The Institute of Jazz Studies (IJS) is the largest and most comprehensive archive of jazz and jazz-related materials in the world. The overall mission is to promote, preserve, and extend the heritage of this unique American art form.

Goals

- Collect, preserve, and make accessible the materials in the IJS archives to the growing field of jazz scholarship and research, to the jazz community, the media, and other legitimately interested parties.
- Pursue an active acquisitions policy stressing awareness of new materials, current developments, and the availability of important private collections and holdings, either for purchase or donation.
- Facilitate access to the materials in the collection through improved bibliographical and organizational control, including a comprehensive program of cataloging and database entry, and other processing activities.
- Maintain and enlarge the IJS publications activities (the Annual Review of Jazz Studies, and the Studies in Jazz monograph series).
- Further develop the relationship between IJS and the jazz instruction programs and faculty research activities on all campuses of Rutgers.
- Seek improvements in IJS facilities, staffing, and equipment to better maintain the collection and ensure it's proper use.
- Develop grant proposals and pursue fund raising activities to enable the IJS to meet its goals.
- Pursue such outreach activities as the American Jazz Hall of Fame, conferences and seminars, the "Jazz from the Archives" broadcast series on WBGO, relations with the New Jersey Jazz Society, displays and exhibits, and other endeavors as deemed appropriate.