Music Research

Searching for Music (scores and recordings) in The Source

Finding music in a library catalog is a bit more difficult than finding books.  Most books have a fairly unique title (e.g. David Copperfield, The Source), while much music does not, especially if it's classical. Imagine searching for "Sonata in C major" or "Symphony no. 2," for instance.

Musicians and music scholars also have to deal with the fact that there is a proliferation of formats and versions for each work--a phenomenon virtually unknown in other disciplines. Say you want the ballet Appalachian Spring.  Do you want the full ballet, or the suite? the original chamber orchestra version, or the full orchestra arrangement? score or recording (LP? CD? video?) . . .

Most music searches can be conducted successfully using only two of the many search strategies offered by The Source.  For more information, choose one of the following links:

Searching for Books about Music

Here you're on somewhat firmer ground.  Finding a book on Ella Fitzgerald is no different than finding a book on F. Scott Fitzgerald--as far as using the library catalog is concerned.  If this still seems like a challenge, however, you might want to consult the following library guides:

General Indexes of Music Resources on the Web

  • Worldwide Internet Music Resources (Indiana University Music Library) is a good all-purpose index of Web sites in all areas of music.
  • The music directory offered by Yahoo! covers a good deal of everything, but is particularly useful for its broad coverage of popular music and music-related businesses.

Aids to Finding Dissertations

  • ProQuest Dissertations and Theses indexes dissertations from as far back as 1861 and master's theses from 1980 on. Coverage is thorough and international from the mid-1980s. Basic functionality is available through this link to the general public. If you use this link from a UNC computer or Web connection, you will have full access to database information, including abstracts.
  • Doctoral Dissertations in Musicology-Online (Indiana University School of Music) indexes completed dissertations as well as works in progress. Coverage is thorough and systematic only for the past 30 years or so, but the database includes some dissertations as far back as the 1930s.

Major Directories for the Music Business

  • The Music Publishers' Agency maintains a comprehensive list of publishers and their imprints, including addresses, phone and fax numbers, and URLs.
  • musicalamerica.com is the online service of Musical America. The portions of the site corresponding to the annual directory (e.g. artist/manager searches) are available only to subscribers, but the free portions are a good source of news in the world of classical music.
  • AFM.org is the Web site of the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada.