The 2015 Annual Report
Thursday, March 3, 2016
The past year was an exciting one for RISM, as the recently published annual report for 2015 shows. Thanks to the hard work from RISM contributors and partners around the world, we hit the 1,000,000th record in the RISM database and are looking ahead to the next milestone.
Here are the highlights from the annual report. The full version can be read on the RISM website.
• Over one million records: A huge data import of over 100,000 records enriched the RISM database with data on historical printed music taken from A/I, Individual Prints before 1800 (previously a CD-ROM); and B/I, Recueils imprimés, XVIe-XVIIe siècles (Printed collections of the 16th-17th centuries), covering the years 1500-1550. Later this summer, national groups and libraries will have the opportunity to submit corrections and add new information. RISM is currently working on converting the rest of B/I and B/II (18th century) for incorporation into the database.
• Contributions from national groups: The following national groups contributed to the RISM database, totaling over 30,000 records: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, United Sates.
• Plans to import data: RISM is working with RISM France and ICCU (Italy) to transfer their records for musical sources to the RISM database.
• Links to digitized music: In the online catalog, you can get direct access to images of the sources through links to digitized music: either limit before your search (Advanced search –> Limit search –> Document type –> Digital versions exclusively) or filter your results (Narrow results –> Digitized music). There are currently over 17,000 such links available.
• Catalog users: On average in 2015, the online catalog was visited by about 7,350 people per month over 35,000 visits (annually: 88,200 people with 418,200 page views).
• New cataloging program: A new, platform-independent cataloging program called Muscat is being developed in cooperation with the Swiss working group. A test version was sent to the Coordinating Committee. The program is expected to be released later in 2016.
• New publication in series B: The 32nd volume in this series was published: B/XVI: Catalogue raisonné of the Balinese Palm-Leaf Manuscripts with Music Notation. Described by Tilmann Seebass with the cooperation of Hedwig I. R. Hinzler (Henle Verlag: Munich, 2015).
• Series C: RISM is working with the IAML working group Access to Music Archives (AMA) to update Series C, Directory of Music Research Libraries, and make it available as an online database.
• RISM brochure: A new, updated version of the brochure RISM: An Overview (English-German) was published in 2015. It can be downloaded from the website. Printed copies may be obtained from the Zentralredaktion at no charge. An English-Russian version is also available.
And, as always:
• Corrections welcome: The Zentralredaktion increasingly receives suggestions and corrections from users. If you find something that should be corrected, please let us know by sending us your feedback and corrections.
• External databases welcome: RISM is interested in further partnerships with institutions and projects to import data, such as library OPACs or critical editions.
• Open data and linked open data: RISM data can be downloaded directly from the online catalog and reused under a CC-BY license. Libraries can therefore import records for their holdings into local catalogs. The Zentralredaktion has developed tools to simplify the data delivery process, including an SRU interface. RISM data have been reused in the local catalogs of the Bibliotheksservicezentrum (Library Service Centre) in Konstanz, the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, and the SLUB Dresden.
Here’s to a successful and productive 2016!
Image: Christoph Graupner’s unfinished (!) canon with 5,626 inversions, perhaps the most interesting manuscript we stumbled upon in 2015 (ca. 1730, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek in Darmstadt. RISM ID no. 450007135)
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