Collection Development Policies: Music

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY
Subject: MUSIC

Program Description

The music program supports three majors at the undergraduate level: major in performance, major in theory and composition, and Bachelor of Music with teacher certification. Students pursuing the BA degree in another discipline may minor in music, with either applied music or an academic music option. Ballet and jazz dance classes are also taught in the music department. At the graduate level, the Master of Music degree is offered in two majors: Performance (instrumental, vocal, conducting, or composition) which specializes in the study of a performing medium, and Music Education, which is designed for advanced training in the teaching profession.

The undergraduate catalog lists thirty-two courses in applied music for undergraduates only, and another five courses for both undergraduate and graduate students. Students have ten classes available for individual instruction under applied music. There are eleven courses offered in ballet or jazz. The catalog lists four courses in music education which are open to both undergraduate and graduate student. Students pursing the Bachelor of Music with Teacher Certification take twenty-one hours of education courses, most of which are taught in the College of Education. In the area of literature and history of music, five of the courses are limited to undergraduates and the remaining eleven courses are open to both graduate students and undergraduates. Music theory includes thirteen courses for undergraduates and seven courses for both levels of students.

Applied music courses encompass the traditional band, orchestra, and chorus as well as mariachis, string orchestra, chamber music, guitar, music theater, and conducting. The literature and history of music courses cover the middles ages and Renaissance, Baroque, Viennese, classical, romantic period, and twentieth century. Because of the emphasis on Latino and border studies, courses in the music of Mexico and music on the border are also taught. Music theory courses include acoustics and electronic music, as well as composition, sight singing and dictation, commercial music composition, and applied audio production.

The graduate catalog contains five courses in the area of applied music, three courses in music education, four general courses in music, three courses for the literature and history of music and two courses in music theory. All of the graduate catalog courses are limited to graduate students.

Description of Existing Collection
NCIP Code: 3a

The collection supports Masters degree level work and includes widely read European languages. The LC call numbers are: M classification + GV1787-1796. The music collection contains serial collections of the collected works of some of the major classical composers such as Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Gluck, Haydn, Mozart, Musorgsky, Schubert, and Wagner. The musical scores are in both the miniature score format and performance scores. The literature of music includes the major European languages as well as English. Among the scores are some popular music and songbooks but very little Spanish songs. There seems to have been greater emphasis in the past on collecting sacred choral music and operas.

The periodical collection shows the effects of the two large periodical cuts made in previous years. Of the sixty-five titles retrieved by entering the subject heading MUSIC -- PERIODICALS, twenty-five titles are no longer being received. A few of the titles ceased publication but most were cancelled. The library does subscribe to the CD-ROM titles, Music Index and Music Catalog from the Library of Congress.

The Reference collection includes representative encyclopedias and dictionaries on classical music and musicians. The Reference collection for jazz, country music, and rock and roll has become out of date and needs more current titles. Most of the jazz and rock and roll titles are at least twenty years old. Reference works concentrating on the later part of Twentieth Century music need updating. A search on OCLC for reference works in music published since 1990 reveals approximately twenty titles which would be very useful to fill in the gaps and make the collection more current.

The music collection does not contain many recordings. Music recordings are purchased and housed in the Music Dept for use in the classroom. The library has received a gift collection of 100 CD's through a grant from Columbia House and Reforma. The collection contains recordings of Latin music including Mexican, Tejano, Tropical, Salsa, and Latin Pop.

Current Collecting Intensity
NCIP Code: 2b

Faculty state that the music collection is meeting their needs for materials to support the curriculum. They select titles in ML, literature on music, and MT, musical instruction and study. Other than continuing standing orders to the collected works of major composers, they do not purchase scores for the library's music collection. Faculty and students purchase performance scores for their personal use. Music faculty indicated that they are selecting materials on 20th century music along with the traditional classical and Baroque periods. When asked if the collection was sufficiently up to date in the areas of jazz, popular, or rock and roll music, the faculty liaison was unsure. The music faculty are interested in reviewing the periodical list to determine if the titles currently received should be continued or if other titles might better serve the research needs of students and faculty.

Last updated: 3/20/04