The Historic Sheet Music Collection and the L. Mae Stephenson MacIntosh Collection are housed in the Greer Music Library in closed stacks. This use policy ensures preservation of the collections, supports reasonable access to the materials, and maintains compliance with copyright law.
1. The HSMC and MacIntosh Collection are considered special collections of the Connecticut College Libraries.
2. The collections will be available for use during regular business hours, Monday-Friday.
3. The music librarian will be responsible for retrieving music in the collections.
4. All patrons (including faculty) must use the materials within the Greer Music Library.
5. HSMC and MacIntosh titles will not be eligible to go out on CTW* or interlibrary loan.
6. Patrons will not be allowed to photocopy the music. All of the public domain titles (pre-1923) have been digitized, however, and are freely accessible in Digital Commons for downloading and printing. However, upon request, library staff will provide a photocopy of any title in the public domain contingent upon condition of the sheet music. Some titles may be too fragile to photocopy.
7. The library staff will not photocopy works still in copyright unless the requestor presents a letter of permission to copy from the copyright holder.**
*We can, however, try to arrange a special loan for CTW use. The music would be sent to the special collections library of the requestor's home campus, and use would be restricted as above.
**Some libraries consider requests to use the music for research purposes to fall within fair use guidelines. If a researcher wants a small section of a piece photocopied, the library staff will do this. The patron must first fill out a copyright waiver. Under no circumstances, however, will the library copy the entire work without a letter of permission from the copyright holder.
7/2017
The Greer Music Library houses two special sheet music collections: The Historic Sheet Music Collection (HSMC) and the L. Mae Stephenson MacIntosh Sheet Music Collection. The titles have been cataloged and are searchable in the library's catalog, OneSearch. In addition to including traditional searchable information such as the composer, lyricist, title, and subject, the online records provide data (when applicable and obtainable) on first line of text, first line of chorus, graphic artist, list of songs with incipits in the advertisements, and descriptions of the cover art. Many sheet music covers include photographs of performers or composers, and subject access is provided for these whenever possible.
All public domain titles (pre-1924) have been digitized and are freely available for download and printing through the library's Digital Commons database. Click here Additional titles will be digitized and added to the repository each year as titles fall into public domain.
The Historic Sheet Music Collection (HSMC) consists primarily of popular music of the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century. Although most of the music is composed or arranged for voice with piano accompaniment, some pieces incorporate other instruments such as guitar, and some are for instrumental solo (primarily piano or guitar). A few classical works are also included in the collection.
The L. Mae Stephenson MacIntosh Sheet Music Collection consists primarily of popular music published between 1900 and the 1940's.
Sheet music can offer an interesting interdisciplinary research opportunity. The lyrics, cover art, and advertisements open a window on the society and culture of the time. Subjects range from popular love songs to laments to humorous ditties (including a song about Wheaties) - and everything else in between. Many songs reflect on love, loss, Ireland and the Irish, the U.S. Civil War, World War I, and World War II.
Please see separate tab for a description of the Jesse Greer Sheet Music Collection.
Some material may be disturbing, but must be viewed as historical artifacts for research purposes.
Please see the sidebar for the library's use policy
