Cataloguing software Muscat

Muscat is an open-source framework for cataloging music documents (handwritten and printed music scores). The project was initiated in 2002 by the RISM United Kingdom working group and then developed further by the RISM Digital Center. In November 2013, Muscat was selected by the RISM International Board as the data management solution for the entire RISM project. Since early 2014, Muscat has been developed in collaboration with the RISM Editorial Center in Frankfurt thanks to the decision of the RISM-UK and the RISM Digital Center (at the time the Association Swiss RISM Office) to make it open-source. The entire RISM dataset was migrated into Muscat in 2016 with the release of Muscat 3.0. Muscat is hosted on servers at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz. There are currently (2020) more than 300 registered users in Muscat, around half of whom are regular and active contributors.

Collaboration with the RISM Editorial Center

Since 2015, the RISM Editorial Center and the RISM Digital Center have an agreement for the development and the management of Muscat.

The RISM Editorial Center is responsible for:

• The management of data and the assistance to the users
• The supervision of the redaction of the cataloguing guidelines

The RISM Digital Center is responsible for:

• The management of the developments, of the source code and of the releases of Muscat
• The management of the installation of Muscat on the server at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin

Learn more about the technical details of Muscat on its dedicated website.