July / August 2001 Vol. 33, no. 4

The East Coast Meets the West Coast: Music CD Number 25 000 Catalogued

The Music Cataloguing Team, Acquisitions and Bibliographic Services, is pleased to announce that on May 23, 2001, the Library’s 25 000th musical compact disc was catalogued. Disc number 25 000, A Night at the Orpheum, is a blend of instrumental and vocal music, featuring Rita MacNeil performing with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Scott Macmillan.

The National Library started cataloguing compact discs soon after the format was introduced in 1985. In addition to compact discs, the Library continues to acquire and catalogue music sound recordings and music videos in all formats for its Recorded Sound and Video Collection.

The Library currently holds more than 16 000 cassettes, 29 000 LPs, 45 000 78s, 48 000 45-rpm discs, 600 videos and numerous other, almost forgotten, commercial formats such as open-reel tapes, piano rolls, cylinders and 8-track tapes. In addition, the Recorded Sound and Video Collection includes some 27 000 archival recordings. The Library's collections also contains over 13 000 non-music sound recordings and videos, in various formats.

At more than 210 000 titles, the National Library continues to develop a world-class collection of music recordings written, performed, produced by Canadians or pertaining to Canada. It is a tremendous sound and visual heritage to explore!

For further information regarding the Recorded Sound and Video Collection, contact Music Division
Telephone: (613) 996-7510 or 1-877-896-9481 (toll free in Canada)
Fax: (613) 952-2895
E-mail: mus@nlc-bnc.ca