Collection Development for Music at the Boston College Libraries

Format decisions follow the General Collection Development Policy and allow for considerations of requester preference, curricular needs, and other factors.

• Journals are selected in electronic format when possible.
• Books are usually purchased in print format, because often this is the only available format.  Reference materials are acquired in electronic format when possible.  
• The library has online subscription to all important scholarly music databases, online scores,  and streaming collections such as Naxos Music Library, medici.tv, Met Opera on Demand, etc.

Primary language of the collection is English, or translations into English.  There is a substantial collection of books in German, followed by French,  Latin, Spanish, and other languages.  Important publications in foreign languages are added to the collection if they are not available in translation.

Emphasis is on currently published materials. Retrospective acquisition is carried out to support new course offerings and research.