1	Basic Searching in MUSIC: How the Collection is Organized for Retrieval Steve Gerber Performing Arts Librarian & Adjunct Professor of Music April 21, 2006
2	Overview of Class M M’s – scores (& at GMU, musical recordings; i.e., instances of musical compositions) ML’s – monographic and serial literature about music, musicians, and instruments (biographical, historical, stylistic, etc) MT’s – monographic and serial literature on musical instruction and study (theory & analysis, appreciation, ‘how-to-play…’, philosophy, historiography, business, etc.)
3	Brief breakdown of ML’s ML1 to ML10 – periodicals ML12 to ML20 -- directories & almanacs e.g. International music directory, JCL Mus Ref ML12 .I67 ML40 to ML46—bound concert programs ML50’s – opera librettos ML54’s – lyrics to songs e.g. The complete lyrics of Irving Berlin, JCL Stacks ML54.6.B464 K55 2001; Word-by-word translations of songs and arias, JCL Mus Ref ML54.6.C6 W6
4	"ML100’s to 108’s – encyclopedias..." ML100’s to 108’s – encyclopedias & dictionaries e.g. various New Grove dictionaries; Who’s who in music; lexicons of musical terminology; etc. ML111’s to 113’s – music librarianship & bibliographies of resources e.g. Music reference and research materials : an annotated bibliography, JCL Mus Ref ML113 .D83 1997 ML128’s – bibliographies, study guides & indexes to specific musical genres or mediums of performance [pass around samples] ML134’s – study guides, indexes, & catalogues for particular composers [pass around samples]
5	"ML156’s – discographies" ML156’s – discographies ML178’s to 360’s – history and criticism (by time period and by region) ML410’s – composer studies & biographies ML540’s to 1090’s – books about musical instruments ML1100s through 3780’s – tremendous number of resources on forms, styles, genres, broken down in several ways (such as “the symphony,” “jazz,” “dance music of Central America,” “opera” etc.) ML3790’s – music industry/business
6	Brief breakdown of MT’s
7	What is a ‘score?’ Generally, a notated representation of a musical composition intended for performance (vs. ‘book’ or ‘recording’ formats or GMDs) Specifically, a notated representation of a musical composition that shows all the simultaneous parts Full score; reduced score; condensed score; piano-vocal score; choral score; see scores.html Parts; parts-sets
8	Brief breakdown of M’s (scores)
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10	Work numbers
11	Works Lists & Thematic Indexes
12	Subject Headings The LOC subject headings for music are valuable in searching but challenging to remember! Develop intuition in the use of these by being alert to the SHs used in bib records for ‘good’ hits. (This is backwards, I know…) Example: results of a keyword search for <music? AND protest AND politic? > showed these relevant SHs: Radicalism--Songs and music--History and criticism. Popular music--Political aspects. Protest songs--United States Social justice--Songs and music.
13	But… what is music “about?”
14	Uniform Titles
15	Electronic Database Indexes
16	Sources Consulted Abromeit, Kathleen A. “Reference Assistants on the Front Line in the Music Library.” In Music Library Instruction, ed. Deborah Campana. MLA Basic Manual Series, No. 3. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2004. Hart, Liz and Ruth Hellen. “Music for the Terrified: Basic Music Courses for Library Staff.” Fontes Artis Musicae 47:1 (Jan-Mar 2000), p. 22-26.