Music: Books

1. Scores and books about music (including reference books) are in the music pocket library. 

First come the scores and music collections. Their call numbers begin with M. Some of the scores are also in the carts near the LPs.

Then come the books about music. Their call numbers begin with ML.

Then come the books about teaching music. Their call numbers begin with MT.

2. CDs and LPs are on carts. They are in no meaningful order; they are simply number in the order in which they were purchased. Use the catalog to find specific titles.

The basic Library Catalog search is a keyword search--you simply type your search terms into the box, and the catalog retrieves all the items that have your search terms in their catalog records, regardless of format.

Finding Materials in a Specific Format

To find only materials in a particular format (e.g. recordings or books), select the format in the checkboxes section of the search form.

To find only recordings, select Music.

To find only books about music or scores, select all the books options, but do not select Music. 

Another way to limit your results by format is to use the "Refine Your Search" options given on the left side of the results screen. Under "Item types," you may select the format in which you are interested.

Finding Materials Using Subject Searching

Searching by subject is another way to find materials that focus on your topic. Each item in the Library Catalog has one or more subject terms (headings) assigned to it, When you search by subject, you retrieve only the items that have the subject for which you searched. To make a subject heading more specific, subheadings are added after it. Once you have your subject terms, to search by subject in the Library Catalog, in the dropdown list under "Search for," select "Subject." 

To find subject headings for a subject you are studying, first use keyword searching to find some books on your general topic. Then look at their records and see what subject terms they have. You can use the subject links in the catalog records to retrieve all the items with the same subject. However, this linking scheme has some quirks, so if it seems like it is returning far too many (or too few) items, try using the Library Catalog (aka Advanced Search) screen and a Subject or Subject Phrase search with your terms.

Here are some sample subject headings for music:

Concerto

Music--15th Century
You can substitute any century from the 15th to the 21st.

Music--15th Century--History and criticism
Again, you can substitute any century from the 15th to the 21st.

Music--France
You can substitute the name of any country for France.

Oboe
You can use the name of any instrument.

Orchestral music

Opera

Sonata 

Songs, American
You can substitute any nationality for American.

Symphony

If you want to browse the library stacks, you can use these call numbers to find books on music:

M Music (scores and sheet music)

ML Literature on Music

MT Instruction on Music

These books can be found in the music pocket library. Remember that given the interdisciplinary nature of liberal arts studies, you may find useful books with other call numbers too. 

To find books from thousands of other libraries and request them through interlibrary loan, use WorldCat FirstSearch. You can search for books, journals, audiovisual materials, dissertations, and many other material types. When you find a resource you think would be useful in your research, you can fill out an interlibrary loan form, and Nash Library will request the book from another library.