Documentation Centre for Music (DOMUS)

The Documentation Centre for Music (DOMUS) is the Special Collections Division of the Music Library which is situated on the Stellenbosch campus in the Konservatorium building.

We hold a substantial amount of rare and valuable collections of musicologists, musicians, music institutions and societies. These collections contain various formats, which include books, documents, photographs, music manuscripts, sound recordings and other materials. 

Primarily, the aim of DOMUS is the acquisition and preservation of rare materials representing South African demography, and to create access for research on rare South African music materials

Acquisitions include donations and bequests and are mostly of South African importance, yet also of international significance.
 

Opening Hours

Monday - Friday: 08:00 - 16:30
Saturday: Closed

Visiting us

Make an appointment

Our Collections


We house close to 70 collections of South African composers, performers, researchers and music societies. 

Besides the large collections of sheet music, sound recordings and books, the library owns a rare and unique collection of music manuscripts and artifacts, some dating from the sixteenth century.
 

Read more

 

About the collections

  • See Collections for an overview and general summaries of collections. Access to collection information takes place via finding aids and preliminary lists.
  • Our finding aids provide detailed information about individual collections whereas preliminary lists provide basic information on the content of collections.
  • Preliminary sorting lists: basic information on the content of collections
  • SUNDigital (digital collections)
     

Using the collections

  • No material may be borrowed from DOMUS.
  • Reproduction of selected material is possible depending on copyright, value, age and physical condition of the material. Please consult a staff member.
  • The use of digital cameras in the division is allowed.
  • DOMUS staff will retrieve requested items from the collections.


We serve

  • the lecturers, researchers, students and staff of the Department of Music/the Konservatorium and Africa Open Institute
  • other registered lecturers, researchers, students and staff of Stellenbosch University
  • researchers not affiliated with Stellenbosch University who want to consult DOMUS collection
  • members of the public who want to consult DOMUS collections
     

General services

We offer

  • information services
  • retrieval of original manuscripts and other material in DOMUS

     
     
Music library guide

We assist

  • clients with bibliographic searches
  • researchers working on DOMUS collections 
DOMUS library guide

We give

  • basic training in using archival material




     

Contact us

Special Collections librarian
Dr Santie de Jongh
+27 21 808 2597