IAML President and British Library Lead Curator visits INET-md

Rupert Ridgewell, President of the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres (IAML) and Lead Curator of Printed Music at the British Library, visited INET-md for a session dedicated to the role of libraries, archives and documentation centres within the international music ecosystem.

On 21 September, INET-md welcomed Rupert Ridgewell, a leading international figure in the field of music documentation and heritage. As Lead Curator of Printed Music at the British Library in London, he is responsible for a collection of around 1.6 million items, and since 2023 he has served as President of the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres (IAML).

The visit took place within the framework of the Permanent Seminar in Historical and Cultural Studies in Music at NOVA FCSH and coincided with the year in which IAML celebrates its 75th anniversary. Founded in 1951 under the auspices of UNESCO, the association currently brings together around 1,600 members in 40 countries and constitutes an international network of professionals working in music libraries, archives, documentation and information, promoting international cooperation that is essential to the study and understanding of musical sources dispersed across different countries and institutions.

During the seminar, Rupert Ridgewell presented the history of the association and its role in the preservation, study and accessibility of musical heritage, highlighting its links with the International Musicological Society (IMS), with which IAML collaborates in organising meetings and supporting four major documentation projects: RISM, dedicated to musical sources; RILM, to music bibliography; RIPM, to the musical periodical press; and RIdIM, to visual documentation relating to music, dance and the dramatic arts. He also referred to IAML’s collaboration with the International Music Council (IMC) and the International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance (ICTMD), bringing together documentation professionals, researchers and musicians.

In the field of librarianship and archives, Ridgewell highlighted IAML’s work with the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and the International Council on Archives (ICA), particularly on issues relating to copyright, licensing and digital access. He stressed the importance of ensuring that the specific characteristics of music documentation are taken into account in these discussions and presented IAML initiatives concerning cataloguing standards, artificial intelligence and the licensing of digital scores. He also addressed prospects for collaboration with UNESCO aimed at strengthening the presence of music within the Memory of the World Programme.

The presentation was followed by a discussion focusing on practical questions concerning the support IAML can provide to different types of institutions, from public libraries serving less specialised audiences to libraries holding heritage collections and those supporting orchestras and bands. Training, knowledge sharing and contact with professionals facing similar challenges were identified as important resources. Participants also discussed the possibility of establishing a Portuguese branch of IAML, which could bring institutions and professionals closer together and provide greater continuity and visibility to the work being carried out in Portugal.

Ridgewell’s presence at INET-md thus provided an opportunity to bring together musicological research, documentary heritage and contemporary practices in the preservation of and access to music information, at a particularly symbolic moment for IAML, which in 2026 marks three quarters of a century of international activity.