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 A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

with music departments,

music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger i ...

libraries, radio and orchestra archives, university institutes, music documentation centers,

music publisher A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers began to play a role in the management of the intellectu ...

s, 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 ''bibliograph ...

and music

library science Library and information science (LIS)Library and Information Sciences is the name used in the Dewey Decimal Classification for class 20 from the 18th edition (1971) to the 22nd edition (2003). are two interconnected disciplines that deal with info ...

. It was founded in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to "promote international cooperation and standardization in such matters as

cataloging In library and information science, cataloging (American English, US) or cataloguing (British English, UK) is the process of creating metadata representing information resources, such as books, sound recordings, moving images, etc. Cataloging ...

, standards of service, personnel training and the exchange of materials between

."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 the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

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

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

and

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

in 1949, in

Lüneburg Lüneburg, officially the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg and also known in English as Lunenburg, is a town in the German Bundesland (Germany), state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of another Hanseatic League, Hanseatic city, Hambur ...

in 1950, and in

in 1951, the last one conducted by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

. The Accademia Nazionale

Luigi Cherubini Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore 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. Beethov ...

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

prevented anything from taking shape. The war had caused heavy losses at many

, 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 States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, 1900–1904), establishing a central office in each country responsible for microfilming 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. 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. As of 2025 there are 24 national branches with IAML presences in a further 10 countries. 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 began as IAML groups but later formed their own organizations.

Structure

The IAML Board comprises 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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

, immediate past president (2 years) or president-elect (1 year),

secretary general Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

, and four elected vice presidents. The Board governs IAML together with the (annual) General Assembly. National Branches and Subject Sections are represented respectively by the Forum of National Representatives and the Forum of Sections. IAML is affiliated with the

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is an international body representing the interests of people who rely on Library, libraries and information professionals. A non-governmental, not-for-profit organizati ...

(IFLA), the

International Music Council The International Music Council (IMC) was created in 1949 as UNESCO's advisory body on matters of music. The original request of the foundation of the IMC was under the Director of the UNESCO. It is based at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris, France, ...

, and the International Musicological Society (IMS).

Activities

In addition to annual conferences or congresses, IAML has implemented four main programmes, together known as the "R projects" of

musicology Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, ...

: ''Répertoire international des sources musicales'' (RISM), '' Répertoire international de littérature musicale'' (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 conferences or congresses 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. and have since run continuously, including an online-only meeting in 2020 during the Covid19 pandemic.

''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 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.

Notes

References

External links

*
RISM

RILM

RIPM

RIdIM
{{Authority control Organizations established in 1951 1951 establishments in France International cultural organizations Library associations * Musicology * Music bibliographies Published bibliographies Music organizations based in France