Dance on Disc 1999 contains the complete catalog of the Dance Collection of the New York Public Library, considered by many as the leading repository for materials on dance. This CD also represents a cumulation of the ten‐volume Dictionary Catalog of the Dance Collection (G.K. Hall, 1974), and the supplements that have been published as the annual Bibliographic Guide to Dance.
Two files are contained with this product: a bibliographic file and an authority file. The bibliographic file contains approximately 223,000 records representing the entire Dance Collection holdings which include books, articles, journals, videotapes, films, manuscripts, clipping files, music scores, annotated dance scores, original drawings, lithographs, photographs, engravings, playbills, pamphlets, programs, diaries, memorabilia, and more.
The authority file contains a thesaurus of over 8,000 subject headings with cross references specifically geared toward dance, standardized forms for proper names of people and dance companies with cross references and clarifying notes, and special notes on the first performances of staged choreographed works. The cataloging on this disc follows the Anglo‐American Cataloging Rules (AACR); and subject headings follow Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH).
Searches for information are performed similar to the use of an online public automated catalog (OPAC) that one encounters today in most libraries. A 14‐page user’s manual accompanies the product and assists the user in performing simple and complex searches, displaying search results, printing and exporting records, and working with multiple databases. This product is of immense importance to conservatories and departments of dance in colleges and universities across the country, as it provides access to the largest and well‐known collection of dance materials in the world.
The G.K. Hall products, which are essentially copies of library databases, have always been of value and use to user groups that are physically located away from these repositories, yet need access to the information and materials contained in these collections. I highly recommend this product to dance companies, dance conservatories, and university departments of dance as an access method to the world’s best known collection of dance materials.
