Binders volumes, sometimes also called Sammelbanden, collectors' volumes, bound-withs, or composite volumes, contain items that were created separately but later bound together. They may include only printed items or a mix of printed items and manuscripts. While collections and anthologies also contain multiple works, that was done by design at the time of creation, whereas binders volumes were created after the fact, typically by an owner or institution.

In the 19th century, binders volumes of sheet music were often created by/for young women of a certain class, where amateur musicianship was seen as a favorable activity. Such volumes might contain information about the previous owner's identity, sometimes stamped on the cover or spine, or signed and dated inside the cover. However, their identities may remain lost to history once they married and took their husband's name.

Sheet music contained in binders volumes can inform the interdisciplinary studies of music diaspora, musical life, cultural and societal shifts, and publishing and printing history. While the pieces within may be held by other institutions, volumes often contain rare or unique titles, and by their nature, each volume is unique.

Famous examples include Jane Austen and her family https://archive.org/details/austenfamilymusicbooks and Emily Dickinson (Boziwick, George. Emily Dickinson’s Music Book and the Musical Life of an American Poet. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2022.; Literature and Languages Library PS1541.Z5 B556 2022).