MUSIC CLASS PRESENTATION 1/26/15
[Prepared by retired librarian Allen Hoffman]
Contact: Wendy Schlegel 314-246-7815
schlegelw@webster.edu
Four concepts to consider when searching for music in the library catalog:
Controlled vocabulary
In the Webster Library catalog, ‘Religious music’ directs user to ‘Sacred music’
Thesauri (which control vocabulary) for subject headings vary from one database to another. Examples:
Music trade vs. Music business
Scat singing vs. Jazz scat singing
Violoncello vs. Cello
“Twain, Mark” is the ‘authoritative’ heading for Samuel Langhorne Clemens, S.L. Clemens, etc.
“Chopin, Frederic” is the authoritative heading for these (and many more):
Hsiao-pang
Shopen, F
Shūpān
Chopin, Fryderyk Franciszek
Shūbān,
Szopen,
Shopan
Chopin, Fryderyk Franciszek
Шопен, Фредерик
Chopin, Federico
Uniform titles
The grapes of wrath is always The grapes of wrath in English publications
and
Quartet for the end of time is always Quartet for the end of time in English publications
But
Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827. Symphonies, no. 9, op. 125, D minor
is the “uniform title” for these (and many more):
Sinfonie mit Schluss-Chor
Choral symphony
Choral
Ode an die Freiheit
Ode to freedom
The greatest symphony ever written!
Sinfonia corale
IX. Symphonie, d moll
Symphonie IX
Symphony number nine
The great choral symphony
The Ninth
All these variants result from marketing, languages of publishers, generic forms (quartets, songs, concertos), etc. Other examples:
[Haydn]: Concertinos, organ, violins (2), double bass, H. XVIII, 10, C major
vs. Organ concerto no. 2
vs. Concertos, organ, string orchestra, H. XVIII, 10, C major
[Barber]: Quartets, strings, no. 1, op. 11, B minor. Adagio; arr.
vs. Adagio for strings
[Schubert]: Quintets, piano, violin, viola, violoncello, double bass, D. 667, A major vs. Trout quintet vs. Forellen-Quintett
KEYWORD searching also allows access to titles that may be ‘buried’ in sets or anthologies.
[Schumann]: Frauenliebe und Leben. Du Ring an meinem Finger
vs. Du Ring an meinem Finger vs. Ring on my finger
[Wagner]: Ring des Nibelungen. Rheingold vs. Rheingold
[Duke Ellington]: Deep south suite. Happy-go-lucky local
vs. Happy-go-lucky local
One of the few recordings that we own of Four pieces for clarinet and piano, op. 5 by Alban Berg is in the set
“The Early twentieth century”. This piece would only be found with a keyword search such as
Berg clarinet pieces
Keyword searching is always recommended
Truncation and Boolean searching
Encyclop*dia retrieves encyclopedia AND encyclopaedia
Wom*n retrieves woman and women
Sonata* will yield sonata AND sonatas
Sonat* will yield sonata, sonatas, sonate, sonaten
Rachman** will retrieve Rachmaninov, Rachmaninoff
HINT: Don’t make searches either ‘too broad’ or ‘too narrow’: strike a balance
Examples:
mozart quartet* 387 peters -- to find K.387 in the Peters edition
But this is too broad: Mozart and quartet* [hundreds of hits]
Bach and Goldberg and Kirkpatrick -- to find Kirkpatrick’s edition of the Goldberg variations
But this is too narrow: Bach and Goldberg and aria and schirmer and BWV988 and kirkpatrick [not all elements may be present or indexed in the record]
(Truncation symbols vary from one database to another. In the Webster Library catalog, a single asterisk is a wildcard for 1-4 characters; a double asterisk covers 5+ characters)
Rachman** AND symphon* will retrieve any of his symphonies (in several languages, singular or plural) and without having to know how to spell his name.
Mendel** AND lieder ohne AND 30 will retrieve Mendelssohn’s (or Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s) Songs without words, narrowing the results down to just his opus 30.
Indexes, abstracts, full-text
An index provides a citation to a source (article, book, dissertation, etc.)
An abstract provides the citation and a summary of the content
A full-text entry in a database provides the entire contents
Note:
Some databases are only partially full-text (mix of full-text and index)
You will see the “Full Text Finder” icon appearing in search results. Article Linker is a feature that connects the user to full-text articles. The articles may be available in electronic format from an online database and/or in paper (print) format at the Webster University Library or the Eden Theological Seminary Library. The Full Text Finder page provides more information on these possibilities.
Articles not available within our Library or on one of our databases may be requested through MOBIUS (statewide Missouri consortium) or InterLibrary Loan (national).
See an example under “Music Index Online,” below.
Resources:
Books
Reference works
Databases (full-text; citations to journals and books; videos; sound recordings)
Be careful of:
Wikipedia
Internet: Google search indicated 35 trillion people in the world
Show and tell:
Groves
Thematic catalogs
Collected editions
Monuments of music
“Historical sets, collected editions, and monuments of music” by Heyer
Music reference and research materials : an annotated bibliography / Vincent Duckles. Music research : a handbook / Laurie J. Sampsel.
Databases for music in Webster University Library.
From homepage (http://library.webster.edu/), select
Articles / databases
Scroll down to Databases by subject; continue to Humanities, and then to Music
Click on Music.
These can also be accessed from your Course Guide via the tab “Library materials – Webster and beyond.”
Music Online (Alexander Street Press)
• African American Music Reference
• American Song
• Classical Music Library
• Classical Music Reference Library
• Classical Scores Library
• Contemporary World Music
• Dance in Video
• The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online
• Jazz Music Library
• Opera in Video
• Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries
Note: In Naxos and Music Online you can create playlists
Oxford Music Online (formerly Grovemusic)
RILM Abstracts of Music Literature
