Searching

Searching Databases:   Music

The library subscribes to several online databases, including Grove Music Online (the electronic version of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians) and two major periodical indexes (detailed below).   In addition, the library provides access to hundreds of non-music databases of various types. For a music topic, the best place to start is with the subject-specific resources in music.

Periodical Indexes: Music

The primary database for searching periodical literature is called The Music Index.   The library provides access to the print and online versions.   If you check the scope of this source, you will find that the publication began in 1949.   The online version (Music Index Online) only covers from 1976 to the present, with some limited representation of material from 1962-1975.   If your research question requires an examination of articles published outside the years covered by the online index, you must search through the printed volumes.  

The second important music periodical database is RILM Abstracts of Musical Literature, available online.   This is a more advanced research tool and includes materials not covered by The Music Index.   Abstracts (brief summaries of the articles) are provided.

The Music Index, The Music Index Online, and RILM Abstracts list what has been published (citations) but do not provide access to the actual articles.   Once you find articles you’re interested in reading, you must jot down or print out the citations and take the next steps necessary to locate the journals or books cited by searching the library’s online catalog or the Journal Locator.

<<previous pg. | next pg.>>