Jazz fake-books as a resource in the general library

Abstract

Purpose – This article aims to introduces generalist librarians who have music among their subject responsibilities to jazz fake-books as a library resource. Design/methodology/approach – The article begins with a review of jazz as a subject in the professional literature of both librarianship and music education. The second section discusses the origin and history of fake-books, while the third offers suggested selection criteria. This is followed by a bibliography of recommended fake-books, all of which were in print at the time of writing, along with information to facilitate the acquisition process. Findings – Although fake-books in electronic form have become available in recent years, they require an investment in both hardware and software on the purchaser's part. They also carry end-user licensing agreements that make them impractical as library purchases. Print fake-books remain a worthwhile area of study for collection development librarians. Originality/value – In preparing this article the author discovered that jazz as printed music has been largely ignored in library literature, and has been treated only occasionally in scholarly literature in general.