A UK NATIONAL CENTRE FOR THE ORGAN

DAVID BAKER

A PAPER DELIVERED TO THE OHS SYMPOSIUM
ON ORGAN ARCHIVES, PRINCETON, U.S.A., APRIL 2003

COLLECTIONS
The RCO has an excellent library; a detailed history of the collections may be found in the RCO Yearbook for 1999-2000 and 2000-2001. The library includes printed, manuscript and sound material; it is especially strong in organ music and related literature, though choral music is also well represented. The most valuable manuscript material is currently on loan to the British Library. It is intended that these 'special collections' be placed with the main RCO stock at Curzon Street.
   The RCO and BIOS have agreed to place the British Organ Archive (BOA) and the National Pipe Organ Register (NPOR) with the RCO's collections at Curzon Street. While the BOA's real strength is in primary source material emanating from British organ-builders, it also has a sizeable library of (mainly) books and journals on the organ and its music. The BOA has now outgrown its present home at the Central Library in Birmingham and archival material has to be stored elsewhere to avoid the rejection of further important donations.
   The NPOR has rapidly become the web-based database for information about organs within the United Kingdom, even though much remains to be done in terms of completeness and accuracy of entries. The NPOR provides links to the BOA and to material from The Directory of British Organ Builders (DBOB), now available in more detail in hard copy. The server for, and management of, the NPO is an ad hominem arrangement that will cease once Dr Mike Sayers retires in two years' time; The NPOR will then move to Curzon Street as part of the RCOL project.
   The RCO's acquisitions policy aims 'to ensure the breadth of the collection both in new publications and historical source material'. This is complemented by periodic donations and bequests, both of funds and collections. The RCO benefits in particular from the Dalton Bequest; without this money, the RCO would not easily be able to provide an annual budget for acquisitions or conservation, where a £68,000 programme of work is said to be long overdue. The material now at The British Library is available to RCO members through microfilm.
   The same is true of the BOA, though the emphasis is largely on the acquisition of organ-builders' archives rather than on the further development of printed material. Since the appointment of a Project Development Officer in 1999, the BOA has significantly increased its acquisition of major archives. This has caused major problems in terms of space occupied and required (see below). BIOS will place the museum materials currently housed at Reading University with the BOA when the Curzon Street building is ready.
   The RCO and BIOS collections' catalogue data will be integrated with the UCE's Electronic Library (UCEEL) and complement the rich collective resource that is made up from the several major libraries in Birmingham. The 'metadata' produced from the generation of machine-readable catalogue data and the loading of the NPOR and related material will be integrated with national repositories such as the Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS) to form part of the Distributed National Resource (DNR) and the Distributed National Electronic Resource (DNER).

THE VISION
Within the next five years, the partners aim to ensure that the joint library, archive and digital collections will be the UK 'library of last resort' for all matters relating to the organ, providing a unique resource for the study of the organ, its construction, repertoire and performance practice; a designated Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) resource centre; an internationally recognized set of collections comparable with its equivalents in Europe and North America; and at the heart of a unique centre for organological study that will enhance the partners' status and reputation, both jointly and separately.
   There will be a high level of co-operation between the partners in respect of joint development; substantial resource devoted to the maintenance and development of the collections and associated services; a significant plan for the application of information and communications technology to all aspects of the preservation and management of, and the access to, the collections; internet connection to major resources, via high-quality 'metadata' and 'digitized surrogates'; a plan for attracting additional funding, donations and bequests to enhance both the value of the collections and the partners' ability to preserve, maintain, extend and make them available; and the development of research and teaching programmes at postgraduate (MMus) level.
   The project represents a rare, exciting opportunity. The partnership agreement is well-set and the Curzon Street site has been made available to the RCO, on behalf of the project partnership. It is a wonderful building — a grade I listed station that had its heyday in the 1840s, declined, was turned into a hotel, was taken back to its original size in the 1960s and now languishes, awaiting refurbishment.
   A feasibility study has shown that the building is well capable of housing the library and archive collections of the RCO and BIOS to the requisite British Standard BS 5454. The re-use of Curzon Street will be an important element in the regeneration of the inner city and also fits in with the government's 'Out-of-London' initiative. It is expected that a large grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund will be forthcoming and other funding sources have already been identified and monies set aside. The total budget for the project is of the order of £163.6m. Once the building plans are well advanced, there will be a supplementary development of programmes of research and teaching in the Arts and Humanities.

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT
A detailed collections management and development policy is now being formulated between the three partners; it will include the collection of RCO study materials, all important currently available material on the subject of the organ, with special reference to the UK, important older and out-of-print literature and other related material, significant UK-based archives and other unique material and working collections of organ-builders, performers, musicologists, etc. The collections of Felix Aprahamian are being given to the Curzon Street library.

TECHNOLOGY and DATA
There will be 'pervasive technology' within the building, probably through use of wireless systems, with 'plug-and-go docking points' throughout the building. A significant benefit of the partnership with the UCE will be expertise in the technology for future requirements. The RCO and BIOS Library catalogues, the BOA and the NPOR will remain separate databases, but will be integrated for the purposes of research. As much as possible of the stock will be catalogued in machine-readable form before Curzon Street opens.

CHRONOLOGY and MANAGEMENT
Agreement has already been reached with regard to the Curzon Street site and the necessary memoranda of understanding between the partners will shortly be signed. A Programme Board has been set up and a Programme Director appointed. An initial programme of work has been determined and a feasibility study undertaken concerning retrospective catalogue conversion. HLF funding is awaited. Once this is forthcoming the necessary work will begin. A process for determining layout, services and technical infrastructure is already in place. A two-year programme of projects is envisaged which will culminate in a hoped-for opening in summer 2005.
   The partners have made sure that the business plans are adequate for the library collections and services once the building is open and are confident that the resource can be sustained at a level appropriate to a national collection.
   
This is a most exciting project and one that will give the United Kingdom a national organological resource that will stimulate a significant interest and activity relating to the organ and foster the further development of teaching, research and international collaboration.

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