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Classical Music Library.

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Classical Music Library. Published by Alexander Street Press. http://www.classical.com. [Requires an audio-enabled computer with an Internet connection. Microsoft Windows users need Windows 98, Internet Explorer 5.5 or Netscape 6, Macromedia Flash Player 6, and Windows Media Player 7 (Internet Explorer users only). Macintosh users need Apple OS9, Internet Explorer 5.2 or Netscape 6, and Macromedia Flash Player 6. Library subscriptions begin at $995 annually for three simultaneous users.]

Classical Music Library (CML) has made some significant upgrades to its service in the year since it was first reviewed in these pages (Notes 60, no. 4 [June 2004]: 1009-12). There have been some improvements in usability and even bibliographic control, but the most significant are in the area of repertoire and sound quality.

Classical Music Library was acquired in November 2004 by Alexander Street Press, a publisher of electronic collections in the humanities founded in 2000. So far the merger has not changed the look or functionality of CML. Alexander Street intends to incorporate parts of CML's content into cross-disciplinary products, so that a collection focusing on a particular time and place can be enriched by recorded examples of that culture's music.

In the past year, CML has added several large recording labels--including Hanssler, ASV, Lyrichord, and Bridge Records--and one major label--EMI Classics--to its catalog. These agreements have enabled it to more than double the number of available tracks, bringing the total to over thirty-five thousand. The service continues to negotiate...