Music Resource Guide
VCU: Available on both campuses OR off-campus with EZProxy.
To search for books, sound recordings, and scores held by the VCU Libraries, use the VCU Libraries Catalog. Music materials can be located by title, composer, performer, instrument, type of composition (ex. concerto), record label number, publisher number, or material type (ex. score or recording). The Advanced Search feature offers format limits such as scores, recordings, cd's, videos, etc.
See LC Classification Online for music subject headings and their call numbers to assist with browsing the collections. Some portions of the collection are not included in the VCU Libraries Catalog and are accessible via the VCU Recorded Music Index (microfiche) and the John L. Clark Jazz Collection Index located in Cabell Library Media and Reserve Services.
Sound recordings (LP's, Cassettes, DVD's and Compact Discs) can be borrowed from Media and Reserve Services.
Classical Music Library VCU offers online music streaming and MP3 downloading. This database is the world's largest collection of online music music where the focus is on the work and performance, not the CD. The recordings are supported by biographical, genre, and historical information. It provides links to authoritative resources and Groves Music Online. Browse, search, create playlists. Requires Internet Explorer.
- To search for materials from other libraries, use the Worldcat database on FirstSearch. VCU
- Other Libraries - Links to other libraries and library catalogs available through the web. Both University of Richmond and Richmond Public Library have library music departments.
Full Text Magazine, Journal, and Dictionary Articles
- Grove Music Online VCU
This work is the primary reference source on all aspects of music. The articles include lists of musical works and bibliographies of authoritative resources. The online version includes full text articles, illustrations, sound clips, musical examples, and Web links from The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, and The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. The 29 volume print set is in Cabell Reference ML100.N48 2001.
- Expanded Academic Index VCU
Use this database to find information on Music as well as Astronomy, Religion, Law, History, Psychology, Humanities, Current Events, Sociology, Communications and the General Sciences. Includes access to full text articles.
- LEXIS/NEXIS Academic Universe VCU
LEXIS/NEXIS includes the full text of many newspaper, trade journals, and popular magazine articles. This is a good place to find current information on contemporary performers as well as concert and performance reviews.
Indexes to Magazines and Journals
Librarian's Choice
- Music
Index VCU (1978-Present)
Citations to the international literature on all aspects of music. Includes more than one million records from 725 music periodicals. Indexes book reviews, reviews of recordings, tapes, and performances, and notes first performances and obituaries. Music education is a strength of this database. Print Subscription 1949-1998. Location: Cabell Reference ML118 .M84
List of sources covered in Music Index
- RILM
Abstracts of Music Literature VCU (1967-Present)
RILM indexes and abstracts articles, books, bibliographies, catalogs, dissertations, films and videos, conference proceedings, Festschriften, and more. Concert reviews, recordings notes, and pedagogical manuals are also included if they are of scholarly interest. Musicology and interdisciplinary studies are the strengths of this database.
Lists of journals covered by RILM
More Indexes
- Arts and Humanities Citation Index
Database of references cited in articles from 1,144 of the world's leading arts and humanities journals. Search by cited reference, topic, and author.- Arts and Humanities Citation Index via FirstSearch VCU (1980 - present)
- Arts and Humanities Citation Index via ISI Web of Science VCU (1975 - present)
- CAIRSS for Music (Computer-Assisted Information Retrieval Service System)
CAIRSS is a bibliographic database of music research literature in music education, music psychology, music therapy, and music medicine.
- Dissertation Abstracts Online VCU
(1861 - present)
Covers the complete range of academic subjects appearing in dissertations accepted at accredited institutions.
- ERIC - ERIC Index to Education Materials
Options for accessing ERIC documents and journal articles in education. Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) indexes more than 1,000,000 research reports, teaching guides, books, and over 750 journals in education and related fields (includes Music Education).
- Humanities Index VCU (1984-Present)
Citations to articles from English-language periodicals. Periodical coverage includes some of the best-known scholarly journals and numerous lesser-known but important specialized magazines.
- International Index to the Performing Arts (IIPA) VCU (1998 - present)
Citations and abstracts for information drawn from 200 international performing arts periodicals from 1998 forward. Also included in the database are retrospective citations from about 46 periodicals.
Lists of Music Sites--Starting Points for Exploration
- Internet Resources for Music Scholars
- Yahoo! Listing of Music Resources
- Music Resources compiled by the Sibelius Academy
- Music Resources compiled by Indiana University
- Resources for Music Educators
- WWW Sites compiled by the American Musicological Society
- Search web pages, newsgroups, encyclopedias, magazines (including reviews from Rolling Stone), and books through the Argus Music Searcher (especially good for popular music).
A Sampling of Music Web Sites
- American Memory: performing arts (online collections from the Library of Congress)
- All Music Guide - descriptive guide of music recordings
- Arto Wikla's Early Music Page (Early Music: focus on instruments)
- J.S. Bach Archive and Bibliography
- California Library Systems Cooperative Song Index - searches 145,000 song titles (mostly popular music) from 1,500 sheet music collections (song books, magazines, and other collections). See links to other song and sheet music collections.
- Center for Black Music Research (Columbia College Chicago)
- ChoralNet - Internet Center for Choral Music
- Citing Music Sources in Your Essay and Bibliography (Western Libraries at The University of Western Ontario)
- Classical Composers Database
- Classical Music Resources (Duke University)
- ClassicalNet
- Doctoral Dissertations in Musicology - Center for the History of Music Theory and Literature. An online index.
- Duckles 5, Electronic Resources in (includes updated links since the printing of this classic Reference Work)
- Ethnomusicology Online - A peer-reviewed multimedia Web journal with links to ethnomusicology sites
- European Free Improvisation
- FestivalFinder A searchable database of music festivals in North America, all genres.
- Free Sheet Music Guide
- Gregorian Chant Home Page (Princeton University)
- Harlem.org - explore jazz history through one photograph.
- Historic American Sheet Music Access to digital images of 3042 pieces of sheet music published in America between 1850 and 1920 (Duke University).
- International Computer Music Association
- Institute for Music Research (Music Education, Music Therapy, and Music Psychology)
- Instruments - University of Virginia links relating to various instruments and performance
- Jazz Research Portal - University of North Texas, includes links to meta sites, jazz programs, archives, and artists sites.
- JazzWeb - From WNUR-FM, Northwestern University, includes artist biographies and a collection of jazz links on the web.
- The Lied and Art Song Texts Page - an archive of text and first lines used in Lieder and other classical Art Songs, choral works, and other classical vocal pieces.
- Live Audio Archive (Internet Archive) - collection ranges from original music, to Old Time Radio shows, to book and poetry recordings, to news, and to popular songs for the early 20th Century. The Live Music archives hosts as many live concerts as possible for current and future generations to enjoy through a creative commons enviroment and open source audio.
- The Mozart Project
- Music Publishers Association - includes links to publishers, imprint guide, music notation standards, and other resources
- Music Schools Directory (University of Alabama)
- Public-Domain Opera Libretti and Other Vocal Texts - with links to numerous opera sources
- Renaissance Liturgical Imprints: A Census (RELICS)
- G. Schirmer Music Publishers - Browse the Schirmer catalogs or order scores. Includes links to composers, artists, associations, music retailers, and record labels.
- UT Song Index - database to about 50,000 songs in more than 1,500 published song anthologies by the George F. DeVine Music Library, University of Tennessee
- What is Jazz? - Extensive selections from Dr. Billy Taylor's lecture series at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.