Conference Agenda

The paper presents the history of the Croatian branch of IAML—the Croatian Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centers (HUMKAD)—as well as the current activities of the branch. The first Croatian contact with IAML was established in the late 1960s through the participation of Croatian representatives in the Yugoslav National RILM Committee.

Contact continued in the 1990s via individual enthusiastic music librarians with IAML representatives. During that period, the first Croatian delegates attended international IAML congresses and British branch study weekends, even before the official founding of the Croatian branch in 2004. Today, the Croatian branch of IAML has 15 individual members from 11 institutions—public, school, and university libraries, scientific institutes, and music information centers—from Zagreb, Karlovac, Zadar, and Rijeka. The branch activities include education of staff and users of various music collections, promoting the importance of music collections and musical heritage, and contributing to the preservation of printed, manuscript, and recorded music material. Members participate in annual IAML conferences (within budget constraints). The association also strives to attract new members from other regions of Croatia. The paper presents the association's activities through important projects related to the work of significant individuals (Franjo Ksaver Kuhač, Boris Papandopulo), professional assemblies (round table Subject Indexing in Music), virtual exhibitions (Mountains as Composer’s Inspiration, Animals in Music), lectures, and regular and topical activities (Croatian National Book Day, Books Night, Free Music Antiquarian Book/Sheet Music Sale, commemorating significant anniversaries).

In 2025, after 14 years of hiatus, the 8th issue of Biblioteka Muzyczna. Music Library, the periodical of the Music Libraries Section of the Polish Librarians’ Association - the Polish National Branch of IAML - was published. Its release came at a special moment, as 2024 marked the Section’s 60th anniversary. This jubilee provided an excellent opportunity to refresh the journal’s format and to transition from a traditional printed edition to a fully electronic version.

The presentation aims to outline the history of Biblioteka Muzyczna. Music Library. It emerged in the late 1970s as the first and only professional bulletin for music libraries, meeting the community’s needs for information sharing, documentation, and the broader promotion of knowledge about music collections. In the following decades, it evolved from a printed publication into a fully “born-digital” journal, responding to technological developments and the expectations of its readership.

The presentation will discuss the key stages in the journal’s development, its role in fostering professional integration, the themes and structure of its content and its significance within the broader context of IAML’s activities. The analysis of the history of Biblioteka Muzyczna. Music Library will demonstrate how the shift in medium affects the preservation of its informational and documentation mission in the digital era.

This paper examines the Russian dimension of the life and work of Vladimir Mikhailovich Fedorov (1901–1979), a French musicologist and one of the founders of IAML. Fedorov was born and grew up in Russia. His father was a prominent political figure and involved in the anti-Bolshevik resistance. At eighteen, Vladimir left Russia with his family and settled in Paris. There, he completed his education and joined French musical circles while keeping strong ties with the Russian émigré community. Throughout his life, he maintained a deep interest in Russian music, reflected in his publications and work in international music organizations.

Archival collections in Russia shed light on these connections. In the early 1930s, Fedorov studied Mussorgsky and corresponded with Pavel Lamm, editor of the composer’s Complete Works. From the mid-1950s, he played an important role in connecting Soviet musicology with international projects such as RILM and RISM, establishing professional contacts in Moscow and Leningrad. The largest body of archival material consists of his letters to musicologists Grigory Shneerson (1901–1982) and Vasily Kiselev (1902–1975). These letters reveal the character of professional exchange and the challenges of international cooperation during the Soviet period.

This paper provides an overview of these sources, preserved in the Russian National Museum of Music and the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, and examines Fedorov’s role as a bridge between Russian and Western music scholarship. It highlights the significance of his efforts in linking Russian music research to global music library and archival initiatives.