Preferred Preservation Formats for Digital Music Scores: A Survey of University Music Faculty

Abstract

Digitally notated music scores are widely created and distributed. But the collaborative nature of the online environment and variety of file formats and software choices, both proprietary and open-source, present unique challenges for archivists when it comes to sharing, preserving, and providing access to these digital scores now and into the future. This article addresses the advantages and disadvantages of file formats for digital notated music scores that offer the greatest potential for long-term preservation, sustainability, and future accessibility. These formats, outlined in the Library of Congress's Recommended Formats Statement, are MusicXML, the Music Encoding Initiative (MEI) schema, and PDF/UA/A. The authors conducted a survey of eighty-nine music professors at twenty-two universities to determine the extent to which they utilize these different file formats as well as digital preservation best practices in their work. All respondents who create musical scores use digital notation software. While most utilize PDF and discuss this format with their students, far fewer use MusicXML and MEI. Only 46 percent were aware of the principles of digital preservation. The article concludes with a detailed analysis of the results from this survey, which revealed ways in which information professionals can educate faculty about responsible measures that will ensure the long-term accessibility and research potential of digital music scores in an ever-changing digital world.