Getting Started: Finding Context and Definitions Use these sources at the beginning of your research to get an overview of a topic or to identify synonyms or related terms that will apply to your topic. Later, return to these sources to clarify concepts or define new vocabulary. These sources also include bibliographical references that may prove helpful. All of these sources are located in the Reference Collection, and this is only the beginning! Search Bridge or browse the reference shelves to find more.

New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
Ref ML100 .N48 2001
The most complete reference work for music, musicians, composers, instruments, genres, and terms. Entries are signed, and most contain bibliographies for further reading, lists of works, and the like. Grove is in the process of adding all of its reference titles in music to Grove Music Online. Oxford History of Western Music
Ref ML160 .T18 2005
From Gregorian Chant to the end of the 20th Century, this set of volumes surveys this history of Western Music. Each signed article (of 50 to 100 pages) examines one chunk of history. Remember to follow up on the notes (gathered at the end of each volume) to point you toward the authors' sources or other suggested reading. The final volume contains a comprehensive chronology, bibliography, and master index. Garland Encyclopedia of World Music
ML100 .G16 1998
This is the first encyclopedia to summarize in one place the major findings of 20th-century ethnomusicologists. Each volume covers a continent, and each signed article includes an extensive bibliography. The first volume also includes essays on the ethnomusicologist and their methods as well as a comprehensive glossary, discography, bibliography, and index for each volume. Worldwide Internet Music Resources
Maintained by the William and Gayle Cook Music Library at the Indiana University School of Music, this is an exhaustive and well-organized collection of links. Don't be put off by the "last update" on the upper index pages--the site is being maintained. DW3 Classical Music Resources
Maintained by the Duke University Music Library, this site provides well-organized links to composer home pages, as well as links to e-journals and some databases.

Note that many of the articles in these encyclopedias and the bibliographical citations are at least 5 years old. You can "update" this information using the authors names or article titles in a "cited reference search" in the Arts and Humanities Citation Index to see who has cited these works recently. Finding Scores and Recordings Recorded Sound

Naxos Music Library
This is collection of more than 90,000 tracks of music digitized from more than 6,200 CDs and representing more than 7,000 composers from many genres. It spans classical (including complete operas), contemporary jazz, world/folk, New Age, and Chinese music. You can search or browse this collection in many ways, including by genre, composer, work title, period, and instrument, as well as "New Releases" and "Repertoire Highlights." Each piece is available in "Near CD" quality, and most pieces have a substantial amount of information included with it under the button "About this recording" (most information is from the liner notes, but some are written by staff musicologists). Bridge
Use the drop-down box to limit your search to Sound Recordings or search for Music CD's owned by Carleton or St. Olaf using this Custom Bridge Search Form.
Note that students of each college must actually physically visit the other college to listen to music owned by that college.
Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project
Published by the University of California - Santa Barbara
On this site you will have the opportunity to find out more about the cylinder format, listen to over 6,000 recordings of musical and spoken selections from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and discover a little-known era of recorded sound. American Memory Project's Performing Arts, Music Collection
All collections that say "Recordings" and some that say "Multiformat" contain digitized musical selections ranging from the beginnings of American recorded sound up through the mid-Twentieth Century including folk, jazz, big band, blues, and gospel music.

Scores

Bridge
Use the drop-down box next to the search box to limit your search to "Musical Scores" or use this Custom Bridge Search Form to search for scores held by Carleton or St. Olaf.

Top of the page Discographies There are quite a few discographies, covering different genres and time periods, held in the library's Reference collection, but if you don't see the one that you need, try looking downstairs in the general collection in the ML156 section. You can browse them by doing a Bridge search for ML156, search for your genre and the term "Discography" as a Subject term, or use this Customized Bridge Search Form to search the discographies held by Carleton and St. Olaf. Here are some of the most popular discographies.

All Music Guide to Classical Music
ML156.9 .A385 2005
Look here for lists of current recordings of important or popular classical pieces. Note that this reference work includes "recommended" recordings that have appeared on CD. The editors have chosen recordings that are "considered reliable introductions to the music at hand and samplings, as diverse as possible, of the excellent performances available" on CD. All CDs were available and in print as of February 2005. Early Music Discography: From Plainsong to the Sons of Bach
ML156.2 .C76
The first volume is a record index, the second an index of composers, plainsong, anonymous works, and performers. Note that not all of the recordings presented here are still available. Check Bridge and WorldCat before setting your heart on listening to one of these recordings. All Music Guide to Jazz
ML156.4.J3 A45 2002
Look here for lists of current recordings of important or popular classical pieces. Note that this reference work includes "recommended" recordings that have appeared on CD. The editors have chosen recordings that are "considered reliable introductions to the music at hand and samplings, as diverse as possible, of the excellent performances available" on CD. All CDs were available and in print as of February 2002. Jazz Discography
ML156.4.J3 L67 1992
Lists all known recording sessions for jazz artists alphabetically by leader name or group name (if there was no leader). There are lists of abreviations at the beginning of each volume. Note that not all of the recordings presented here are still available. Check Bridge and WorldCat before setting your heart on listening to one of these recordings.

Top of the page Finding the Sources of Lyrics [introduction]

Last Lines
PN1022 .K55 1991
[text] Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry in Anthologies
PN1022 .H39 2002
[text] Poetry Index Annual (1982-1993)
PN1022 .P63
[text] Index of American Periodical Verse
PN1022 .I47
[text] Literature Online
[text] Amazon.com Search Inside the Book
[text] Google Book Search
[text]

Top of the page Finding Articles Use indexes and databases to locate periodical articles on your topic. If you need periodical literature not covered in the time frame of the database, there are also print indexes in the Reference Collection. Carleton does not own every title indexed in the databases. Check Bridge or the Journals List to see if we own the journal title, not journal article, you are looking for. Then make sure we have access to the correct volume and issue or year. If we don't own the journal or have access to the issue you need, take advantage of our Interlibrary Loan Services.

The Music Index
Ref ML118 .M84
[text] Academic Search Premier
Scholarly, multi-disciplinary journals. This is one of the best places to start when looking for scholarly work, especially when your topic incorporates the themes of multiple disciplines (such as music, history, sociology, and the like). ProQuest Research Library
Full-text journals across a wide range of subject areas. It's collection of newspaper and magazine articles adds to its emphasis on scholarly works to give a rounded view of your topic. RILM Abstracts of Music Literature
Published by the Repertoire International de Litterature Musicale, RILM includes coverage of historical musicology, ethnomusicology, instruments and voice, dance, and music therapy. Note that all the works in this database are about music, so there is usually no need to use the term "Music" as a search term. Sociological Abstracts
International literature in sociology and related disciplines. Since music is highly tied to society, there is quite a bit of information here on societal effects on music and music's part in society. America: History and Life
A bibliography of works about the history and culture of the U. S. and Canada. There are quite a few subject terms that include the word "Music," so try putting that into the "Subjects" search box. Arts and Humanities Citation Index
Not only can you look for citations of books and articles on your topic, but you can also do a "Cited Reference Search" to find out how many people have cited a particular work or author and what the citing sources are, as well as what citations are contained in a particular work. Newspaper Sources
For more newspaper databases see LexisNexis, Historical Newspapers, ProQuest NewsStand Complete, or (for specifically Carleton-based news) the Carletonian Online. Get specifics for the time periods each database covers on the library's Databases By Subject web page. andante
This comprehensive web site includes a magazine, directories, and a searchable reference section which provides links to articles from print publications as well as web pages.

Finding Books The Gould Library has rich collections of books, journals, government documents, and other resources. You may access them via Bridge, the catalog of materials available through Carleton or St. Olaf. To search more schools, try WorldCat. Relevant Call Numbers

This is only a partial list of the call numbers pertaining to Music. For a complete listing, go to the Library of Congress Classification Outline, provided by the Cataloging Policy and Support Office of the Library of Congress. M1-5000: Music

M1.A5-2.3: Collections
M5-1490: Instrumental music
M1495-5000: Vocal music

ML1-3930: Literature on music

ML159-3775: History and criticism

ML162-197: Special periods
ML198-360: By region or country
ML385-429: Biography
ML430-455: Composition

ML459-1380: Instruments and instrumental music

ML465-471: By period
ML475-547: By region or country
ML549.8-649: Instruments

ML3800-3923: Philosophy and physics of music

MT1-960: Musical instruction and study MT5.5-7: Music theory
MT90-146: Analysis and appreciation of musical works
MT170-810: Instrumental techniques
MT820-915: Singing and vocal technique
MT918-948: School music
MT955-956: Musical theater

Subject Headings Library of Congress Subject Headings are the words and phrases that you will use to do a subject search in Bridge (as opposed to a word search, where you may use any words you like). Although Music is a Library of Congress Subject Heading, you will probably get better results if you use subheadings to make your search more specific. If you are interested in the music of a particular country, use the subject heading Music and the name of that country. For example, use Music France to search for works on French music. You may also specify a state or even a city, but be aware that being that specific will greatly limit your results. You may also specify a time period, as in Music 19th century or Music France 19th century. Some movements in music history have been assigned Library of Congress Subject Headings; others have not. To search for a movement in music history, enter the type with followed by (Music). For example, to search for books on Expressionism, use Expressionism (Music). Some music types have been assigned subject heading (for example, Gospel music).You may also search by the name of a particular artist (last name first). Be careful in your word choices--some words and phrases that may seem very natural to you will not be Library of Congress Subject Headings. It is often helpful to do a keyword search on your topic, and, once you find an appropriate source, examine the subject headings. You may then conduct a subject search by clicking on the linked subject heading in Muse. If you cannot find a source using a word search, consult the print Library of Congress Subject Headings (on the Ready Reference shelves in the Reference Area) to find the proper subject heading. Top of the page