Subject Librarian: Rob van der Bliek

Academic Programmes Supported and Description of Current Collection

While the collection is most often associated with the course offerings of the Music Department and the graduate program in Ethnomusicology/Musicology, subject coverage is multidisciplinary. This is evidenced by the research support the sound recordings collections provide to academic programmes such as Anthropology, Theatre, African Studies, Sociology, Dance as well as Organized Research Units including the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC), the Joint Centre for Asia Pacific Studies, the Shastri Foundation and the Ontario Folklife Centre. Teaching support is primarily for music courses both within and outside of the Music Department, or courses which require audio supplements as part of instruction. Other areas include Canadian studies, third world studies, literature, linguistics, humanities and the performing arts in general.

For music , the collections support an undergraduate programme in performance, composition, theory, music history, and aesthetics and a graduate programme in ethnomusicology/musicology. In addition, there is support for a music education programme offered by Atkinson College, courses in film music and dance music offered in the Film and Dance Departments, and several non-music major courses offered by the Faculty of Arts. The Graduate Programme in Music, which offers an M.A. and Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology/Musicology, e mphasizes North American regional music including jazz and urban popular music, native, religious and folk music in rural and urban localities; early twentieth century music; music/cultural theory and analysis, and psychoacoustics.

Description of Current collection

The sound recordings collection covers all types of music, selected spoken word material, and some sound effects. Strengths include North American indigenous and vernacular styles, such as jazz, blues, country, folk and popular music, and 20th century art music, including marginal new music styles and electroacoustic music. The collection aims to include all standard repertory items (musical canons) for all genres taught in music history, theory, and performance courses. A concentration in music of cultural minorities, (with specific focus on North American indigenous styles, Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa) further supports the graduate programme. Popular music is being collected retrospectively, in response to teaching needs in music as well as a general interest in popular culture in the social sciences.

Spoken word material, particularly literature, poetry and drama is represented mostly through older recordings, as there has been a shift in medium of preference from sound recording to video for much performance and instructional material, and since virtually all spoken word sound recordings exist in audio cassette format only (see section on Formats).

Related Collections at York

In addition to audio materials, the Sound and Moving Image Library holds scores (both circulating and non-circulating collected editions), discographies, and items accompanied by a sound recording. For more information refer to the collection development policy for Music.

Languages
Collections in literary disciplines focus on English-language cultures.

Geographical Coverage
Materials are collected regardless of their country of origin, from a variety of retailers and distributors.

Chronological Coverage
Jazz, blues, and related vernacular styles are collected from all eras, with emphasis on those styles which support performance and repertory studies. Western art music is represented in all major eras and styles, with an emphasis on twentieth century music. Acquisitions in dance range from classical ballets to non-traditional dance forms, focusing on ethnic dance, dance-theatre and the multi-media performing art experience since 1950.

Literary works are collected from all periods, especially with respect to drama and fiction, while poetry is focused on the 19th and 20th centuries (see section on Formats). Other spoken word collections such as science symposia, public affairs and lecture series are purchased as requested.

Date of Publications
The balance between historical and current musical performances weighs heavily on the side of the latter, primarily because of availability, but also because of fidelity in sound reproduction. But as the era of the sound recording reaches its centenary, there is a growing interest in historical performances of the classical repertories. With the advent of the CD, there has also been ample opportunity to purchase previously out-of-print material, albeit with new packaging.

Gifts
As more and more collectors are converting their LP collections to CD, the Sound and Moving Image Library receives numerous offers of LP donations. In many cases, the library is not able to accommodate such requests, due to space and processing limitations, but when the donation contains material germane to the strengths of the collection, every attempt is made to accept the donation and use the material as complement to the collection.

Types of Materials

• Formats
• • Collection preference is to compact discs, although newer technologies are constantly monitored. The bulk of the collection is still LP, but an effort is made to have CD copies of all high-use recordings. Original recordings produced on audio cassette tape are avoided wherever possible because of inferior durability, but are purchased selectively if it is the only available format.
  • With respect to printed materials in music, scholarly editions, fragile, aged, expensive and oversize scores, discographies and selected trade journals are purchased for the Sound Recordings collection. While most established reference tools in music are housed in the Reference department, a small number of these are in duplicate so as to maintain a basic reference collection in the Sound and Moving Image Library.
  • Interactive CD-ROM packages are collected on a trial basis, in part guided by equipment requirements and in part by curricular suitability and need.
  • Regardless of discipline, all monographs containing or accompanying audio recordings are housed in the Sound and Moving Image Library
• Special Collections — The Sound and Moving Image Library houses a number of limited edition series in African music, jazz and 20th century music. In addition to catalogued items, there are several uncatalogued collections, including the Levine jazz collection and several donations of 20th century recordings.
• Course Reserves — The reserve collection contains standard repertory CDs, used for a variety of courses, tape compilat ions prepared by instructors for specific assignments, and print material accompanying reserve sound recordings. The Sound and Moving Image Library provides multiple copies of tape compilations where necessary.
• Exclusions — Language instruction materials are not actively collected, as there are other agencies on campus whose mandate it is to provide access to these materials.

Resources Elsewhere in the Toronto Region
The Music Library at the University of Toronto houses the largest sound recordings collection of classical music in Canada, with strengths in western art music. CJRT Radio houses an extensive classical and jazz collection.

Collecting Levels

Last updated 1994