Collection Policies

The Department of Music offers Bachelor of Music degrees in music performance, composition, and education as well as minors in composition, history, and performance. A Bachelor of Arts degree in Music History is also offered. The Master of Arts in Humanities and Master of Science in Education degrees also require instructional support. There is overlapping interest with other departments such as: English, History, Theater, Dance, Art, and Education. The collection supports faculty research and instruction and general instructional support for all Music Department courses and levels of education. Instructional support is also given to cross-disciplinary courses. The sound recordings collection also serves as a resource for performers and music groups in Hampton Roads, the Governor's Magnet School, and the general public.
 

Language: All works which include sung or spoken text should be collected in the original language of the composition. Accompanying translations should be sought; items which include a translation(s) of a non-English language work should be chosen for purchase over items that do not. No language should be excluded from the collection.

Chronological Guidelines: There are no chronological restrictions on the collection. Works from all time periods require representation in keeping with the purpose of the collection.

Geographical Guidelines: The Western music tradition is emphasized for faculty research and instruction and for student instructional support. Although they are not excluded, musical works from other than the Western tradition are not emphasized.

Treatment of Subject: Fundamentally, musical works of significance to the musicological, pedagogical, and hermeneutical study and application of the Western music tradition are to be collected. Popular culture (any country) is to be excluded from the active collection process, but gift donations may be accepted. Music Education resource and curriculum recordings are to be collected as available with the counsel of Music Department Faculty. Electronic and audio-visual research items are to be collected as available based on relevance to the curriculum and availability. Spoken recordings dealing with analysis, theory, composition, pedagogy, or hermeneutics will be collected as requested by Music Department Faculty only.

Types of Materials: Compact discs, videocassettes, and cd-roms are the primary formats collected. The secondary formats, cassettes and long-play recordings, should be collected only when a needed item is unavailable on a primary format. Long-play recordings may be accepted as gift donations. 78rpm records, reel-to-reel tapes, digital tapes, and 45rpm records are not collected or accepted as gift donations. No other obsolete or undesirable format is to be collected (e.g., cylinder discs, 8-track tapes, mini-cassettes, and the like).

Press Date: No restrictions apply.

Other Considerations:

Duplication of individual works is tantamount to the purpose of the collection. However, duplicate performances of the works should not be collected. Hermeneutical studies are an inseparable part of the performance and composition degrees and may figure in to cross-disciplinary studies. Duplication of individual works cannot be avoided. The replacement of long-play recordings that were pressed before 1975 should take precedence over those produced later unless the item is required on a new format by Music Department Faculty. Some long-play recording replacement should take place continually if possible until they are no longer collected or accepted as gift donations. The replacement of primary formats and cassettes should take place as needed. In the 1970's, the Music Listening Room received two substantial record collections from local benefactors. Dr. George Gay III donated a collection of approximately 12,360 sound recordings in 1972. The Gay Collection includes about 4661 long-play records and 7699 78rpm recordings. A majority of the recordings pre-date the mid-1950's. The 78rpm recordings remain uncataloged and inaccessible to the public. The long-play recordings were copied onto cassette tapes during the 1980's. The Gay Collection is primarily classical music with an emphasis in opera. The Clarence W. Walton Collection, donated around 1979, contains approximately 6000 long-play, 78rpm, and 45rpm recordings that encompass many jazz idioms. The 78rpm and 45rpm recordings (around 3300 discs) remain uncataloged and inaccessible to the public. The long-play recordings continue to be cataloged. The Clarence W. Walton Collection is not an identifiable collection in the Music Listening Room.