History
In 1968, the Scottish Music Archive was initially housed at the University of Glasgow. On 16 April 1969, the date of its official opening, the Archive collection represented some 60 composers and contained approximately 1000 items including O'Connell.The collections were founded by Professor Frederick Rimmer.
Because of the resurgence in composition in Scotland during the twentieth century and particularly since the 1950s the first priority of the Archive was to collate material dating from 1920 to the present day but, as interest in its work grew, music from other periods became increasingly available and the remit of the Archive was substantially extended. The development of the recordings collection was greatly aided by the granting of permission to hold music broadcast by the BBC and in many instances the Centre now houses the only copies of recordings of many important performances.
The Archive was re-named the Scottish Music Information Centre in 1985 when it became an independent organisation with charitable status and moved to Bowmont Gardens in Glasgow's West End. The collection has grown steadily and now comprises approximately 17,000 separate items with a much broader spectrum of appeal, including early and traditional forms and some jazz and popular music.
In November 2003, SMIC relaunched itself as the Scottish Music Centre, with a new dynamic and database driven website that includes an online catalogue, directory and events listings, thus positioning itself as a national information point and resource.
2006 saw the Centre move to its current premises in the Merchant City's City Halls. A fresh and vibrant location, the building is shared with both the BBC SSO and Glasgow Cultural Enterprises, making it a one-stop shop for cultural services in the city.
Current projects for the library include a programme of conservation, re-shelving and classification and the development of a new computer system prior to an exciting and ambitious scheme to re-catalogue the entire collection using multimedia applications.
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