Since its foundation the Center has focused on gathering and disseminating historical materials in digital format, for scholarly and pedagogical purposes. Our earliest projects made pioneering use of technology and of the internet by making freely available and searchable music treatises in Latin, as well as doctoral dissertations in musicology, and writings exploring the practice of borrowing in music. In the twenty-first century, CHMTL continues in its aim of supporting the study of the music of the past using computer and web technologies through projects researching a wider range of historical documents.

CHMTL provides invaluable opportunities for graduate students to be involved in research, editing, and digital publishing; assists researchers in the planning and creation of their unique digital resources; and strives to maintain and enrich its hosted projects as well as to develop new ones.