Studies in Sustainability: The Development of Three Long-Term Digital Projects in Music

abstract: This article explores different features that might account for the longevity of three digital projects in music: The Arnold Schönberg Center website, the Digital Mozart Edition, and the Ricercar Projects led by Richard Freedman. Four characteristics repeatedly emerged in these three projects: digitized source material, a database of sources, pedagogical resources, and MEI. While the projects do not share all these aspects, they are seen in more than one and also occur with regularity in additional musical projects. According to scholarship surrounding them, the reasons for including these features in multiple projects extend beyond their availability and popularity in Digital Scholarship. Digital source material is often a foundational aspect of a digital resource, and along with a database of sources, is geared towards researchers, who are the primary users of these projects. As the projects develop, the motivation to reach a wider audience is evidenced by an influx of pedagogical materials. Projects such as these that have remained operational for such an extended time are able to incorporate long awaited technologies, like MEI, which took over a decade of development before being comfortably and successfully integrated into the live resources. Finding commonalities between the projects and their features gives an indication of successful paths in the future and aspects for consideration as new developments continue to take shape.