Music Ephemera within Library Collections: A Review of the Literature

While interest in including music ephemera in library collections continues to grow, there has been very little research into why it is important to collect and maintain such material within library collections, or the best ways to manage music ephemera collections. This paper presents an examination of research on the need for music ephemera in library collections along with the challenges involved in managing such collections. The literature review is synthesised from research gathered from 40 publications from countries including; New Zealand (UK), Australia, the United States of America (USA), Canada, and the United Kingdom (UK), and the date range of literature spans from 1941 to 2019 inclusive. It briefly examines the history of music and performing arts ephemera collections and looks at best practice for the management of ephemera in library collections including printed and e-ephemera. Content analysis was used to identify major research topics. As there is very little literature on music ephemera, it also explores the importance of performing arts and arts ephemera collections in libraries, with a focus on collecting and managing collections, along with the best practices for the digitisation of ephemera going forward. On the basis of the review, future research directions are discussed.