/swproxy?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmuse.jhu.edu%2Fjournals%2Fnotes%2Fv058%2F58.4barnhart.html&ts=1115722359459&cs=2105568237 [Accessed 16.05.05]

Bradley, C.J. (ed.) (1973) Reader in Music Librarianship Washington: Indian Head Editions

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Cordeiro, M.I. (2004) From Rescue to Long-term Maintenance: Preservation as a core function in the Management of Digital Assets [Online] Vine: the Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems 34(1) pp.6-16 http://iris.emeraldinsight.com/vl=436261/cl=59/nw=1/fm=docpdf/rpsv/cw/mcb/03055728/v34n1/s1/p6 [Accessed 16.05.05]

Curtis, P. (2004a) Reading Votes on Music Closure [Online] The Guardian, Thursday July 1st 2004 http://education.guardian.co.uk/universitiesincrisis/story/0,12028,1251449,00.html [Accessed 04.07.05]

Curtis, P. (2004b) Exeter Announces Subject Cuts [Online] The Guardian, Monday November 22nd 2004 http://education.guardian.co.uk/universitiesincrisis/story/0,12028,1357013,00.html [Accessed 04.07.05]

D

Dorney, C & McKnight, C. (2004) Music Provision In UK Public Libraries [Online] Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 36(1) pp.7-26 http://psea1.swetswise.com/swetsfo/swproxy?url=http%3A%2F%2Flis.sagepub.com%2Fcgi%2Freprint%2F36%2F1%2F7.pdf&ts=1116276336410&cs=1212547204 [Accessed 16.05.05]

8 The following sources have been read but not specifically referred to within the dissertation

E

Eden, P. (1997) Concern for the Future: Preservation Management in Libraries and Archives Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 29(3) pp.121-129

Eden, P. et al (1999) Developing a Method for Assessing Preservation Needs in Libraries Library Management 20(1) pp.27-34 Edwards, W. (2002) Sheet Music Preservation and Restoration: An Essay on Sheet Music Cover Art Restoration [Online] “Perfessor” Bill Edwards: Professional Patriotic Purveyor of Pleasingly Pianistic Pyrotechnics. Ashburn, VI: William G. Edwards http://www.perfessorbill.com/sources.htm [Accessed 02.08.05]

F

Fairbairn, G.J. & Winch, C. (1996) Reading, Writing and Reasoning: A Guide for Students 2nd ed. Buckingham: Open University

Feather, J. (1991) The Preservation of Information: Principles and Practice of Format Conversion Library Review 40(6) pp. 7-12

Feather, J. (1996) Preservation and the Management of Library Collections 2nd ed. London: Library Association

Feather, J. (ed) (2004) Managing Preservation for Libraries and Archives: Current Practice and Future Developments Aldershot: Ashgate

Fuld, J.J. (1976) Surrounded by One’s Friends [Online] Notes, 32(3) Mar. 1976 pp.479-90 http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0027-4380%28197603%292%3A32%3A3%3C479%3ASBOF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-I [Accessed 13.07.05]

G

Gorman, M. (2004) Book Review: Careers in Music Librarianship II: Traditions and Transitions [Online] The Journal of Academic Librarianship 30(6) pp.507-510 http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/shared/shared_main.jhtml;jsessionid=0G4NX5MJYNIKPQA3DIKSFGOADUNGIIV0?_requestid=82200 [Accessed 03.08.05]

Gottlieb, J. (1999) The Julliard School Library and its Special Collections [Online] Notes, 56(1) Sep. 1999 pp.11-26 http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0027-4380%28199909%292%3A56%3A1%3C11%3ATJSLAI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-%23 [Accessed 13.07.05]

Griscom, R. (2000) Afterword: to Special Issue: Music Librarianship at the Turn of the Century [Online] Notes 56(3) pp.662-4 http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/shared/shared_main.jhtml;jsessionid=0G4NX5MJYNIKPQA3DIKSFGOADUNGIIV0?_requestid=82200 [Accessed 03.08.05]

H

Hakli, E. (2002) Preservation Policy: a Challenging Task Both on a National and Local Level Liber Quarterly 12 pp.333-343

Harvey, R. (1993) Preservation in Libraries: Principles, Strategies and Practices for Librarians London: Bowker Saur

Hathaway, E. (1989) Developing A State Archive of Local Music Materials [Online] Notes, 45(3) March 1989 pp.483-494 http://uk.jstor.org/view/00274380/ap030237/03a00020/0?frame=noframe&userID=5442921f@shef.ac.uk/018258cb3a991050fa66273&dpi=3&config=jstor [Accessed 29.06.05] Hogg, K. (2004) Cecilia: Mapping the Music Resource of the UK and Ireland: Final Report and Sustainability Plans [Online] http://www.bl.uk/about/cooperation/pdf/report36.pdf [Accessed 11.05.05]

Honea, S. (1996) Preservation at the Sibley Music Library of the Eastman School of Music [Online] Notes, 53(2) Dec. 1996 pp.381-402 http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0027-4380%28199612%292%3A53%3A2%3C381%3APATSML%3E2.0.CO%3B2-6 [Accessed 13.07.05]

K

Kenny, G. (1991) A Reading Guide to the Preservation of Library Collections London: Library Association

L

Lasocki, D. (2000a) Reference [Online] Notes 56(3) pp.605-10 http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/shared/shared_main.jhtml;jsessionid=0G4NX5MJYNIKPQA3DIKSFGOADUNGIIV0?_requestid=82200 [Accessed 03.08.05]

Lasocki, D. (2000b) Music Reference as a Calling: an Essay [Online] Notes 56(4) pp.879-93 http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/shared/shared_main.jhtml;jsessionid=0G4NX5MJYNIKPQA3DIKSFGOADUNGIIV0?_requestid=82200 [Accessed 03.08.05]

Ledsham, I. (2000) Distance Learning: a Course for Music Librarianship in the UK [Online] Fontes Artis Musicae 47(1) pp.33-41 http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/shared/shared_main.jhtml;jsessionid=0G4NX5MJYNIKPQA3DIKSFGOADUNGIIV0?_requestid=82200 [Accessed 03.08.05]

M

Manning, R. & Kremp, V. (2000) A Reader in Preservation and Conservation IFLA Publications 91 München: K.G. Saur

Marley, J.L. (2002) Education for Music Librarianship within the United States: Needs and Opinions of Recent Graduate/Practitioners [Online] Fontes Artis Musicae 49(3) pp.139-72 http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/shared/shared_main.jhtml;jsessionid=0G4NX5MJYNIKPQA3DIKSFGOADUNGIIV0?_requestid=82200 [Accessed 03.08.05]

N, O

National Preservation Office (1987) Conservation in Crisis Proceedings of a seminar at Loughborough University of Technology 16-17 July, 1986 London: The British Library

Orna, E. & Stevens, G. (1995) Managing Information for Research Buckingham: Open University

P

Pilette, R. (2003) Mass Deacidification: a Preservation Option for Libraries In: IFLA 2003 Berlin [Online]. Proceedings of the 69th IFLA General Conference and Council. 1-9 August 2003, Berlin, Germany. http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla69/papers/030e-Pilette.pdf [Accessed 11.05.05]

Potter, S. ed (2002) Doing Postgraduate Research London: Sage

R

Reublin, R.A. & Maine, R.L. (c.2005) The Parlour Songs dot com Guide to Collecting Sheet Music, Part 2 [Online] Parlour Songs: Popular Sheet Music from the 1800s to the 1920s Washington: The Parlour Songs Association http://parlorsongs.com/insearch/collecting/collecting2.asp [Accessed 02.08.05]

Ross, S. (2003) Challenges to Digital Preservation and Building Digital Libraries In: IFLA 2003 Berlin [Online]. Proceedings of the 69th IFLA General Conference and Council. 1-9 August 2003, Berlin, Germany. http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla69/papers/209e-Ross.pdf [Accessed 11.05.05]

S

Silva, M. (1970) Special Libraries London: Andre Deutsch

Smiraglia, R. (2002) Musical Works and Information Retrieval [Online] Notes 58(4) pp.747-64 http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/shared/shared_main.jhtml;jsessionid=0G4NX5MJYNIKPQA3DIKSFGOADUNGIIV0?_requestid=82200 [Accessed 03.08.05]

Synodinos, N. (2003) The “Art” of Questionnaire Construction: Some Important Considerations for Manufacturing Studies [Online] Integrated Manufacturing Systems 14(3) pp.221-237 http://lysander.emeraldinsight.com/vl=6280537/cl=78/nw=1/fm=docpdf/rpsv/cw/mcb/09576061/v14n3/s4/p221 [Accessed 12.05.05]

T

Troutman, L. (2000) User Education in Music Libraries [Online] Notes 56(3) pp.620-7 http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/shared/shared_main.jhtml;jsessionid=0G4NX5MJYNIKPQA3DIKSFGOADUNGIIV0?_requestid=82200 [Accessed 03.08.05]

W

Wantanabe, R. (1970) The Music Collection and the College Library [Online] Notes 27(1) pp. 5-11http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0027-4380%28197009%292%3A27%3A1%3C5%3ATMCATC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-C [Accessed 13.07.05]

Wright, S.H. (2000) The 2000 Year Old Music Librarian [Online] Notes 56(3) pp. 821-4 http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/shared/shared_main.jhtml;jsessionid=0G4NX5MJYNIKPQA3DIKSFGOADUNGIIV0?_requestid=82200 [Accessed 03.08.05]

Z

Zager, D. (2000) Collection Development and Management [Online] Notes 56(3) pp. 567-73 http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/shared/shared_main.jhtml;jsessionid=0G4NX5MJYNIKPQA3DIKSFGOADUNGIIV0?_requestid=82200 [Accessed 03.08.05] Word Count for report: 15718

APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1: PILOT EMAIL AND QUESTIONNAIRE

Covering email:

*THIS IS A PILOT*

Dear Mr. Smith,

My name is Anna Baines and I am an MA librarianship student, studying at the University

of Sheffield. I am currently undertaking a dissertation entitled “An investigation into

current practice concerning music preservation within academic libraries”. Please could

you read the attached Participant Information Sheet? The information sheet outlines in

more detail the purpose of the project and the benefits of taking part. It will allow you to

make an informed decision as to whether you wish to participate. All information collected

will remain confidential, as will individual responses quoted in the dissertation.

If you manage the music collection, please could you complete the questionnaire and email

it to me, or print it off and send it to me at the address on the bottom of the Participant

Information Sheet? Thank you. The questionnaire should take 20 minutes to complete,

and please note, it does not require in depth information on conservation procedures. If

you do not manage the collection, please could you forward this email to the appropriate

member of staff? Thank you.

At the end of the questionnaire there is space to add any further comments regarding this

questionnaire, or any aspect of the dissertation. I hope to follow up this questionnaire with

an interview, so please could you indicate on the bottom of the form whether you will be

available for a short interview during the summer?

Thank you very much for your time and cooperation.

Yours truly,

Anna Baines

MA Librarianship

University of Sheffield

Preservation of sheet music questionnaire - pilot

We recommend that you complete this form electronically and that you SAVE

your answers when you reach the end of each page - use FILE, SAVE AS and

then give your file a NAME, e.g. 'questionnaire response'

Personal and general information:

1. Name

……………………………………………………………………………………..

2. Organisation

…………………………………………………………………………….

3. Job title

…………………………………………………………………………………….

4. Broadly, which resources and collections do you offer? Please tick as many as

appropriate.

□ Collections relevant to the subjects taught

□ Local Studies collection

□ Archive

□ Special collections Please give details…………………………………………………

……………………………………..……………………………………………………...

……………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………

5. What percentage of your collection is classed as music?

………………………………………………………………………………………………

6. What percentage of your collection is classed as sheet music?

………………………………………………………………………………………………

7. What size is your sheet music collection? (in approximate number of items)

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Preservation Policies:

8. Do you have a policy in place regarding the preservation of sheet music?

□ Yes – If yes, please go on to question 9

□ No - If no, please go on to question 10

9. How does your policy ensure preservation occurs?

□ Replication onto microfilm

□ Replication onto microfiche

□ Digital copies/preservation

□ Photocopies

□ Other Please give details

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

10. Do you feel it is important for your organisation to have a policy regarding the

preservation of sheet music?

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

11. Does your organisation have a policy in place regarding the preservation of your

stock? Please give details i.e. title of policy.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………....

12. If yes, does this policy include specific reference to your sheet music collection?

Please give details. If no, please ignore this question.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

13. Do you have a policy in place regarding the weeding of stock?

□ Yes – if yes please go on to question 14

□ No – if no, please go on to question 16

14. Does your policy take into account any of the following?

□ Usage statistics

□ Date

□ Holdings of more recent editions

□ Physical damage

15. Are there any other features taken into account by your policy?

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

16. Do you have a policy in place regarding replacing sheet music?

□ Yes

□ No

17. Are replacements bought for any of the following reasons?

□ Missing parts in sets

□ Duplicate copies needed for teaching

□ Student requests

□ Other Please give details

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Attitudes towards the preservation of sheet music:

18. How have the policies been created?

□ By senior management committee

□ By committee including consultation with middle management

□ By committee including consultation with front-line staff

□ By committee including consultation with users

□ Any other combination. Please give details

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

19. Do you feel the policy is appropriate to the needs of the users and collection

development? Please give reasons.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

20. Would a national repository of sheet music aid the process regarding removing

items from your collection? Please give reasons.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

21. Do you check whether any other institution has a copy of an item of sheet music

before you dispose of it?

□ Yes - If yes, please continue to question 22

□ No - If no, please go on to question 23

22. Which institutions do you check?

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

23. Any further comments?

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Are you available for a short interview during the summer?

□ Yes

□ No

Thank you very much for your time and assistance

Questions for pilot

1. Was the questionnaire length correct? Too long? Too short?

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

2. Were the types of questions asked varied enough to maintain interest?

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

3. Did the questions flow logically?

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

4. Did there seem to be any major points/areas missing?

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

APPENDIX 2: COVERING EMAIL, FINAL QUESTIONNAIRE AND PARTICIPANT INFORMATION SHEET

Covering Email: Dear Mr. Smith Investigation of current practice in music preservation within academic libraries I am researching the above topic and hope you (or a colleague) will be able to assist by completing a short questionnaire. This study is being undertaken for a masters dissertation at the University of Sheffield, but is intended to be of practical value to music librarians. The attached information sheet provides further details of the purpose of the project and the benefits of taking part. All information collected will remain confidential, as will individual responses quoted in the dissertation. If you manage the music collection, please complete the attached questionnaire and email it back to me by the 15th July, if possible. If you would prefer me to send you a paper copy and envelope for its return, please let me know. The questionnaire should take around twenty minutes to complete. It does not require in-depth information on conservation procedures. A summary of the results will be provided if you would like to receive it. If you do not manage the collection, please forward this email to the appropriate member of staff. Thank you very much for your time and cooperation. Yours sincerely, Anna Baines MA Librarianship University of Sheffield

Final Questionnaire:

Preservation of sheet music questionnaire

We recommend that you complete this form electronically and that you SAVE your answers when you reach the end of each page - use FILE, SAVE AS and

then give your file a NAME, e.g. 'questionnaire response'

Definitions: 'Music' is taken to mean sheet music, recorded music and any literature pertaining to music. 'Sheet music' merely means any music printed on paper in notated form, i.e. scores of any size or type. 'Preservation' is used in the context of ensuring an individual copy of sheet music is not irretrievably lost, and is centred on policy making and not the science behind conservation. Personal and general information:

1. Name ……………………………………………………………………………………..

2. Organisation …………………………………………………………………………….

3. Job title …………………………………………………………………………………….

4. Contact telephone number………………………………………………………………..

5. Broadly, which resources and collections does your library offer? Please mark as

many as appropriate.

a) Collections relevant to the subjects taught………….

b) Local Studies collection………………

c) Archive………………

d) Special collections Please give

details…………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………..…………………………………………………

6. What size is your sheet music collection? (in approximate number of items)

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Preservation Policies:

7. Do you have a policy in place regarding the preservation of sheet music?

a) Yes – If yes, please go on to question 8……………………

b) No - If no, please go on to question 9……………………...

8. Is your policy formally documented? Please include web address if available

a) Yes…………………………………………..……………………………………..

b) No………

9. Do you feel it is important for your organisation to have a policy regarding the

preservation of sheet music?

………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

10. What methods of preservation do you use?

a) Replication onto microfilm

b) Replication onto microfiche

c) Digital copies/preservation

d) Photocopies

e) Other Please give details

………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

11. Does your organisation have a policy in place regarding the preservation of your

stock generally (ie for the collection as a whole)? Please give details i.e. title of policy or

web address if available.

a) Yes…….……………………………………………………………………………

b) No…………………..

12. If yes, does this policy include specific reference to your sheet music collection?

Please give details. If no, please ignore this question.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

13. Does your policy only cover older material, and if so, which period?

a)Yes……………………………………………………………………………………

b) No………………..

14. Do you have a policy in place regarding the weeding of stock?

a) Yes – if yes please go on to question 15…………

b) No – if no, please go on to question 17………….

15. Does your policy take into account any of the following?

a) Usage statistics………….

b) Age……………….

c) Holdings of more recent editions………………

d) Physical damage……………

16. Are there any other features taken into account by your policy?

………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

17. Do you have a policy in place regarding replacing sheet music?

a) Yes………

b) No……….

18. Are replacements bought for any of the following reasons?

a) Missing parts in sets………….

b) Missing at stock check……….

c) Lost by borrower…………

d) Physical damage…………

e) Superseded editions……….

f) Other Please give details

………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

Attitudes towards the preservation of sheet music:

19. Who was involved in developing the policy?

a) Head of Collections

b) Music Librarian

c) Committee working group

d) Library users

e) Please list any others involved………………………………………………………......

………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

20. Do you feel the policy is appropriate to the needs of the users and collection

development? Please give reasons.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

21. Would a national repository of sheet music aid the process regarding removing

items from your collection? Please give reasons.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

22. Do you check whether any other institution has a copy of an item of sheet music

before you dispose of it?

a) Yes - If yes, please continue to question 23……………

b) No - If no, please go on to question 24…………………

23. Which institutions do you check?

………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………

24. Any further comments?

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………

25. Are you available for a short interview during the summer?

a) Yes…………………….

b) No…………………….

Please can you confirm this statement with a cross if you have read the Participant Information Sheet and are willing to take part………………………………………..

Thank you very much for your time and assistance

Participant Information Sheet: An investigation into current practice concerning sheet music preservation

within academic libraries You have been invited to participate in a research project. Before you decide whether to accept, please read through this information sheet, which will inform you what the research is about and why it is being undertaken. If you have any questions or queries, please don’t hesitate to ask – contact details are provided at the end.

The aim of this project is to find out which, if any, music scores are being preserved within academic libraries, the methods being employed to preserve them, and why they are being preserved. The project will last two months, and is due for completion at the start of September, 2005. It is hoped that this work will produce new information on how sheet music is being preserved and may bring about a change in University library policies regarding the future preservation of this medium. This project has been reviewed by the University Research Ethics Committee and has undergone the Departmental Ethics Review Procedure. You have been chosen as it is hoped you have a like interest in this project and will have the appropriate type of knowledge to provide a valid and useful contribution. It is up to you to decide whether or not to take part. It is not compulsory, but if you do participate, a one page summary of the results will be provided upon request. If you do decide to take part you will be given this information sheet to keep. If you decide to take part you are still free to withdraw at any time, without penalty or loss of benefits, and without giving a reason. Firstly, a questionnaire will be emailed to you, for completion by yourself. It should take no longer than twenty minutes to complete. Once the responses have been collated and analysed you may be contacted again, with regard to an interview. This will take place either at your University or over the telephone at a date and time convenient to yourself. No costs to you should be necessary. All information which is collected about you during the course of the research will be kept strictly confidential. The results of the research project will be published as a dissertation by the 1st September. They will be held at the University of Sheffield’s Main Library and also at the Department of Information Studies. It is possible the data collected may be used as part of a future study, but confidentiality will be ensured. Thank you for your time. Contact for further information: Researcher: Project Supervisor: Miss Anna Baines Professor Nigel Ford 102 Lynn Road, Dept. of Information Studies Downham Market University of Sheffield Norfolk Regent Court PE38 9NR 211, Portobello Street Sheffield Email: lip04arb@shef.ac.uk S1 4DP Telephone: 07921195389 Email: N.Ford@shef.ac.uk Telephone: 01142222637

APPENDIX 3: INITIAL QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS TABLE

Initial Results – week 1 week 2 week 3 week 4 week 5

Questionnaire sent over Monday 4th and Tuesday 5th July

Sample Number

Initial response Initial action taken Results summary requested

1 1.Unable to respond due to library move 2. Have no music collections in Thomas Parry Library

2 3 Library of internet

resources –but has passed on to RNCM

yes

4 Replied with questionnaire 5 6 Replied with questionnaire 7 Replied with questionnaire 8 Replied with questionnaire yes 9 Should be read 19th 10 11 12 Replied with questionnaire yes 13 Replied with questionnaire 14 Replied with questionnaire 15 16 Replied with questionnaire 17 18 Replied without

questionnaire

19 Declined to respond 20 Replied without

questionnaire

21 22 23 Replied with questionnaire 24 25 26 27 Replied with questionnaire 28 Replied with questionnaire 29 Replied with questionnaire 30 Don’t feel they can

respond as have no policy

31 32 33 Passed on to colleague 34 Replied with questionnaire 35 Re-send to diff. address 36 37 38 Passed on to colleague –

replied with questionnaire

39 Replied with questionnaire Should be read on 19th 40 41 Replied without

questionnaire

42 Replied with questionnaire 43 Replied with questionnaire Wait 44 45 46 Passed on to colleague

postal questionnaire arr.

47 Replied without questionnaire

48 Replied without questionnaire - see email

49 On holiday until 08/07 Wait 50 Replied with questionnaire yes 51 Replied with questionnaire 52 Replied without

questionnaire

53 Re-send to diff. address 54 Delivery failed Find new address – sent

05/07

55 Replied with questionnaire 56 On holiday until 19/07 Find new address – sent

05/07

57 Delivery failed Find new address - sent 05/07

58 Told to use results from the pilot

59 60 61 On holiday until 21/07 Find new address – sent

05/07 2nd address failed 3rd address sent 05/07

62 On holiday until 11/07 Replied with questionnaire

63 Replied with questionnaire 64 65 66

67 Replied without questionnaire info in email

68 69 Replied with questionnaire 70 71 On holiday Find new address – sent

05/07

APPENDIX 4: INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS Interview 1 Interviewer: Hello, my name’s Anna Baines, are you expecting me? Respondent 1: Hello, yes Interviewer: Ah, good. I have a few questions here to ask just about sheet music. Respondent 1: Yes Interviewer: [Q1] Will you be creating a preservation policy in the future for your sheet music collection? Respondent 1: I’m not sure that the preservation we do here that it will be worth having a policy. It’s very ad hoc, we’re a current working library for musicology and performance but if things look likely to fall apart – everything is for use, nothing is really for keeping carefully for research, apart from collected editions which get very little use, well relatively little use anyway, so that they remain in fairly good nick. So I don’t foresee a formal policy being drafted in the near future, put it that way. Interviewer: Ok. Thank you Respondent 1: Unless you want to come and write one for us?! Interviewer: There’s an interesting thought! [Q3] My next question: is it easy to replace sheet music, do you find it easy, and do you get the same editions? Respondent 1: Some of the stuff we have, I don’t find it too difficult, no. I mean most of it is in print or in print on demand in publisher’s archives, so yes, the sort of stuff that’s regularly used, yes, I would have said relatively, if we can afford it. Interviewer: Ok. Yes. So would you choose the same editions if you were simply… Respondent 1: Not necessarily, no, for example we’ve got loads and loads of old Algerner editions. If we were buying any more we certainly wouldn’t buy the same Novell reprints as those, no, we’d get modern Urtext editions; scholarship’s advancing all the time, so we would certainly, when we were replacing something we would reconsider what edition to buy. We may very well buy the same one, I mean, in many cases there would be no alternative with contemporary music, but we wouldn’t automatically buy the same edition, no. Interviewer: Right, thank you.[Q4] Do you think that sheet music can be cared for in the same way as normal book resources or are there any factors which make it different? Respondent 1: There are factors which are different, yes. The shape and size make them less easy to keep tidily and in one piece, unless you’re going to bind everything, which is a non-starter. They’re being used so they’re being bent backwards to stay open on the stand, which is perfectly legitimate as far as I can see, if we’re buying stuff for use we’ve got to

expect it to be used. We attempt a no-markings policy. This is not particularly workable as we can’t check through everything as it comes back, so things deteriorate in that way as well. So there are various factors that make it different. Interviewer: Thank you for that. [Q5] What happens to your superseded editions once they’re replaced? Respondent 1: Quite often we’ll keep them, if they’re still usable we’ll keep them, they can be useful musicologically, for comparison of music and musical approaches, comparison of what people were playing from over the last hundred years I suppose now, in fact a lot of our stuff is early 20th century if not 19th. Anyway, if something’s falling apart, we’ll normally just dump it, skip it. If we’re getting rid of something because we don’t have enough space, I’d normally put it just offer it to users here. We have a box of discount and unwanted donations that we dispose of to anybody here who wants them. There used to be a deal where Boston Spa used to take boxes of old unwanted stuff, I think they stopped that about fifteen years ago or so, they were getting far too much stuff and it was duplicating nearly all the stuff they’d already got. So we don’t, if something were important enough to offer to another library, we normally wouldn’t be discarding it. Interviewer: [Q6] Does a similar thing happen to the weeded stock? Respondent 1: Yes, sometimes I’ll offer it on the IAML list, say if I think it’s stuff that’s likely to fill a gap somewhere else, although again this would be stuff that would tend not to be music, it would tend to be spare copies of periodical and things like that, if it were music, if it were printed music, we would generally if were worth offering we wouldn’t be getting rid of it. Interviewer: [Q7] Would you be prepared to add you music catalogue to a national catalogue, allowing others to check if you have holdings of pieces before they dispose of them? Respondent 1: Yes. I mean our catalogue is on the web as it is. We’re not members of Copac; we’re not high class enough for that. I suppose if Copac were ever to expand (what have they got? 25 to 30 universities on now, mostly the old ones) I mean that would be the obvious place to combine. I use Copac a lot for checking on, I find Copac very useful for checking on music scores, for checking on you know, identifying things, publishers, I think there’s a lot of very useful musical information on Copac so that would be the logical thing, I think if any one were to want to create a separate one I would question the need for that. I would think it is far more important to try to negotiate to get your own collection onto Copac. It would be re-inventing the wheel in a way. And I don’t like, I’ve grown over the last forty years not to like separate subject catalogues. I much prefer that everything were in the same one, so that if one place had a different approach to their collections you’d know you were sure to find it in the one place. Interviewer: Right. I’m just trying to visualise with the different catalogues and things, [Q8] Do you check if your holdings, that you’re about to dispose of are the last copy? Respondent 1: No I don’t, for the same reasons I said earlier, if we’re disposing of something it’s normally because it’s not worth having. It’s not worth anybody else having. And certainly if we were disposing of something, an old edition, like an Algernen edition, I would say that’s not worth having, and if we were disposing of a decent edition because it

was unusable because it had fallen apart again I would say that wasn’t worth having for anybody either. Interviewer: Thank you. Thank you very much for your time Respondent 1: Is that it? Right, good luck with your report. Interviewer: Thank you very much. Would you like a copy of the results? Respondent 1: It would be interesting to see, yes, I presume you’ll be going on the IAML list and saying I’ve got these results and if anybody would like a copy get in touch, but yeah, fine, it would be handy. Interviewer: Right, I’ll do that. Thank you very much, good bye Respondent 1: Bye

Interview 2 transcript INTERVIEWER: Hi, it’s Anna Baines here RESPONDENT 2: Hello, yes I’m expecting your call INTERVIEWER: Ah, good. I have a few questions here to ask you RESPONDENT 2: Yes INTERVIEWER: [Q1] I was wondering firstly if you will be creating a preservation policy in the future for your sheet music collection? RESPONDENT 2: Well I must say your questionnaire has focused my attention on the need to do so. So I think it is definitely something I will be looking at in the future INTERVIEWER: Ok. Thank you. [Q2] And how might that policy ensure preservation occurs? RESPONDENT 2: There are several things I’ll need to do. First of all I’ll need to look at the way in which the material is being kept at the moment and whether any improvements can be made such as binding it more appropriately or redesigning the shelving so that it stands up better and that sort of thing. So to preserve it better where it is and then I think I need to perhaps follow some of the ideas that again came to me through your questionnaire which included looking to see where sheet music is held elsewhere, because that could affect the amount that I need to keep on site here which again might help to improve the preservation of what we have got. INTERVIEWER: Right so if you knew it was held somewhere else you wouldn’t need to have it because you’d be able to use interlibrary loans? RESPONDENT 2: Yes, and as I say it might mean we needed to keep less here and that

might mean from a space point of view that we could keep better what we had. It’s quite an interesting thought that’s come to me through your questionnaire, if that’s any comfort to you INTERVIEWER: Thank you. [Q3] Is it easy to replace sheet music? Do you always get the same edition? RESPONDENT 2: No, I’ve found that quite a problem possibly through not knowing quite enough about it yet myself, but no we don’t always get the same edition and I know that the academic staff do favour particular editions sometimes. INTERVIEWER: [Q3] So when you do replace it, is that a fairly straightforward process? RESPONDENT 2: Not always no. INTERVIEWER: Is it just locating the edition that’s difficult? RESPONDENT 2: Well, we usually go to a particular supplier and I’ve found they’re fairly good for standard materials, but not for – I mean for instance, this year we’ve put a lot of money into building up our 20th century sheet music collection and I’ve found our normal supplier isn’t always good at sourcing that material. INTERVIEWER: Right. RESPONDENT 2: And sometimes through searching on the Internet I can find the correct publisher and approach the publisher direct, which has obviously enormously helped. But a lot of it is published by fairly small publishers and they’re not always easy to track down. INTERVIEWER: Right. Thank you. [Q4] My next question is: do you think sheet music can be cared for in the same way as normal book resources? I think we’ve touched on that already. RESPONDENT 2: It’s much more difficult to care for adequately because it’s often very thin so its difficult to find and easy to lose – easy to fall down the back of shelves or even get squashed into, you know, you put a bigger book back onto the shelf, and you INTERVIEWER: Yes, I’ve seen it happen RESPONDENT 2: Yes, you incorporate a flimsy piece of sheet music in it. I’ve had that happen several times and then it’s lost and won’t be found until someone else takes out the bigger book. INTERVIEWER: Yes RESPONDENT 2: And then it gets squashed more easily, damaged more easily. Some of that can be dealt with by putting a hard binding on it, but then there are cost issues involved. I mean if you’re going to spend £20 on a piece of music, do you want to spend another £10 on binding it for example. I don’t know if those figures are accurate, but you can see the point.

INTERVIEWER: Right, thank you. [Q5] My next question is what happens to the superseded editions once they’re replaced? RESPONDENT 2: Provided the material was still in good condition we would keep it but not necessarily on the open shelves. It would probably go to store. And in the catalogue records the different editions are very clearly spelt out, perhaps even sometimes with notes, you know for example, I had a case the other day where there were two editions, I think it was piano music, and one had a lot of fingering, notes and the other edition didn’t, so that might be pointed out in the catalogue record to help people decide whether they want to get it out of store. INTERVIEWER: I see. [Q6] Do similar things happen to the weeded stock? RESPONDENT 2: How do you mean? INTERVIEWER: Well once you’ve weeded it, would it go into store? RESPONDENT 2: Probably, yes. I mean the only reasons I might actually throw something away is if it was in very, very bad condition and had been replaced, or we had duplicate copies of it. Otherwise it would go into store. INTERVIEWER: Ok. Thank you. So do you not dispose of sheet music? RESPONDENT 2: I haven’t done, no, unless as I say, it’s in such bad condition that you really couldn’t do anything with it, and on the occasions where that’s happened I have replaced it. But this is to do with a more general policy at XXX University, where things are not disposed of, they’re put into store and I have reservations about that policy being sensible in all cases INTERVIEWER: Is that because of space, and the amount of storage you’ve got for them? RESPONDENT 2: Well I just think it’s symptomatic of not really thinking about what we really need to keep. On the other hand you know you might think ‘well nobody’s looking at this type of material now, we don’t need to keep it’ and then the following year a new member of staff might come and this is just the thing they want to do their research on, so there, obviously, in a research university you’ve got to be very careful about what you get rid of, but I don’t think we’ve put enough thought into that, generally speaking. INTERVIEWER: Ok. Does your university belong to Copac? RESPONDENT 2: Yes. INTERVIEWER: [Q7] My next question is: do you feel that it is important to check if any other institutions have a copy of any sheet music you dispose of? RESPONDENT 2: Well, I haven’t done up to now, I must admit I haven’t really thought of doing that, probably because the overriding policy here is not to dispose of things. But also, if you did check, there’s no guarantee that that institution wouldn’t dispose of it the following week.

INTERVIEWER: That’s true, yeah. [Q8] And finally, RISM is the international project for cataloguing sheet music pre 1800. Would a more modern catalogue assist you when you dispose of sheet music? Um,. I think the logic behind that one was, to have a catalogue there that you’d be able to check to see if you were holding the last copy of a more modern edition of something. RESPONDENT 2: Yes, well, I’m sure that would be useful, yes, but it would be a terrific amount of work to put together wouldn’t it, I don’t hold out much hopes for that being done in the future, but it certainly would help, obviously. INTERVIEWER: Ok. Thank you very much for your time, it was very helpful, RESPONDENT 2: Ok, well best of luck with the work. INTERVIEWER: Thank you. Would you like a copy of what I’ve completed once it’s finished? RESPONDENT 2: I would do, yes, it would be quite useful to me. INTERVIEWER: I’ll get something to you. Good. RESPONDENT 2: Just in looking at your questions has made me realise the areas I need to address, so it’s been very useful from my point of view as well. INTERVIEWER: Well, thank you very much. Bye RESPONDENT 2: Best of luck with it, INTERVIEWER: Thank you, bye

Interview 3 transcript RESPONDENT 3: Ah, hello Anna, INTERVIEWER: Hi, I was wondering if it is possible to talk to you now RESPONDENT 3: Yeah, sure INTERVIEWER: I’ve got a copy of the questionnaire that you sent me. This interview is just to expand a bit on what you’ve already said, and me to get a bit more detail, if that’s ok RESPONDENT 3: Yeah, sure INTERVIEWER: Thank you. The first question that I have is, you mention that you do have a policy regarding the preservation of sheet music, but that it’s not formally documented, so I was wondering how the policy actually works? [Q5 also answered here] RESPONDENT 3: Well, to tell you the truth its, really it’s a bit hit and miss, the thing is that the library, although it has a great deal of music in it, it’s really a general

undergraduate library, it’s not a specialist music library. So, although we have, I mean the policy is largely determined by me at present, which sounds a sort of big deal but it isn’t really and the thing is that where as we obviously withdraw regular texts, I mean if there’s a new edition of something, we wouldn’t do that with sheet music in so far as it is sort of used so much that it wears out or whatever, but the sheet music that we’ve got, which as I say is a considerable quantity, we have not got rid of any of it but sort of mended it and repaired it, partly because of the difficulty perhaps in replacing it. I mean the thing is, that most of this music was donations and so we don’t get rid, I mean, this is probably just a local thing, but we tend not to get rid of donations if at all possible to keep them, and also it’s just that although we haven’t got a tremendous amount of what I would call rare music it’s just that we would tend not to get rid of it just in case we couldn’t replace it really. INTERVIEWER: Right, ok, I have a question about that. [Q3] I was going to ask you if it’s easy to replace sheet music and if you always get the same edition or not? RESPONDENT 3: Well I think actually no we wouldn’t if it came to it; I mean lets say someone borrows something and lost it, no we wouldn’t probably get the same edition unless that was the most up to date one. For example, I wouldn’t replace old Schirmer editions even if it’s possible, I would try and get Bear and White or something like that. So we wouldn’t necessarily replace with the same edition, no. INTERVIEWER: Ok. [Q2] I was going to ask: how does the policy ensure that preservation occurs? The things that you do to try and make sure that the sheet music stays in good condition RESPONDENT 3: Well, just so far as the way it’s kept, by the way it’s handled and, well I’ll tell you: some of this stuff was in a pretty bad state when we got it, a minority of it was in quite a bad state and you have to really sort of toss up if its worth keeping, or you know, I mean I did, I have to say, when I was first sorting through a lot of this music I – I mean don’t tell anyone – I did actually just throw some of it out, because I knew no-one would borrow it in the state that it was, but that was a very small amount of it. That wasn’t general by any means but I think when you’ve got a great deal of music of a certain age you’re bound to get some that wasn’t in very good condition. INTERVIEWER: do you have a special borrower category or lending category for music? RESPONDENT 3: No, we don’t. One of our collections we actually have on public hire. It’s a collection that we were given, by someone who obviously ran an orchestra, and it was, with full scores and orchestral parts, and I knew that the thing is in XXX colleges don’t borrow from each other, and every college is as it were self sufficient, unless it is an extremely rare case college libraries don’t lend to other institutions. I mean, the faculty libraries do but the college libraries don’t. So when I was faced with this enormous collection, which is Interviewerout 450, 500 works I had to think is this going to be just of use to the college or could we hire it out and in the end we decided to hire it out and then we’re putting any money that we get towards conservation of material. INTERVIEWER: Right, that’s a good system, RESPONDENT 3: So that particular collection, I think I sent out about 50 to 75 advertisements to local orchestral societies, choral societies, that sort of thing. And of course that is also open to other colleges but under a slightly different system as it were.

INTERVIEWER: [Q4] I have another question here: do you think that sheet music can be cared for in the same way as normal book resources, or are there any factors which make it different? RESPONDENT 3: Well, I think one of the factors that makes it different is that it is so flimsy I mean I think that’s the major factor, and also that it’s very, very difficult to stop people marking the stuff, I mean I think that is a problem. You must have found that too, with choral scores and things, sometimes they come back and you can hardly read what’s there because, you know… so I think that certainly is a problem. I would think they are the two major problems, but given the sort of, I would say, normal wear and tear, unless some thing is borrowed a great deal. I mean, the problem is what sort of marking it is. I always hesitate to rub stuff out very vigorously, because of, INTERVIEWER: Yeah, damaging the paper? RESPONDENT 3: Yeah, that’s right, exactly. And of course the older the paper gets, I mean, a lot of our stuff is 30, 40 years old, if not older, it is difficult. So I would say they are the two most difficult things, the flimsiness of the material and the problem of marking and getting rid of marks. INTERVIEWER: Thank you, RESPONDENT 3: But I mean, given proper care there’s no reason why sheet music shouldn’t last quite a long time really, even in a library I think. And also there’s also a possibility of binding up several items obviously you can’t do that with orchestral sets and parts, INTERVIEWER: But with piano sheet music, RESPONDENT 3: Yeah, that’s right. They do that at the University Library in XXX very successfully indeed. They for example, just to take something that I remember borrowing, a Martin Shaw songs, they would bind together 6, 8 individual songs and make a book of them and that certainly preserves them very well INTERVIEWER: Yeah, I expect with the hard covers as well, RESPONDENT 3: Yeah that’s right, yeah, but I mean they’ve stopped doing that now because they no longer have a large bindery at the university library, but they have a rather specialised bindery, but I don’t quite know how they manage that now, but I imagine they have some sort of similar arrangement. INTERVIEWER: Thank you. [Q6] I was going to ask: what happens to your weeded stock? RESPONDENT 3: Well, so far as the sheet music? INTERVIEWER: Yeah RESPONDENT 3: Well, so far as the sheet music is concerned it’s as I’ve said, I only weed it if, well there’s two things really: lets say I have a set of orchestral music perhaps

that has some parts missing, so if I got a replacement set then I have to say I’m afraid that I would probably just chuck it, chuck the old set. But if for example, I can think of some music that has got where all the wind parts are missing and you could only replace with a new edition with all the parts, you had to buy everything, strings, wind and so on, so in those cases its more trouble than its worth to try and do anything, I’ve found, anyway – don’t tell anybody that though! It doesn’t happen very often. And also I would only actually if I took a single item say a piece of piano music or a song, I would only chuck it really, weed it if it was so old it just wasn’t usable by anybody. And in that case I would just throw it away actually, just de-accession it and throw it away. But with other types of music so far as monographs go, or general text books, if we withdraw those because there’s another edition then we generally keep them and try and send them to like, well one of our charities is called ‘Books for Africa’, that sort of thing, so we would do that, but that doesn’t really apply to sheet music which is your interest. INTERVIEWER: Thank you. [Q7] I have to ask: do you feel it is important to check if any other institutions have a copy of any sheet music that you dispose of? But then, saying that, if it’s only the oldest, unusable stuff, it’s unlikely they’ll be wanting it, is it? RESPONDENT 3: Well, no, it isn’t but I can tell you one thing that happened: the XXX Union Society, which is the sort of big debating society, has got a library and they have quite a big music stock in that library and what they did when they were, they truncated the library considerably and one of the things they decided to do was get rid of the music stock which were miniature scores vocal scores and quite a large number of full scores and then orchestral operatic stuff, what they did was they ran through the British Library catalogue first to see if there was anything missing from the British Library. So that was one thing they did. The other thing was they contacted the music librarian at the XXX University Library to see if he had anything missing in his stock. So between those two they managed to dispose of about half the stock, and the rest of it they offered to other college libraries and then the rest of it I think they were going to offer to a book dealer. But that is certainly one thing that I would do if I were responsible for minimising the entire stock, go through the British Library catalogue first and see if there was anything that they had missing – but there is very little actually. INTERVIEWER: So really, people check to see if they have got music that others would want, rather than checking to see if no-one else had got that music and they ought to hang on to it. There’s a difference isn’t there? RESPONDENT 3: Yes there is, well I suppose it depends whether or not you intend actually keeping any music at all, in the case of the union society they wanted to get rid of the lot so that was why they had this two or three-pronged approach. They also wanted to try and raise a bit of money for the organisation as well, but they were sufficiently public spirited enough to offer some to the British Library and so on. I think if I – the problem is there aren’t that many general college libraries in XXX that have very large music stock. It tends to be in the music faculty library and in the XXX University Library that they have the largest stock. So a collection such as the one that I have here is slightly, I would say rather unusual for a college. The other college that has a large music library is XXX which has the Rowe Library which is quite a well-known music library. But there again there is no particular librarian now it’s down to one of the music staff to run it. But they certainly have a well-known music library. The fact is that where I work it’s not something that the college itself has bought. These are all very big donations. It’s not something the college has gone out and ought as it were.

INTERVIEWER: Ok. [Q8] My final question: the RISM project is the international project for cataloguing music pre-1800. Would a more modern catalogue assist you if you disposed of sheet music? RESPONDENT 3: I don’t know Anna really; I can’t see that it would really. As I’ve said we’re not in the business of disposing of it to tell you the truth if the whole collection had to be disposed of it would only be because of the room angle and the fact that perhaps it wasn’t used as much as because it’s quite space consuming, the volume of music we’ve got, and I mean that would be the only reason. XXX colleges tend not to get rid of stuff by and large, once they’ve got it! And no I can’t see that it would be of any use really. We haven’t got any really antiquarian stuff really, only a very small amount and we wouldn’t get rid of that anyway. We’ve got some first edition Gluck, Corelli, but that’s in the rare books library and the college would not get rid of that anyway. INTERVIEWER: Thank you very much for that RESPONDENT 3: It’s a pleasure INTERVIEWER: It’s been very useful, thank you RESPONDENT 3: Ok. Good luck with the project INTERVIEWER: Thank you very much. Bye RESPONDENT 3: Good bye.

Interview 4 Transcript INTERVIEWER: Hi, it’s Anna Baines here RESPONDENT 4.: Hi, I’m sorry about what happened before …and I’m awfully sorry about this…what I tried to do was find my copy of the survey and I can’t find it, no idea what I’ve done with it…now am I going to be able to do this without it in front of me? INTERVIEWER: Yeah, that should be fine, I have a copy of it with me – I can let you know what you’ve said RESPONDENT 4. Yes, it’s just that I don’t want to contradict myself. If you prefer to do this again in half an hour, just email it back to me and let me have a look that’s fine by me, I mean, if you want to carry on as it is I don’t mind that either. INTERVIEWER: Um, if we carry on, coz I have got some slightly different things to ask RESPONDENT 4: Ok INTERVIEWER: If that’s ok, thank you. [Q1] Um, my first question was do you think you’ll be creating a preservation policy in the future, for your sheet music collection?

RESPONDENT 4: I don’t know is the answer to that, um, our problem has always been having enough money to do the things that we want. Um, we’re probably going to be slightly better off for funds than we have been, but there’s no guarantee that if we do increase it …we can use it on. As a library we have not so far done much in the way, I think as I said in the survey, in the way of preservation via alteration of format, you know it is simply something that we have not needed to INTERVIEWER: Ok, [Q2] so theoretically, my second question was ‘if you did think about creating a policy, I was wondering what type of things it might include, how would you ensure that preservation did occur? RESPONDENT 4: I imagine that it would take place possibly under the auspices of Special Collections and Archives who are a separate department …really a complete reformation…we do a lot of work. I mean, basically the music library and the music stock is a relatively small part of our activities so obviously important for the department concerned, which is a small department of the university. I can’t see us being the sort of library that would be to the fore in preserving scores through automative, or any other way, partially because, you know, the amount of really expensive material we have in music is limited – we don’t have that much rare material. INTERVIEWER: Yes. I was hoping to focus a bit on the more modern things, I know the RISM project is interested in cataloguing the pre 1800 sheet music and bits and pieces, but my focus was on the more modern versions of those, so the things that would normally be held in an undergrad. library. RESPONDENT 4: Yes, well, what I mean is the question is, you know, what incentive would there be for us to provide the money, train staff, get the extra equipment, everything that’s involved in doing it. I mean, at the moment we operate as a library which basically lends individual copies of scores, we don’t even have sets, all our…within the department, but there has not been simply much emphasis on this aspect of things. We’re, I’m not quite sure, we are the sort of library that a project like this should be focusing on except, in so far that it provides a kind of counter-example INTERVIEWER: Yes, that is what I’m finding RESPONDENT 4. And you see, it is simply something that is not really within our scale…experience which I need to get all the material and alter its format in order to preserve it, I mean we do obviously have problems in replacing things which go missing, are often paid for sometimes but that can be improved by a greater injection of cash and the fact you can now get a lot more material second hand than you used to be able to, so maintaining the stock therefore…and the staff is not so much of a problem, but we are not so far the kind of library that have done so much in the way of conservation of our own material other than preserving it according to the British Standards which are required for Special Collections and Archives. You’re talking about really the day to day music collection INTERVIEWER: Yeah, I am RESPONDENT 4. I don’t expect every other university library is doing this, I can’t see what enormous advantage there would be in doing it

INTERVIEWER: Ok. [Q3] My next point is: I was wondering if it’s easy to replace sheet music? RESPONDENT 4: It’s not easy, but a lot easier than it used to be, because now the access to, centralised access to second handbook sellers. It’s a lot easier to actually track down stuff and buy it in. This doesn’t always happen, if a really expensive piece of sheet music goes missing I suppose you could say that it would be an advantage to have an alternative version, but, I mean, the copyright regulations for copying sheet music, you know, is something which presents an awful lot of problems… to get a score and use the information and transform it’s format without applying for permission to do so, this is something that any project would need to take into account …project concerned. INTERVIEWER: Thank you. [Q4] Slightly different tack, do you think that sheet music can be cared for in the same way as normal book resources, or do you think there are different factors, RESPONDENT 4. Sorry, that can be cared for INTERVIEWER: In the same way normal books and monographs are? RESPONDENT 4. When you say ‘cared for’ I’m not sure whether you mean simply preventing serious deterioration INTERVIEWER: Yes, use, wear and tear, RESPONDENT 4: Yes, I suppose shall we consider, obviously we have special shelving; there’s a question of keeping the music clean this itself presents a problem, we don’t have much in the way of a cleaning budget so, you know, material does gather more dust than it should, yet again, simply a matter of budgeting INTERVIEWER: Right RESPONDENT 4: we do have regulations about the way the material is treated, but of course, that doesn’t guarantee its safety. If you‘re talking about material that was considered unique or rare, then it would be forwarded to Special Collections and they would use any method they use for the conservation of their material we’d have to be changing its format from its original to microfilm or you know vintage-type format, I mean they have their own procedures but this would be day to day music collection. INTERVIEWER: Thanks, I’ll just make a couple of notes. [Q5] With regard to buying the sheet music again, do you ever buy newer editions of the same sort of material? RESPONDENT 4: Um, well, most of the buying is done by members of the department, because obviously music is a specialized subject area. I am the Arts librarian, this does not mean I’m the subject librarian for music; I have an interest in Classical music as a consumer, but very little specialized knowledge, that again is the functional way the finance of our staffing works, so it’s just part of my remit to make sure that everything, that the wheels keep turning, but it’s the staff who decide what editions to hold. So that if a new edition comes out, that shows for instance a change in the way the music, you know, the time….

INTERVIEWER: Yep, RESPONDENT 4: They would actually buy a new edition in if the change seemed to justify it INTERVIEWER: Right, and in that case, if they did think it justified it, what would happen to the older editions? RESPONDENT 4: The older edition would probably stay where it is until weeding or something necessitated by the need for space, then it would be possibly transferred to one of our stacks, where we keep old material. INTERVIEWER: Right, thank you. [Q6] So that’s what happens to the weeded stock then, the transfer to… RESPONDENT 4: we have stacks within the main building, I mean we don’t dispose of stock, we might sell it or throw it away INTERVIEWER: Thank you. [Q7] Would you be prepared to add your music catalogue to a national catalogue, allowing others to check if you have holdings of pieces before they dispose of them? RESPONDENT 4: Yeah, we would be quite happy, for things to be available, is it sheet music? INTERVIEWER: Yeah RESPONDENT 4: Yeah, I mean we’d have no objection to that. Whether or not we would make this material available to people would depend on how it fitted in with the regulations for access, and as far as …loan is concerned, I think we’d be rather more reluctant to let that sheet music from both categories of materials for obvious reasons; possibility of damage in transfer or certainly for more expensive materials non-return would be a discouragement, that would be something really for our inter-library loans people, who, you know, they check on the sort of material they lend out. INTERVIEWER: Yes. Thank you. [Q8] My final question: would you say you preserved your sheet music passively, in not disposing of it? RESPONDENT 4: Yeah, I would say that probably apart from the obvious things that any librarian would do, our policy at the moment is not pro-active, simply because, as the proportion of stock and the time spent on it, sheet music is a relatively small section. INTERVIEWER: Ok, well thank you very much for that, it was really helpful to me, RESPONDENT 4: I think that I may seem terribly naive in relation to this, but that’s the way it is, and I’ve just got to tell it, make sure you preserve all anonymity INTERVIEWER: Oh, I shall RESPONDENT 4: And if something comes out of this would you let us know…? INTERVIEWER: Of course, I’ll do that. Thank you very much,

RESPONDENT 4: Ok, bye bye INTERVIEWER: Bye bye.

Interview 5 Transcript RESPONDENT 5: It’s XXX from the XXX INTERVIEWER: Hi, thanks for getting back to me RESPONDENT 5: That’s ok INTERVIEWER: I have a few questions here that I wondered if it’s ok to ask you? RESPONDENT 5: Sure INTERVIEWER: Thanks. I’ve got your questionnaire that you sent me as well, that says you’ve got a very small collection, but hopefully these will still apply to that collection. [Q1] Do you think it’s important to have a policy regarding the preservation of your stock? RESPONDENT 5: Not our stock, no. INTERVIEWER: Just because it’s so few? RESPONDENT 5: And because of the type of material it is INTERVIEWER: Right, which is? RESPONDENT 5: It’s mainly music scores that we’ve bought from places like Chapels, so they’re completely replaceable. INTERVIEWER: Ok. [Q3] Would you ever replace those scores that you’ve got? RESPONDENT 5: Probably not because they’re not actually used a huge amount. INTERVIEWER: [Q4] Do you think sheet music can be cared for in the same way as normal book resources, or do you think there are factors which make it different? RESPONDENT 5: The sheet music that we have is actually bound in volumes, its not that we’ve bound it, we bought that way so we do treat it the same way as books. I think we would steer clear of unbound music, we can’t cope with it. INTERVIEWER: Thank you. [Q5] So when you buy new sheet music, do you buy new editions of the same pieces? RESPONDENT 5: I must admit we haven’t bought new sheet music for at least ten years. We bought sheet music for a specific project, but that’s been about it. So we don’t actually

– we haven’t actually developed the collection. I think it’s just the nature of our students and the course here. INTERVIEWER: Is it a popular music course? RESPONDENT 5: Yeah INTERVIEWER: Right, RESPONDENT 5: That explains everything! INTERVIEWER: Yeah, it does – it explains the lack of Mozart! RESPONDENT 5: Yeah, although funnily enough we have some Mozart INTERVIEWER: Do you? RESPONDENT 5: Yeah, they do a bit of musical notation. But only, it’s like a very small part of a module INTERVIEWER: Yeah. [Q6] Do you ever have to weed your collection? RESPONDENT 5: No, because it’s so small! INTERVIEWER: Ok, [Q7] would you be prepared to add your music catalogue to a national catalogue to allow others to check if you have holdings of pieces? RESPONDENT 5: I don’t think it’s worth it, to be honest. INTERVIEWER: Ok, well that’s pretty much it RESPONDENT 5: I’m not surprised INTERVIEWER: [Q8] My final question was: would a more modern catalogue assist you if you disposed of sheet music, but it’s RESPONDENT 5: Not really INTERVIEWER: It’s irrelevant really RESPONDENT 5: Well, I suppose we might be inclined to throw more away. INTERVIEWER: Well thanks for that, RESPONDENT 5: It’s ok, thank you INTERVIEWER: Thanks a lot, bye

Interview 6 Transcript NB: Start of interview not recorded. RESPONDENT 6: …and I’m the music librarian here so I can tell you, I’ve just been weeding the music score collection recently. The policy is kind of in my head because I know the collection. INTERVIEWER: [Q1] My first question is: might you be formalizing your policy? RESPONDENT 6: Possibly, in the light of the fact you have prompted me to INTERVIEWER: Thank you. [Q2] And how does the policy ensure preservation occurs? RESPONDENT 6: It doesn’t really. It’s very, because we don’t really have a policy as such at the minute, I’ll tell you exactly what I would do if I buy a new edition of something, that we have an old edition which I know to be not a very good edition, like Schirmer or something like that. For example, if I was doing Mozart piano concertos and we bought a Berenwriter edition or Wiener Urtext or something which I try to buy now, and then I find we have a duplicate Schirmer copy, I would just withdraw that. INTERVIEWER: [Q5/6] What might you do with the withdrawn copy? RESPONDENT 6: Withdrawn copies are sold to students. Or if I have music students who are very keen or maybe working with me, or I know very well and they happen to come in and see I’ve withdrawn things, I would just give them to them. INTERVIEWER: That answers my question about newer editions. [Q3] Do you replace sheet music? RESPONDENT 6: Yes INTERVIEWER: [Q3] Is it easy to replace it? RESPONDENT 6: Mostly what I would be replacing, yes. Occasionally there’s one or two things that might come up, that I can’t get because they’re no longer published; in which case I would then go to inter-library loan to satisfy the need of the person who wanted it. I’m trying to think – an example recently was Debussy Petit Suite an arrangement by Caplais, but that may have been available at one time and maybe one of the older universities would have it, or the British Library but I wasn’t able to get that because it’s out of print. So that’s the sort of situation I might find myself in, but basically I’m pretty certain that a lot of what I’m withdrawing from here is of no value. INTERVIEWER: In that there are plenty of other copies around? RESPONDENT 6: There will be plenty of other copies in the country, I know that for sure, yeah.

INTERVIEWER: Ok, thank you. [Q4] Can I ask, do you think sheet music can be cared for in the same way as normal book resources. RESPONDENT 6: No, definitely not INTERVIEWER: [Q4] What kind of factors do you think make it different? RESPONDENT 6: Well the fact that it’s multi-parts, the fact that it’s fragile, I mean I think increasingly libraries don’t have money for binding I don’t, unless it’s something that’s absolutely necessary, like a concerto, a piano concerto or something where you’d need both parts together I would usually insist that that’s bound because one person carries the orchestral reduction, the other person plays the piano solo part so its only if I like to keep those together. But even things like string quartets and things aren’t – we don’t have the money. It just goes on the shelf and what I’ve tried to insist on here is that we have special music shelving that is different to the shelving used for books, that it keeps the music upright, and also if its flimsy sheet music it goes into a pamphlet box. So all of those things need to be considered, you know, to keep it in good condition. INTERVIEWER: Thank you. I have a couple more questions. [Q6] I was wondering what happened to the weeded stock? RESPONDENT 6: Well that is what I will sell to students. I’ve just currently got – weeded quite a lot of stuff this summer because I’ve spent so much on newer editions and that’s just been passed onto the students, because I don’t really think there’s any other point – well I mean I’ll sell it to them at a very cheap price, and they’re very keen to take it. I think that’s good, you know it’s good that they want it. INTERVIEWER: Yeah, RESPONDENT 6: And I don’t really think that any of it is of any value to anybody because I’m sure there are copies of it. I just know I wouldn’t withdraw, I mean you know I have got quite rare Russian vocal scores here of Russian music, which doesn’t actually get used, but I would never withdraw that. Or a very nice old edition, with a nice cover you just know and if it’s in reasonably good condition I would keep that. If it’s through experience I couldn’t, do this if I just came into a music library without experience because I know kind of, what editions I’m dealing with and whether they’re of any value or not. And I just know Schirmer and Calmus, those particular editions are often not very good. INTERVIEWER: Is that from a musical point of view? The phrasing and editors marks? RESPONDENT 6: They’re just not good editions, that the editors edit them usually have edited them too heavily I mean you’re talking about an edition that looks very closely and keeps very closely to the sources and that’s the difference between Barenwriter, Wiener Urtext, Henle. Also you become familiar with the people that, the editors themselves, the names so it’s just experience. INTERVIEWER: Ok, thank you. [Q7] On a slightly different tack, do you feel it’s important to check if any other institutions have a copy of any sheet music before, I’d say before you got rid of it?

RESPONDENT 6: I don’t really think – I honestly think I wouldn’t get rid of anything that I thought was like that and I would then check. I would usually check against Copac or something like that because it covers the British Library and most of the major universities. INTERVIEWER: Thank you. [Q8] My final question: the RISM project is the international project for cataloguing music pre-1800. Would a more modern catalogue assist you when disposing of sheet music? RESPONDENT 6: A more modern catalogue? INTERVIEWER: Yes because that’s pre1800 so for those scores and sheet music that you’ve got that’s post 1800 they are a catalogue listing everyone else’s resources RESPONDENT 6: I thought RISM was just manuscripts? I didn’t think it was published music, I thought it was actually the manuscripts INTERVIEWER: Ah, right RESPONDENT 6: Isn’t it? INTERVIEWER: I’d better check that out RESPONDENT 6: I think you need to check that out because you’re talking about something very different there. RISM is the manuscripts, what is in the composer’s handwriting so it’s a catalogue of where you would find the manuscripts, INTERVIEWER: Right, the sources, RESPONDENT 6: So for example RISM should come up with the Handel manuscripts that are in the British Library INTERVIEWER: Right, so other than publisher’s own catalogues RESPONDENT 6: Well, yeah, because the difference between libraries keeping catalogues of the printed music which was published, but you need some source, some catalogue to let you know where you would get the original manuscript. Certainly anybody doing research would need to know that. I mean that would cover the international…I don’t use RISM a lot because I’m not that sort of institution but anybody like Oxford/Cambridge/London universities you know, they would need to use RISM I think because of the high level of research you know, people want to go right back to the original source. For example if anybody were editing a piece of music themselves: an editor, they would have to look at the original manuscripts, but I think as far as I know I’m telling you the right thing here, but you’ll have to check on that. INTERVIEWER: I shall, thank you. I think that’s it, thank you very much for your time, it’s been very helpful. RESPONDENT 6: All the best, bye bye INTERVIEWER: Bye bye.