Welcome!
These pages provide information about library resources for music
research and links to important World Wide Web sites.
- Books - a guide to locating books in
Blackwell Library, the University System of Maryland, and other libraries.
- Scores -
how to find printed scores in Blackwell Library or borrow them online, plus
web sites that offer free download of scores.
- Articles -
links to electronic databases used to search for articles in scholarly
journals and other music periodicals; how to find print and electronic
articles.
- Listening -
links to online resources for listening to music, plus how to find CDs in
the library.
- Class
Guides -
specific information for classes and assignments
- Citing sources -
how to cite all kinds of music sources and avoid plagiarism.
- Faculty Interests -
resources for instruction, research and professional activities.
For more information on specific topics, check out the
following:
Composers / Music History
Instruments
Repertoire
Music Business
Music Education
Music Facilities in the library
For detailed information about every aspect of music research, see these books
which are available in the Reference section on the first floor. Ask at the
Research Help Desk if you need help finding them.
Music Research, A Handbook
REF ML113.S28 2009
Music Library and Research Skills
REF Ml3797.G8 2009
Need more help?
General
Research assistance is available through the Research Help Desk by
phone, email or in person.
For individual help with music research, see Kathryn Kalmanson, library
liaison to the Music Department and music research specialist.
Office BL133 (If you find her in the office, you're welcome to drop in.)
Email:
kckalmanson@salisbury.edu
Phone: 410-543-6190
Office hours in the Department of Music in FH234 every Thursday,
12:30-1:45 p.m.
Books
Books about music are found in two places in the library—the general collection
and the Reference collection (downstairs, books for in-library use only). In
both places, they are arranged according to the Library
of Congress call numbers for music.
Searching for books in
Blackwell Library
Reference collection
The Music collection in Reference
(REF) is small enough that you may want to browse. Some of the most frequently
used books in this area are:
·
New Grove Encyclopedia
of Music and Musicians
·
New Grove Dictionary of
American Music
·
Garland Encyclopedia of
World Music
For assistance in finding these and
other REF works, ask at the
Research Help Desk.
General Collection
These books, shelved on the second
floor, can be checked out.
To find books in this section,
search the USMAI online
catalog. Enter your keywords, then choose "general
collection" from the drop-down menu under
"location." All the
books you retrieve will be books that can be checked out of the library.
Can't find what you need at SU? Go
to the
USMAI combined catalog and search again.
You can place a direct borrowing request online. The item will then be
shipped to SU and held for you at the Circulation Desk. Books usually arrive in
3—5 business days. You will be notified by email.
How to request items from other USMAI libraries:
Direct
Borrowing (PDF) or
Direct Borrowing (Web Tutor) or
Direct
Borrowing (Web Page) or
Direct Borrowing (Windows Media Player)
Books in the library are arranged on the shelf according to the Library of
Congress classification system. All music books have a call number beginning
with the letter "M" followed by other letters and numbers. You should always
depend on the
online catalog as your primary method of
finding books in the library. However, once you have found the general area of
interest to you, it is often helpful to browse the shelves as well. The
Library of Congress
classification chart for music books
shows how books are organized on the shelves.
Interlibrary Loan
Books that are not
available through the USMAI Catalog can often be borrowed from other libraries
through
Interlibrary Loan. Just follow the online instructions.
If you have questions
about finding or requesting books, be sure to ask for
research help.
Scores
Musical scores in Blackwell Library are shelved on the
second floor near the Computer Lab/Instruction Room.
The scores collection includes miniatures and other study
editions as well as performance editions, sometimes with parts.
The easiest way to find what you need is to search the
library's online catalog. Select the advanced search mode. Type in
keywords to represent what you want and then use the "format"
dropdown menu to limit your search to scores. Here's an example.

Note:
Popular names such as "moonlight Sonata"
are not always used in the catalog; therefore, searching with these names may
produce incomplete results.
Can't find what you need at SU? Go to the
USMAI combined catalog and search again.
You can place a direct borrowing request online. The item will then be shipped
to SU and held for you at the Circulation Desk. Books usually arrive in 3—5
business days. You will be notified by email.
How to request items from other USMAI libraries:
Direct
Borrowing (PDF) or
Direct Borrowing (Web Tutor) or
Direct
Borrowing (Web Page) or
Direct Borrowing (Windows Media Player)
Still can't find it?
Go to WorldCat and search again. If you
find what you want, click on the title to bring up the complete record. Then
click on
and
select the option for Interlibrary Loan. Information about the book will
automatically transfer to the Interlibrary Loan web form.
Follow the instructions to place your request. When prompted to log in, use
your Gull Card bar code number.
Interlibrary Loan & ILLiad FAQs (PDF)
Interlibrary Loan Tutorial (Windows Media
Player)
Sites for Free Sheet Music and Scores on the Web
Free Scores.com – searchable database offering many free downloads. Search
by composer, instrument, or keyword. This is a site for aspiring composers to
promote their work; however, many of the standard composers and works can be
found here.
Sheet Music Web – a meta site that provides many, many links to downloadable
sheet music. Not all of the downloads are free, but many are. It takes some
persistence to find what you want, but the selection is good.
Online Music Scores – from Acadia University, by far the best of the
meta sites, offering an extensive list of sites that offer free sheet music.
Well organized and easy to search. Highly recommended.
Free Sheet Music—large selection of public domain (out of copyright) sheet
music. Includes opera, spirituals, folk music, and much more. Each page is a
separate file and so printing is one sheet at a time. Quality of print
reproduction varies greatly.
Mutopia – extensive offerings of free scores for classical and
contemporary music, plus computer generated midi scores for previewing. Over
1500 scores are currently available.
Free Sheetmusic library—a limited but nice quality selection of free music.
SMA: The Sheet Music Archive – a
fairly good selection of music by well-known composers from public-domain
editions. Free downloads are limited to two per day in order to conserve
bandwidth. Pop-up advertising is fairly intrusive.
Werner Icking Music Archive – hosted by the Danish Royal Academy of Music,
this site offers a large selection of sheet music. The sheet music legibility
(in pdf) is excellent. Some sound downloads are also available. Includes links
to other free sheet music sources and various music reference tools.
Articles
Articles in music
periodicals, both scholarly journals and music magazines, can be found by
searching library databases. Many if these articles will be in full-text;
others are available in print form, either in the library or through
Interlibrary Loan.
Articles
that are not available in directly from the database will be marked with a
yellow
button.
Click on this button to find out your options for getting the full article. It
may be available in print format in the library or online through a different
library database. If the library doesn't have it in any format, you can still
request it through Interlibrary Loan.
Find It Button Tutorial (Flash)
Interlibrary Loan & ILLiad FAQs (PDF)
Interlibrary Loan Tutorial (Windows Media
Player)
Databases for Music Articles

Please note: To
access these databases from OFF CAMPUS, go to the
Databases by Subject/Music and select the database you wish to use. You
will be prompted to enter your 14-digit GullCard number (the one under the bar
code) and your last name.
Music Index
Index to
almost 800 leading journals and other periodicals in music, from 1976 to
present. Covers history, critical studies, performance, and much more.
JSTOR
Electronic archive of full text articles from scholarly journals in the
humanities and social sciences. Covers a number of important journals in music
studies. All articles are reproduced as images of the original printed pages.
Humanities International Complete
Index of scholarly journals covering some aspects of music; links to some full
text. Especially good for world music topics!
Academic Search Premier
An index of scholarly journals
and popular periodicals; excellent for researching contemporary music and
musical theatre, but is sometimes helpful for other music topics. Also helpful
in identifying recordings.
ERIC
An index to articles, curriculum
guides and other materials in the field of education; a good source for topics
in music education and instructional techniques.
Listening
CDs in the library
At present the library CD collection is small; however it
is expected to grow in the near future.
To find music CDs in the library, go to the Salisbury
section of the online catalog,
advanced search page,
and type in keywords. Limit you search to the format "sound
recordings/CD."

Listening online
Classical Music Library
Provides a streaming classical music service both on and off-campus. The music
files are backed by an extensive database of information about the music and the
artists. Completely legal downloading is available for a small fee.
NAXOS Music Library
A large collection of CD
albums which can be searched by composer, artist, album title and composition
title. Album notes are included for all CDs. Although there are no downloads,
music can be captured by using the "Static URL" feature.
Guide for Students
(COMING SOON!)
Guide for Faculty
Please
note:
To access these databases from OFF CAMPUS, go to
Databases by Subject/Music and select the database you wish to use. You
will be prompted to enter your 14-digit GullCard number (the one with the bar
code) and your last name.
Web Sites
Midi Emporium - a wide selection of popular and classical music, including music
for holidays and occasions; audio, using Midi plug-in.
Citing Sources
The Music Department has adopted the Turabian style of citation for
documenting sources. Turabian is adapted for students from the famous Chicago
Manual of Style.
Here's how to find out about the Turabian style:
In the library—use these books, available at the Research Help Desk:
A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations,
6th edition, by Kate L. Turabian (See sections 8.143-8.146 for information
about citing music scores, recordings and performances.)
The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition (See sections 17.268-17.273
for information about citing music scores and recordings.)
Online—
Turabian/Chicago Manual
CMS (Chicago Manual of Style) website
NEW!
Citation Management Softwares
Avoiding Plagiarism
Using someone else
's material or ideas without giving proper credit is called
plagiarism. It is a serious form of academic dishonesty.
Sometimes students commit plagiarism without realizing it because they don't
know when and how to give credit. Fortunately, there are some quick and easy web
resources that show how to detect and avoid plagiarism. Find these and more in
Preventing Plagiarism: A Student Guide (PDF) or
Preventing Plagiarism.
Faculty Interests
Liaisons
Dr. Linda Cockey is the Music
Department’s liaison to the library. She advises on the selection of library
resources and shares faculty and student concerns with the library’s liaison to
the Music Department, Kathryn
Kalmanson.
Kathryn is the department’s spokesperson within the library and also shares
library information with Music Department faculty. She manages the requests for
library materials and the library’s music allocation..
Requests for library purchases
You are welcome to send requests for books, scores, CDs and videos at any
time. The ordering cycle runs from July 1 to February 1 each year. Requests
received after the February 1 deadline cannot be processed until the following
July.
Dr. Cockey collects faculty requests and forwards them to Kathryn. Faculty
may also use the
online
form to submit requests directly to Kathryn.
Library Instruction
In the library or in your classroom – library instruction can be arranged for
any class. Contact Kathryn Kalmanson who will plan a session tailored to your
class’s particular needs.
Online – Kathryn will be glad to participate in MyClasses or other online course
systems. Depending on your class’s needs, this might consist of being available
to answer questions by email, chat or IM, providing online guides, or team
teaching the entire semester.
Library
Instruction web page
Individual research consultations – Students and faculty are welcome to meet
with Kathryn Kalmanson for assistance with research. Call Kathryn at
410-543-6190 (36190) or email to
make an appointment.
Listening Resources
• Guide to listening resources from the library from the
Listening tab on this guide.
• The Naxos Music Library database allows faculty to create playlists for their
students. The playlist can be inserted in any web page. This function requires a
login to the main NAXOS web
site rather than clicking the link on library pages. A faculty password is
also required—contact Kathryn
Kalmanson for password access. Use of this password is granted to SU faculty
only. Please do not share it with others!
Faculty Guide to NAXOS
Web Sites
Music Teachers National Association (MTNA)
– directories, college faculty forum, job listings, wellness resources, and
more.
American Musicological Society –
membership and directory information, journal and publications listing, web
links.
Archive of Dissertation Abstracts in Music—a searchable index, including
dissertations in progress.
Music Library
Association's Guide to Copyright – basic
information, news, current issues, and Web links.
Music in the Public Domain—guides
for identifying music of all types no longer covered by copyright.