The International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres (IAML), also known as ''Association Internationale des Bibliothèques, Archives et Centres de Documentation Musicaux'' (AIBM) and ''Internationale Vereinigung der Musikbibliotheken, Musikarchive und Musikdokumentationszentren'' (IVMB), is an organisation of libraries with music departments, music conservatory libraries, radio and orchestra archives,

university institute An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes can ...

s, music documentation centers, music publishers, and music dealers that fosters international cooperation and promotes music

bibliography Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...

and music

library science Library science (often termed library studies, bibliothecography, and library economy) is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and ...

. It was founded in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1951 and its three official languages are English, German, and French.

History

IAML was founded after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

to "promote international cooperation and standardization in such matters as cataloging, standards of service, personnel training and the exchange of materials between libraries."Anders Lönn, "International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres," The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edition, 2002, vol. 12, p. 491. The founding of IAML was a three-year process from 1949 to 1951. It was part of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

' mission to promote world peace. The founding conferences were held in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

and

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

in 1949, in Lüneburg in 1950, and in

in 1951, the last one conducted by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

. The Accademia Nazionale

Luigi Cherubini Luigi Cherubini ( ; ; 8 or 14 SeptemberWillis, in Sadie (Ed.), p. 833 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian Classical and Romantic composer. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the gre ...

celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1949, an event that brought around 60 music librarians, musicologists, and museum professionals from twelve countries to

. This was the first meeting of music librarians from around the world; plans for a separate organization had been discussed since the founding of the

International Musicological Society The International Musicological Society (IMS) is a membership-based organisation for musicology at the international level, with headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. It seeks the advancement of musicological research through international coopera ...

in 1927, but the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

prevented anything from taking shape. The war had caused heavy losses at many libraries, and international cooperation was of utmost importance. The goals of the Florence conference included updating the status and locations of the musical sources described in Robert Eitner's ''Biographisch-Bibliographisches Quellen-Lexikon der Musiker und Musikgelehrten der christlichen Zeitrechnung bis zur Mitte des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts'' (

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, 1900–1904), establishing a central office in each country responsible for

microfilming Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either photographic film, films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the origin ...

musical sources from before 1800, and addressing issues related to music cataloging. The first goal was realized in 1952 with the founding of the

Répertoire International des Sources Musicales A repertoire () is a list or set of dramas, operas, musical compositions or roles which a company or person is prepared to perform. Musicians often have a musical repertoire. The first known use of the word ''repertoire'' was in 1847. It is a l ...

. In 1951, IAML had 120 participants from 23 countries, by 1952 their membership had grown to 230. Membership grew to about 1,100 members in 39 countries in 1969 and 1,850 members in 40 countries in 1991, with national branches in 26 countries as of 2017. IAML has professional sections, subject sections, study group, and project groups that focus on particular aspects of music librarianship and documentation. Two professional organizations, the International Association of Music Information Centres and the

International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

began as IAML groups but later formed their own organizations.

Structure

The IAML board of directors is made up of the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

, past president,

secretary general Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

, and vice presidents. The board governs IAML together with a Council (which includes representatives from national branches and professional sections) and the General Assembly. IAML is affiliated with the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), the International Music Council, and the IMS.

Activities

IAML holds annual conferences and has implemented four main programmes, together known as the "R projects" of

musicology Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

: ''Répertoire international des sources musicales'' (RISM), ''

Répertoire international de littérature musicale Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale (International Repertory of Music Literature; Internationales Repertorium der Musikliteratur), commonly known by its acronym RILM, is a nonprofit organization that offers digital collections and a ...

'' (RILM), ''Répertoire international d'iconographie musicale'' (RIdIM) and '' Répertoire international de la presse musicale'' (RIPM). IAML publishes a journal, ' 'Fontes Artis Musicae'', with articles on music librarianship and bibliography as well as reports on IAML conferences and on the progress of the "R projects".

Annual conferences

IAML holds annual meetings in different locations around the world. Occasionally, meetings are held jointly with other professional organizations. After the founding meetings held from 1949 to 1951, annual meetings commenced in 1954.

''Répertoire international des sources musicales''

RISM was founded in 1953 and deals with the bibliography of sources in music and music literature from

Greek antiquity Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...

up to 1800.

''Répertoire international de littérature musicale''

RILM, founded in 1966, covers music literature through two online databases: RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, which extends from 1967 to the present, and RILM Retrospective Abstracts of Music Literature (RILM Retro), which covers literature from before 1967.

''Répertoire international d'iconographie musicale''

RIdIM, founded in 1971, deals with visual materials relating to music.

''Répertoire international de la presse musicale''

RIPM, founded in 1980, preserves, reconstructs, and makes available music periodicals originally published from ca. 1760 to 1966. By 2014, RIPM has indexed 215 music periodicals, published 306 printed volumes and a database of more than 726,000 annotated citations. Furthermore, through the RIPM Online Archive and e-Library, RIPM has made available 166 music journals in full-text.