ChoralWiki:New works goal for 2013 revised upwards to 2,000

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In mid March, I created the goal bar for CPDL which appears near the top of the Main Page. It presents a visual realization of the number of previously unavailable new works that have been contributed since the beginning of the year. The length of the bar represents the percentage of new works already contributed, out of a total "goal" number. Using data gleaned from recent years, this goal was initially set at 1,800 new works for this year. However, in light of current performance and past experience, I have increased this year's goal to 2,000 new works.

Some explanation for this is in order. Last year's new works totaled 1,748 (a record high), and the totals for 2010 and 2011 were 1,556, and 1,345 respectively. The number for 2010 was perhaps helped by a goal of 1,500 set early in November of that year, when we were about 200 scores short of that number, and it elicited a response of about 250 new scores between its posting and the end of the year. The number 1,800 initially selected for the new goal bar for 2013 represented a modest increase of the peak 1,748 from last year, and corresponded to an average of 150 new works per month. With the drop inew works from 2010 to 2011, it didn't seem prudent to go much higher than the number of new scores for 2012.

However, by the end of April or one-third of the way through this year, the actual number of new works contributed was 746, much larger than the 600 anticipated with a goal of 1,800 new works. In fact, the current pace suggests that the number of new works contributed in 2013 could possibly top 2,200. But, since an analysis of recent years indicates that there can be fairly large fluctuations in these month by month totals, a new target goal lower than 2,200 seems advisable if one is to have a goal that is perceived as reachable. With a new goal of 2,000 the number of new works for this year is still about 80 above the number expected, so we are "ahead" of the pace by about 4%. Moreover, peak monthly totals over the years since 2006, given in the table below, add up to 2,008, and provide additional reason to think that our revised goal of 2,000 new works for 2013 is reasonable.

The progress towards the new goal will be monitored over the next few months, with a further alteration in the goal number being possible by then end of August. Numbers aside, it is one of the main objectives ("goals") of CPDL to make available free downloadable editions of as many new works as possible. As always, editions of these newly available works are only possible with the generous efforts of our contributing editors, for whom we owe a tremendous debt of gratitude.

Charles H. Giffen
President, Choral Public Domain Library
Manager, ChoralWiki

Month Year Peak 2013 2013-Peak
January 2012 170 !****!****!****!** 187 !****!****!****!**** +17
February 2012 122 !****!****!** 163 !****!****!****!* +41
March 2010 148 !****!****!****! 195 !****!****!****!****! +47
April 2010 190 !****!****!****!**** 201 !****!****!****!****! +11
May 2009 137 !****!****!**** 219 !****!****!****!****!** +82
June 2012 185 !****!****!****!**** 201 !****!****!****!****! +16
July 2008 191 !****!****!****!**** 164 !****!****!****!* -27
August 2010 146 !****!****!****! 173 !****!****!****!** +27
September 2011 158 !****!****!****!* 128 !****!****!*** -30
October 2012 213 !****!****!****!****!* 154 !****!****!****! -59
November 2011 161 !****!****!****!* 153 !****!****!****! -8
December 2012 187 !****!****!****!****