National Library of Australia


PART 1: INTRODUCTION

Aim of the Report

The aim of this report is to present a picture of collection strengths in music in Australian libraries at the undergraduate, postgraduate and research level. It complements the Results of the Survey of Music Collections in Australian Libraries which was conducted by the National Library of Australia in August 1994.

Sources

Data for this report has been taken from

Assessment records contributed to the Australian Conspectus Database by the following libraries:

and

Draft or published collection development policies from the following libraries:

Conspectus collection levels and indicators

The Conspectus collections levels and indicators used in this report are an internationally recognised, standardised form of describing the assessment of a collection in terms of what is on the shelves and in circulation, what is actually being added to the collection, and the library's collecting goals.

COLLECTION LEVELS

Current Collecting Level (CL)
Assessment of current collection - what is on the shelves and in circulation. This includes material in all formats and reflects those materials that are catalogued and uncatalogued, housed in special collections, and non-circulating as well as circulating collections. An assessment of the current (or existing) collection provides a description of the library's total resources at a prescribed point in time.

Acquisition Commitment (AC)
Assessment of acquisition commitment - what is actually being added to the collection. This describes the growth rate of the collection and reflects the current level of activity at which the collection is being developed.

Goal Level (GL)
Assessment of goal Level - designates a future, desirable collecting Level to meet program needs. It represent a library's aspirations and can be described in collection development policies and collecting agreements.

COLLECTION LEVEL INDICATORS

A brief description of the collection Level indicators and descriptions used in this report is shown below. A full description can be found at Attachment A. For the purpose of this report only collections which have been assessed as having a Current Collecting Level, Acquisition Commitment or Goal Level of 3 (Intermediate) and above have been included. This is because the aim of this report is to identify collections of benefit to undergraduate and post-graduate scholars and researchers.

The collection Level indicators and descriptions used in this report are:

Level 0 - Out of scope
Level 1 - Minimal
Level 1a - Minimal with uneven coverage
Level 1b - Minimal with even coverage
Level 2 - Basic information
Level 2a - Basic information: introductory
Level 2b - Basic information: augmented
Level 3 - Intermediate
Level 3a - Intermediate: introductory
Level 3b - Intermediate: augmented
Level 4 - Research
Level 5 - Comprehensive

Arrangement of the Report

Section 1: Australian Conspectus Database: Line comparison report for the Music Division

The first section of the report is taken from information contributed to the Australian Conspectus Database by libraries who have completed assessment of their music collections. It shows Current Collecting Level (CL), Acquisition Commitment (AC), and Goal Level (GL) assessment data from the following libraries:

This section of the report is divided into two parts:

Part 1: Assessment data for libraries using Dewey Decimal Classification;
Part 2: Assessment data for libraries using Library of Congress Classification; and

Section 2: Collection Strengths in Music Collections in Australian Libraries - Collection Development Policies and the Australian Conspectus Database

Structural difficulties inherent within the sources used for this report prevented the DNC Office from providing a single overview of music collections in Australia. In collection development policies, libraries have provided information about their music collections on either broad or detailed subject level, or on a format basis. In the Australian Conspectus, line titles (descriptions) vary considerably between the Dewey and Library of Congress Music Divisions making comparison difficult to achieve. For these reasons, it was decided to present the information in the second section of the report on a State-by-State basis.

The complementary report, Result of the Survey of Collections in Australian Music Libraries, has a similar arrangement within the replies to each question.

Libraries who have contributed information to this section of the report are:

ACT
National Library of Australia
Institute of the Arts

New South Wales
University of New South Wales
State Library of New South Wales
Sydney Opera House

Queensland
University of Queensland
Queensland University of Technology
University of Southern Queensland

South Australia
State Library of South Australia

Victoria
Deakin University
Nunawading Library and Information Service

Western Australia
University of Western Australia
Edith Cowan University
Library and Information Service of WA


Continue to the Next Section or Return to the Start


Last modified: August 18 2004.