RESEARCH GUIDE
TO MUSIC
Getting Started: Selected Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
1. Grove Music Online includes the full text of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2001, The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, 1992, and The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, 2002 and selected updated articles.2. New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Reference Collection Ref ML 100.N48 2001
3. New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Reference Collection Ref ML102.I5 N48 1984
4. New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Reference Collection Ref ML102.O6 N5 1998
5. New Grove Dictionary of American Music. Reference Collection Ref ML101.U6 N48 1986
6. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Reference Collection Ref ML 102.J3 F39 1999
7. The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Reference Collection Ref ML 102.P66 G84 1995
8. Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. Reference Collection Ref ML105.B16 2001
Searching the Library Catalog for Music Materials (Books, Recordings, Scores)
BOOKS:
Search for
books on music just like books on any other subject. Use the Library
Catalog to search by author, title, keyword, subject, or another method.
- To find books about a composer: Type the last
name, first name and select to search in LC Subject Headings.
- To find musical
compositions written by a composer: Type the last
name, first name and select to search in Author. See also below for
more information on finding scores and recordings.
SCORES AND
RECORDINGS:
1. Set limits
- Click the
button to SET LIMITS.
- Select the
appropriate Item Type--
Musical Recording (For RECORDINGS)
Music Score (For SCORES) - Click SET
LIMITS. You are returned to the search screen. Now you can conduct your
search.
2. Include both the composer and
the title in your search,
especially if the piece you are looking for has a common title like
“symphony”
or “sonata” or the composer is well-known. In the
basic search, connect the
composer and title with the Boolean AND, then select Command Search.
Or, use
the Boolean Keyword search and type your search into the text boxes:
mozart and symphon?
beethoven
and sonata?
3. Use truncation for common titles.
The truncation symbol
is: ? This will find both singular and plural:
symphon? (finds symphony, symphonies, symphonic)
sonata? (finds sonata and
sonatas)
MORE TIPS for SCORES
AND RECORDINGS
To find CDs
only: Click CDs on
the library’s homepage
under Finding Information—Start here. Or, after clicking on
the Library
Catalog, from the Simple Search screen, use the Quick Limit for Music
CDs.
Quick Limits only
work with
keyword search and command search. They DO NOT work with other
searches. Note
that the
Quick Limit will not find LPs
(phonograph records.) You
can also use
the Advanced Search screen and limit your search from there.
If your search
finds a score or recording that doesn’t seem to have the
piece you are looking
for on the catalog record, click the
“long view” tab while viewing an individual catalog
record. Recordings often have more than one piece on them, and not all
pieces
may show in the "brief view" which is the default.
To search for a
specific performer, just enter
their name as an Author.
The library
owns
“complete works” of scores for some composers. Each
individual composition will
NOT show up in the Library Catalog. Complete works are shelved in M3
both in
Oversize and in the Circulating Collection. Some composers for which
the
library owns complete works are:
Bach,
Johann Sebastian Oversize
qM3.B1132
Beethoven, Ludwig van Oversize qM3.B41
1970
Berlioz, Hector Oversize qM3.B52 K3
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus M3.M896
1991
Palestrina, Giovanni Pirluigi da Oversize
qM3.P153
Browsing
the Shelves
M (Instrumental
and Vocal Music)
SCORES
ML
(Literature of
Music) BOOKS
MT
(Music Instruction
and Study) BOOKS
See
here
for
more detail
Remember to
look in
Oversize! Many
music materials, especially scores, are in Oversize.
Music CDs are shelved in
the main (2nd)
Floor lobby. They have M call numbers, just like books. Look for the
guide at
the beginning of the CD display cases that identifies different call
numbers by
subject and the descriptive dividers in the CD collection itself.
Curriculum
materials, including accomanying CDs, are
located in the Curriculum Collection on the 3rd floor near the oversize collection.
LPs are shelved on
the 3rd floor after
the oversize collection. They are numbered in the order the library
added them
to the collection. This makes browsing difficult. Use the Library
Catalog to
find specific records.
The Listening Room 211 off the Lobby has CD players and record players to use in the library.
Finding
Journal Articles
Begin
by clicking on Electronic Resources on the
library’s homepage. Click on Music on the subject list on the
left hand side to
find all relevant databases. For off
campus access to most of these you will need your network user name and password.
Use
Grove Music Online or New Grove
Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Reference Collection
Ref ML 100.N48 2001. The
bibliography at the end of
each article lists books and journal articles. You can also search
bibliographies on the Grove Music Online.
Music Index. Reference
Collection Index Range Ref ML 118.M84
For all music
related topics. You can look up topics such as:
-names, both to find articles
about and written by a certain person
-organizations and performing
groups
-subjects like clarinetists,
piano music, or bel canto
-places: countries, educational
institutions
You
must look up your subject in the volume for each year in which you wish
to find
articles.
RILM
Abstracts of Musical Literature (Repertoire International de
Litterature
Musicale)
Online database dedicated to music; includes citations to
articles, books,
and other items.
Academic
Search Premier (part
of EBSCOhost) and Expanded
Academic ASAP
Multi-subject online databases that include music. Many full-text
articles.
ERIC
(
Online database of citations and abstracts for education related
articles and
the full text of documents, including music education.
Historical
Abstracts (World History) and America:
History and Life
Online databases of citations and abstracts for history related
articles and
books, including music history.
Project Muse
and JSTOR
both have only
full-text articles on arts and humanities subjects including music
topics.
Project Muse has more current articles while JSTOR has several past
years’
worth of articles.
There
are several other
databases that also contain music journal citations: Artbibliographies
Modern, BH:
British Humanities Index, and ClasePeriodica (library use
only). A final
database that has music topics is TOPICSearch (part of
EBSCOhost),
and it is all full text.
Bibliographies:
Lists of materials (all kinds) related to your topic
Grove Music Online
and
New
Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Reference
Collection Ref ML 100.N48
2001.Both
include excellent bibliographies
at the end of every article. You can
also search bibliographies in Grove Music Online.
Many
other
bibliographies are shelved in ML 120-134,
both in the Reference
Collection on the main floor and in the Circulating Collection on the
3rd
floor.
Guides
to musical
compositions for individual
instruments and ensembles are found in ML
132 in the 3rd floor Circulating
Collection. Many are graded by
difficulty level. Use them to find pieces of music for study and
performance.
Interlibrary
Loan
If the library does not have a book or periodical you need, you may be able to obtain the material through interlibrary loan. See the online information that has a link to an online form. Or pick up paper forms at the Public Services and Reference Desks. Materials are usually available within two weeks after the request. You will either receive the loan of the book or a Xerox copy of the article you request.
Internet
Sources
Begin
by clicking on Electronic Resources on the
library’s homepage. Click on
Music on the subject list on the left hand side to find all relevant
databases to
which the library subscribes: Academic
Search Premier, Artbibliographies Modern, BH: British Humanities Index,
ClasePeriodica, Grove Music Online, JSTOR, Project Muse, RLIM, Safety
Science
and Risk, and TOPICSearch.
There
are also many
excellent sources of information about music freely available on the
Internet.
There are even more outdated, biased, and just plain wrong sources.
Below are a
few selected sources you may find useful.
General
The Lied and Art Song
Texts Page
Word-for-word translations and texts for vocal pieces. Indexed and
searchable.
Choral Public Domain Library
Choral scores in the public domain, many with corresponding
Online
scores from Indiana
University “Variations” project
From the opera, song, orchestral and choral, chamber music, piano, and
solo
instrumental literature. Formatted primarily for viewing, not printing.
The Piano Education
Page
For pianists, teachers, and students. Articles, composer bios, over 600
American Memories site
from the Library of
Congress and I Hear America Singing site from the Library of Congress Digitized collections relating to American music
Music
Information
Meta-Sites
These directories of music-related websites were created for college
and
university music students. Search them for information on nearly any
music-related topic.
Worldwide
Internet Music
Resources
From Indiana University School of Music’s William and Gayle
Cook Music Library
Music
Department
The
Shepherd University Department
of Music website is:
http://www.shepherd.edu/musicweb/