Music

Music resources available through K-State Libraries

Library Research Guide

Articles

Databases are primarily collections of documents that you can search. They offer electronic access to many titles that have been compiled and cataloged by a reputable organization. K-State Libraries pays to subscribe to the databases, so the information found here is generally not freely available on the Internet.

Some databases include full text and PDF versions of articles. Other databases index citations that allow the user to navigate to the article via the purple "Get It" button in the item record for the article. The following databases provide a good starting point.

  • RILM (Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale) Abstracts of Music Literature with Full Text Best Bet

    Publication Dates Covered: 1967 - present Paid for by K-State Libraries
    A comprehensive bibliography of writings about music featuring citations, abstracts and indexes. It covers nearly one and a half million publications from the early 19th century to the present on traditional music, popular music, jazz, classical music, and related subjects, enhanced with the full text of over 260 periodicals. New titles are being added annually.

  • Oxford Music Online Best Bet

    Paid for by K-State Libraries
    Formerly Grove Music Online, this is the definitive encyclopedia for all things musical. It contains The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, New Grove Opera, and New Grove Jazz. Composer articles include biographies, works lists, and bibliographies of sources. Other articles cover topics such as musical genres, specific performers or ensembles, and theoretical and musicological vocabulary. For more concise entries Oxford Music Online also includes The Oxford Dictionary of Music and The Oxford Companion to Music.

  • Music Index Best Bet

    Publication Dates Covered: 1976 - present Paid for by K-State Libraries
    Articles and reviews published in academic journals and popular magazines on all aspects of music including styles such as classical, jazz, popular, folk, and world music, and the fields of musicology, ethnomusicology, theory, applied and professional topics, music education, and the music industry.

  • AllMusic
    Publication Dates Covered: 1900 - present Free Resource
    Biographies, discographies, and album reviews for jazz and popular music.
  • Encyclopedia of Popular Music

    Paid for by K-State Libraries
    Part of Oxford Music Online, the Encyclopedia of Popular Music covers all popular musical genres spanning from 1900 to the present day, including artist bibliographies and discographies.