DSM1910 Introduction to Music Librarianship (postgraduate 10 credits)

DSM1910 Short Course Introduction

This Short Course is an introduction to music librarianship. This module describes the principles and practice of music librarianship. It is aimed at those who may find themselves having some responsibility for music in a library. It thus provides a good grounding for those wishing to pursue a career in music librarianship.

DSM1910 Short Course Tutor

John Wagstaff BA MMus DipLib FCLIP. John’s career includes music library work at King’s College London and he was Music Faculty Librarian at the University of Oxford. Since 2005 John has been Head of Music Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in America, and brings an international perspective to this music librarianship short course. John is an active member of the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres (IAML), and participates in conferences of the American Music Library Association. For five years he edited Brio, journal of the UK branch of IAML, and in 2005 completed five-years as editor of Fontes Artis Musicae, the journal of IAML itself.

DSM1910 Short Course Prerequisites

It is not essential to have formal musical training to work in a music library. It is true, however, that the larger or more specialised and research-based the collection, the more important subject knowledge will be.
The only requirement for this module is some musical interest. This may be having sung in a choir or played in an orchestra or group, for example. It may be regular listening, either to Radio 1 or Classic FM or other music stations, or to live concerts or your own collection of recordings.

DSM1910 Short Course learning outcomes

After completing this short course you should be able to:

  • articulate critically the current professional issues in music librarianship
  • describe and justify the skills and competencies required by the staff of a music library or information service
  • identify and assess the issues affecting the management of music collections in a library or information service
  • assess and address the needs of particular user groups in the music library
  • assemble appropriate information materials to enable the critical evaluation of professional music library issues