Music

This is a general research guide for the undergraduate and graduate courses in OSU's Music program. You'll find suggestions for locating books, articles, topical overviews, research tools, and factual information.

Subject Librarian for Music:

Valery King

phone 737-7318 | email Valery.King[at]oregonstate.edu | AIM screen name ValeryKing

 

 
Quicklinks
 Off-Campus Access | ILL Forms | ERIC | Academic Search Premiere | Grove Music Online


Internet Music Sites

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Table of Contents
Finding Books in Online Catalogs       Reference Sources
Finding Articles in Journals Music Copyright
graphic line
Dictionaries & thesauri
Encyclopedias
Handbooks & directories
Biographical information
Bibliographies
Indexes
Lyrics & translations
Writing guides

 

Library resources for music students are in two locations on campus:

1. The Valley Library contains:

  • collected works of selected composers
  • "monuments" and other collections of music
  • limited collection of full and miniature scores
  • reference books in music, such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, bibliographies
  • books about music and musicians
  • music journals and indexes to aid in their use

2. The Music Resource Center in Benton Hall (part of the Music Department) contains:

  • 900+ music CD's (primarily classical, choral, jazz) (do not circulate - listen in MRC)
  • 4,800+ full and miniature scores (may check out for 3 weeks)

Phone number for the MRC is 737-3634; hours are 8 am - 6 pm during the term.

Finding Books in Online Catalogs

Individual scores are listed on OSU Libraries Online Catalog under the composer's name and sometimes by distinctive title, if there is one. Scores are also listed under form, such as Harpsichord music or Symphonies - Scores. For works of music issued in parts of collections, see books listed in this subject research guide under the heading Indexes to Music. Since both The Valley Library and the Music Resource Center have score collections, look both places and ask for assistance if necessary to ascertain if a desired composition is located in either collection. To locate scores in other libraries, use Summit (Orbis) or WorldCat.

Books are listed on OSU Libraries Online Catalog by author, title, and subject. The Library of Congress Subject Headings list (located at the Reference Desk) will aid you in selecting the appropriate subject heading.

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Finding Articles in Journals

Journals are listed on OSU Libraries Online Catalog by the name of the periodical and under broad subject, such as Music - Periodicals. Consult a periodical index to locate individual periodical articles by topic. These indexes are often electronic, but there are still several only available in print. Most of these indexes are listed below:

Basic searching

  • Academic Search Premiere Full text: 1975-present.
    Academic Search Premier provides full text for nearly 4,600 scholarly publications, including full text for more than 3,500 peer-reviewed journals. Coverage spans virtually every area of academic study and offers information dating as far back as 1975. This database is updated daily on EBSCOhost.
    Full-text and abstract/index: 1975-present
  • Article First 1990-present
    Index to articles from nearly 12,500 journals in all fields.
  • Arts & Humanities Citation Index Index only: 1980-present
    Index to over 1.4 million records from more than 1,300 of the world's leading arts and humanities journals. Searches can be done by subject, author or authors who are cited by another author.
  • Education Full Text Full text: 1996-present
    A bibliographic database that indexes and abstracts articles from English-language periodicals and yearbooks. English-language books relating to education published in 1995 or later are also indexed. Abstracting coverage begins with January 1994. Full-text coverage begins in January 1996
  • ERIC 1966-present
    Single most extensive education database, indexing about 1,000 journals plus the ERIC microfiche collection. Includes music education materials.

Comprehensive searching

  • RILM Abstracts of Music Literature (International Repertory of Music Literature).
    Comprehensive international index to "all significant literature in music." Print version only ML1 .I83 1967-92.

Electronic journals

There are a variety of electronic journals about music available by library subscription or full-text within various databases. They can be accessed through their OSU Libraries Catalog records or from the complete E-Journals list (also linked on the Libraries' home page; for subject access, choose Music, Dance, Drama & Film from the drop-down list on the E-Journals page).

 

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Reference Sources

 

Online Reference Resources

Grove Music Online is a dynamic music resource on the web, including the full text of:

New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition

New Grove Dictionary of Opera

New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, second edition. (OSU only)

Oxford Reference Online Premium brings together reference works from one of the world's biggest reference publishers into a single cross-searchable resource. The Core Collection contains over 100 dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press. In Music, these include:

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music
The Oxford Companion to Music
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera
Who's Who in Opera

Dictionaries & thesauri


  •  The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians. Valley Ref ML100 .N48 2001. The standard multi-volume encyclopedia in English covering the entire field of music.
  • The New Grove Dictionary of American Music. Valley Ref ML101 .U6 N48 1986b. An important, 4 volume work including names and terms germane to the musical tradition of the U.S.
  • New Harvard Dictionary of Music. Valley Ref ML100 .N485 1986. Contains definitions of musical terms used in performance, history , and criticism of music. Emphasizes Western art music, but with some coverage of non-Western music, popular music, and instruments of all cultures. Excellent source of concise, accurate definitions. Does not include biographies.
  • The New Oxford Companion to Music. Valley Ref ML100 .S3 1983. Comprehensive alphabetical dictionary on all phases of music, including definitions of terms, biographies, longer articles about musical styles and forms. A very useful two volume reference source.
  • The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 2nd edition. Valley Ref ML100 .K35 1994. One-volume dictionary listing terminology and biographical information.
  • The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Valley Ref ML102.6 .N5 1992. Comprehensive 4-volume dictionary of opera from its beginnings in about 1600 to the present. Does not cover non-Western music drama.
  • The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. ML102 .J3 N48 1988. Comprehensive dictionary covering all periods and styles of jazz from many countries.
  • The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Valley Ref ML102 .I5 N48. Comprehensive coverage of classical and modern Western, non-Western, and folk or traditional musical instruments, performance practice, and instrument makers.

Encyclopedias

  • Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Valley Ref ML100 .G16 1998. Multi-volume encyclopedia accompanied by CDs housed at Circulation Desk.
  • International Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians. Valley Ref ML100 .T4 1975. One-volume encyclopedia, with strong emphasis on American music and musicians.
  • The library also has specialized encyclopedias covering folk, popular, country, jazz, rock, and musical theater.

Handbooks & directories

  • The Definitive Kobbe's Opera Book. Valley Ref MT95 .K52 1987 The most complete one-volume guide to opera plots.
  • The Oxford Companion to Popular Music. Valley Ref ML102 .P66 G35 1991. Covers approximately 1850 - 1985, with emphasis on the English-speaking world.
  • This Business of Music, by M.W. Krasilovsky & S. Shemel. rev. & enl. 7th ed. ML3790 .S5 1995. Although a trifle dated, this is a very thorough coverage of the business aspects of the music recording and publishing industries under the broad topics of recording companies and artists, music publishers and writers, and general music industry aspects. Includes thorough discussion of copyright, numerous excerpts from legal documents, and sample music industry forms and contracts.

Biographical information

Bibliographies

  • Collected Editions, Historical Series & Sets, & Monuments of Music: a Bibliography, by George R. Hill and Norris L. Stephens. 1997. ML113 .H55 1997. Comprehensive bibliography of collections of music and individual composers' collected editions. Updates and supplements

Indexes

  • Music Index ML118 .M84 1949-present.
    Author and subject index to journals representing various aspects of the music field. Library subscribes to annual volumes in print format.
  • Humanities Index
    AI3 .H8     1966-91 - Indexes some major music journals. Library also has its predecessors, Social Science & Humanities Index - AI3 .I6 1965-74 and International Index to Periodicals AI3 .I6 1907-65.
  • Historical Sets, Collected Editions and Monuments of Music: A Guide to Their Contents, ed. by Heyer. ML113 .H52 1980.
  • SongCite: An Index to Popular Songs. by William D. Goodfellow. ML128 .P63 G65 1995. Indexes 7000 songs in 248 collections.
  • Songs in Collections: An Index, by D. DeCharms and P. Breed. ML128 .S3 D4. Indexes 411 collections of art songs and operatic arias published between 1940 and 1957.
  • Popular Song Index, by P. Havlice. ML128 .S3 H4 1975 and supps., 1978-89. Preface states that "the purpose of this volume is to provide a tool for finding words and music to folk songs, pop tunes, spirituals, hymns, children's songs, sea chanteys and blues."

Lyrics and translations

Writing guides

  • Writing About Music: A Style Book for Reports and Theses, by D. Irvine. ML3797 .I79 1968 Part 1, Style in the typescript, discusses specific details of typography and documentation, such as footnotes, bibliography, and illustrative material. Part 2 deals with writing skills and literary style in general and as they pertain to the discussion of musical topics.
  • Writing About Music: An Introductory Guide, by R. Wingell. ML3797 .W54 1997. Designed as a guide for undergraduate music majors, this brief but helpful book covers the writing of research papers, program notes, concert reports, and other types of writing about music. It provides guidance in the research process and writing effective prose.

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Music Copyright

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