IAML International Association of Music Libraries

Twenty institutional members still continue their activities in the framework of the Czech national branch of IAML, namely scientific and public libraries and also libraries affiliated with educational institutions. Within the last year, a two-day branch plenary session took place in the Library of Hradec Králové, on 2021 October, 2004. Presented news and information's dealing with activities of members were accepted also by colleagues from Slovakia. They enriched the session by interesting reports on the work of Slovak branch of IAML with stimuli for a traditional cooperation of both branches in perspective. A special seminar was organised for participants of that session, devoted to the ways of exploitation of music data bases in the musical libraries.

Next two seminars were focused on education and were organised in Brno at the Library of J. Mahen on the subject of Mannerism in the Development of Music. The seminars were also a forum for the mutual meeting of members of the national IAML branch with representatives of nonmember institutions, where the dissemination of information on activities of IAML occurs among all participants of the seminar. Thus, music librarians get a good overview on current professional problems.

The second part of the seminar also had an educational function. This seminar was held in Spring 2004 through the collaboration of three libraries: the National Library of the Czech Republic, the Library of the Music Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts, and the Moravian Library. It was focused on music librarianship, this time especially on processing of musical and sound documents. It took place in the Moravian Library in Brno.

The Board of the Czech national branch of IAML is deeply interested in problems concerning the lending of sound documents. An evaluation of the impact of those services according to the demands of the Collective Licence Agreement, which represents a valid norm in the Czech Republic, needs careful attention. It was also the reason why the Board initiated the amendment of a copyright law on the base of analyses of impacts of the Collective Licence Agreement on the work of musical libraries. The amendment is currently under debate.

Supporting the newly established musical librarians was provided by the national branch of IAML by rendering collections of musical literature and sound documents during an establishing of musical department of State Scientific Library in Prešov (Slovakia). The following election of members of the Board of the Czech branch of IAML will be held on 1819 October during its plenary session in the newly opened Czech Museum of Music.

Zuzana Petrášková
IAML-Czech Branch

• More reports for 2005