Help: Find Music Scores in the Library Catalog
Abstract: This page illustrates a variety of common (and not so common) ways to search for scores and other printed music materials (for more detailed instructions on finding recordings on CD, DVD,
and VHS, see Find Movies & Music).
Author/Composer | Title | Subject | Word | Call Number
Click on any linked search example to see the search results in the catalog. See also tips on limiting search results.
Find a composer by last name (Author search).
You enter: Schuman
Finds all materials, print or media, with Schuman as a listed author, including names that start with Schuman (i.e., Schumann). Note: the well known composers with this name
will appear along with other non-composer authors sharing that name.
Find a composer by exact name (Author search).
You enter: Schuman, William
Finds all materials, print or media, with William Schuman as a listed author. Note: type last name, first name.
Find a musical piece by popular title (Title search).
You enter: Jupiter Symphony
Note how the catalog refers from the variant popular title "Jupiter Symphony" to the uniform author/title for this work by Mozart: Jupiter symphony. -- see Mozart,
Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791. Symphonies, K. 551, C major. Click on this cross reference link to see all materials, print or media, by Mozart with this title.
Find a musical piece by uniform (generic) title (Title search).
You enter: Symphonies, K. 551,
C major
If the title is generic (i.e., based on a type of composition, concerto, sonata, quartet,
etc.) the uniform title will begin with the form name in plural, followed by instrumentation, thematic catalog or serial
number and key in that order. The title search is best used when you are sure of the exact title or at least the first
few words of the title and you are looking for the title of a score or recordings, not a title for an individual work
found within collections or recordings. For more information on using uniform titles in catalog searches,
see the Indiana University School of Music's guide to Using Uniform Titles.
Find music materials by subject (Subject search). 
You enter: string quartets
Subject searches are based on Library of Congress (LC) Subject Headings (a multi-volume guide to LC
Subject Headings is located in the reference area on the first floor of the library-- ask at the front desk). The above search in the Cline Library catalog will
return over 550 items (recordings, scores, etc.) grouped under 35+ different subject headings
(all starting with "string quartets," including such specific headings as string
quartets 18th century scores). Even if you don't know the exact LC
Subject Heading, typing in your best guess may return a "see reference" directing you to the proper form of
the subject heading: try piano and violin
music.
Find music materials by keyword (Word search).
You enter: mozart violin concertos
scores
Word searches pick up the occurrence(s) of the entered words in various fields of records: title, author, contents, etc.
A word search can be useful when exact titles and/or authors/composers are not known. The above search picks up only those
catalog records for materials that have the words "mozart," "violin," "concertos" and "scores"
together in same record. Adding the word "scores" to the search helps to narrow it to just written scores, weeding
out catalog records for audio discs, tapes and other recordings (the word "scores" often appears as a material
type sub-heading in the subject heading). See also limiting search results to material types.
Find music materials by call number (LC Call Number search).
You enter: M 452
The Library of Congress (LC) call number system allows for quick retrieval of items as well as for
more efficient browsing by grouping items together by subject categories on the shelves. M represents the broad area of
Music in the LC system, and M 452 more specifically represents the subject
area of string quartets. If you know something about the call number system for Music (M), you can use use an LC
Call Number search to browse the "virtual" music collection shelves in the web catalog. See also the the Library of Congress Classification outline for Music and Books on Music (.pdf; requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).
Limit catalog cearches by material type 'Music Scores'.
The Advanced Catalog Search page allows you to enter a keyword, title, author, or subject search and specify "Music Scores" as a material type before performing the search. For example, an advanced author search for composer schuman, william can be limited by material type Music Scores:
You can also limit your catalog search results to a particular material type after the search is done. Once the results
are displayed, click on 
(keyword search) or 
(any other type of search) toward the top of the screen. You can then choose to limit
your results to a variety of material types, including "Music Scores".
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This page last modified
September 3, 2009
