The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) is a virtual library containing over 4,000 public domain musical scores as well as scores from composers who are weilling to share their music. IMSLP also encourages the exchange of musical ideas both in the form of musical works and in the analysis of existing ones.
Learning Goals:
To gather all public domain music scores and scores of all contemporary composers who wish to release their work to the public free of charge. To facilitate the exchange of musical ideas outside of compositions. To develop a community of dedicated musicians and music lovers who can use the site as a platform for enjoying music.
Target Student Population:
Advanced high school; college and university; music scholars/researchers.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
A working knowledge of music.
Type of Material:
Scanned musical scores in PDF format
Recommended Uses:
Excellent ressource for freely obtaining all kind of musical scores by music students and a virtual forum for the exchange of ideas and current news of interest to this particular online community of scholar/musicians.
Technical Requirements:
Browser, Acrobat reader
Evaluation and Observation
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
An excellent effort to make scores readily available to all students and teachers.
Concerns:
Scores are scanned from editions that no longer have copyright. The quality of the scanning is not always optimal but is generally good.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
This site has unlimited future potential to have a major impact on the musical community of scholars, researchers, composers, and performers. The impact of the site will continue to grow as it expands its user base.
Concerns:
The quality of some scores may not be the best. The user must use caution with some of them.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
Overall very user-friendly. Navigation is smealess for the most part. The site is rich in materials and options and the user should allow time to explore, enjoy, and grow with increasing visits to the site over an extended period of time.
Concerns:
It might be good to provide a "Home" link on internal site pages.
Other Issues and Comments:
This site represents a major contribution to the profession. It represents online educational resources at the very best. It will only become better and better over time.
