Sheet music, a genre of printed music with many difficulties of
definition and categorization, has posed a serious problem of
bibliographical control to many libraries throughout this century.
Cataloging Sheet Music: Guidelines for Use with AACR2 and the MARC
Format has been written primarily for the use of catalogers in archives,
libraries, and museums to assist them in the preparation of standard
cataloging records in print or electronic format. The work ties the
Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, a recognized cataloging standard, to
the genre. There are explanations of music cataloging practice intended
to aid non-music catalogers in the use of this tool. Other discussions
are designed to expand the music cataloger's understanding of publishing
practices somewhat peculiar to sheet music. While much of the content
emphasizes the description of the music, there are also sections devoted
to subject access to illustrations, first line/chorus/refrain text,
illustrators, engravers, and publishers. There are extensive
reproductions of title pages from the eighteenth through mid-twentieth
centuries that are accompanied by examples of the cataloging. Each
example includes three levels of description--minimal, core, and
enhanced.