Founded by the Slovene Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1972 on the initiative of Academician Dragotin Cvetko, the Institute of Musicology commenced work in Autumn 1980. Two years later it came under the newly-founded Scientific Research Centre (ZRC SAZU) of the Slovene Academy of Science and Arts. It is the main and only institute of its kind specialising in scientific research into the classical music in Slovenia. Its research work focuses in particular on the historical aspects of Slovene music from its beginnings to 1941 (including the styles of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th century). Research takes into account documentary, biographical, bibliographical, analytical and synthetic aspects. The results have been presented in the form of bibliographical catalogues, scientific treatises, critical editions of early Slovene music and contributions to international scientific conferences organised by the Institute. The members of the Institute further participate in other national and international conferences and publish their findings in proceedings. The Institute also collaborates with similar establishments abroad. The research work of the Institute's members globally contributes to the comprehension of cultural idioms and the identity of the Slovene nation. Current projects include Repertory Analysis of Early Music Manuscripts and Musical Sources of the 16th to the 18th Centuries with Special Attention to the Archives in the Slovene Region of Primorska. The Institute’s library contains musicological literature (c 1,660 books and 3,550 periodicals) and a smaller stock of recent musical scores (1,000 volumes), copies of manuscripts and editions of earlier Slovene music (80) and LP records and CDs (175). All this material is listed in the alphabetically-organised authors’ catalogue.