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Colby (Edward E.) Papers
SC0242
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Edward E. Colby papers
Identifier/Call Number: SC0242
Physical Description:
30 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1957-1997
Physical Location: Special Collections and University
Archives materials are stored offsite and must be paged 48 hours in advance. For more
information on paging collections, see the department's website:
http://library.stanford.edu/spc.
Language of Material:
English .
The materials are open for research use. Audio-visual materials are not available in
original format, and must be reformatted to a digital use copy.
Edward Colby was the first music librarian at Stanford and co-founder of the Archive of
Recorded Sound. Colby joined the Stanford staff in 1949, a year after the Department of
Music was founded, and retired in 1978. During his tenure, the music library grew from a
collection of about 800 books and scores and a small number of 78 rpm recordings to a
research collection that could support graduate-level programs. The Archive of Recorded
Sound, a collection of historically important recordings, which Colby founded in 1958 with
alumnus William R. Moran, is now the largest such collection in the western United
States.
Colby was born in Oakland on July 5, 1912. He attended the University of
California-Berkeley, where he graduated in 1935 with a bachelor's degree in music
composition. After his graduation, Colby began working at the Oakland Public Library and
joined the library's music department staff in 1938.
Colby joined the Army in 1941 and worked as an Army librarian as well as in Army
intelligence in China, where he also served as a church organist for a Chinese Christian
church and played in a pick-up marching band for the opening of a section of the Burma
Road.
After his return to Oakland, a paper Colby delivered at a 1948 conference attracted the
attention of Music Department faculty, who hired him to become the university's music
librarian. In addition to his work as librarian, Colby taught a graduate course in music
bibliography at Stanford. He earned a master's degree in music from Stanford in 1956.
Colby's "vision of collection development and public services directed Stanford into the
forefront of music libraries," said Garrett Bowles, who worked with Colby at Stanford as
assistant music librarian.
On his retirement from Stanford, Colby was cited as "a pioneer in the scholarly use of
sound recordings" and a "leader in the preservation of every form of recording medium." A
Campus Report article about his retirement noted that no list of achievements could begin to
describe the special quality of his generous service to the university.
Colby, who died in 2006, was survived by his wife, Helen, of San Jose; and two daughters,
Lisa Christiansen of San Jose and Jeanne Colby of Mountain View.
[identification of item], Edward E. Colby Papers (SC0242). Dept. of Special Collections and
University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
The contents of this collections consist primarily of correspondence, reference queries,
interdepartmental memos, collection contents, operational records, and acquisition records
of the Music Library and Archive of Recorded Sound during Colby's tenure as Head
Librarian.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must
be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford
University Libraries, Stanford, California 94305-6064. Consent is given on behalf of Special
Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright
owner, heir(s) or assigns. See:
http://library.stanford.edu/spc/using-collections/permission-publish.
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of
digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound
Libraries -- Special collections -- Music
Music libraries -- California.