No, Ralph, I am afraid it does not apply to music of any age.
Although I (and a few others) have been urging the RBMS Bib Standards
Cte for years to widen the scope of their rules to include other
formats (with my own interest being esp. the scores format), this has
not yet happened.  So, until DCRB includes more formats, the DCRB core
is only intended to be co-existent with the books format.
                                --Jain Fletcher, UCLA

On Thu, 21 May 1998 20:31:18 -0500 Ralph Papakhian
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> hello,
> although i'm completely baffled by the idea of a "core standard"
> for rare books, i do want to inquire if this core also applies
> to rare (old) printed music. does it?
> --ralph p.
>
> Robert Maxwell said
> >
> > To Rare Book and Special Collections Librarians,
> >
> > We invite you to review the latest draft of the Core Standard for Rare
> > Books (DCRB Core). This supercedes the draft that has been on the RBMS
> > Bibliographic Standards Committee (BSC) home page for about six months. The
> > updated version that takes its place was altered according to the input
> > given via electronic mail, by the comments made at the hearing at ALA
> > Mid-winter and finally, by the comments made by the PCC Standing Committee
> > on Standards. The first two sets of comments convinced the Task Group to
> > omit the transcription recommendation and the comments of the PCC Cte
> > convinced us to format the standard in the same way as the others
> > (field-by-field guidelines, with footnotes). We believe that the result is
> > quite useful.  Assuming that this draft meets with general approval during
> > this review, it is probable that it will be granted official approval by
> > ALA Annual (June 1998).
> >
> > As a reminder about the background of the DCRB core standard: it is a
> > standard for applying less-than-full cataloging for selected books from
> > special collections or rare book departments or institutions. It has been
> > created in alliance with the Program for Cooperative Cataloging, which has
> > been developing "core" standards for all formats. The RBMS Bibliographic
> > Standards Committee believed that the overall Core Standard for Books was
> > not sufficient guidance for those who treat special books material, so
> > worked to develop an alternative guideline to be used in conjunction with
> > its cataloging rules, Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Books (DCRB).
> >
> > Since selection of books to be treated as "core" could be in the purview of
> > any combination of bibliographers, selectors, curators,
> > catalogers--possibly even administrators--and will certainly have some
> > impact on users, we continue to be interested in response from as wide a
> > range of people possible from the rare book community.  The current version
> > of the draft, with more information about the standard, can be accessed on
> > the BSC home page under "Committee documents":
> >
> > http://www.lib.byu.edu/~catalog/people/rlm/bsc/home.htm
> >
> > Please note when you are there that there is an important link to the PCC
> > Core Standard for Books that must be looked at for a full comprehension of
> > the DCRB Core standard. Once there, if you are interested in learning more
> > about the program and its purpose, you can navigate around that page to
> > find useful background and information.
> >
> > Please also note that there is a link both on the BSC home page and on the
> > Core document itself to a set of examples prepared by Jain Fletcher showing
> > how rare core records might compare with full records.
> >
> >    We are interested in hearing your comments, both on the DCRB Core and on
> > the accompanying examples.
> >
> > Robert L. Maxwell   -   Chair, RBMS Bibliographic Standards Committee
> > Special Collections and Ancient Languages Cataloger
> > 6428 Harold B. Lee Library
> > Brigham Young University
> > Provo, UT 84602
> > (801) 378-5568
> > [log in to unmask]
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Jain Fletcher   -   Chair, PCC Task Group on Developing DCRB Core Std
> > Head, Monographic Cataloging Section
> > University Research Library - UCLA
> > Box 951575
> > Los Angeles, California    90095-1575
> > phone # - (310) 825-1337
> > e-mail:  [log in to unmask]
> > FAX #:  (310) 206-4974
> >