Music Guide: Reference Sources

Reference Sources

Find dictionaries, encyclopedias, and directories on this page! For Opera reference sources, please see the Vocal Sources page.

Oxford Music Online
Music reference works, including Grove Music Online, biographies, and encyclopedias
The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online
A comprehensive online resource devoted to music research of all the world's peoples.
Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Featuring a broad musical scope covering popular music of all genres and periods from 1900 to the present day, including jazz, country, folk, rap, reggae, techno, musicals, and world music, the Encyclopedia also offers thousands of additional entries covering popular music genres, trends, styles, record labels, venues, and music festivals.
Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Popular Musicians Since 1990
This biographical reference includes more than 550 entries focusing on artists active from 1990-2003. Individual artists and groups in all popular styles are covered, including those in rock, rhythm and blues, rap, country, electronica, jazz, vocal and crossover classical. Features include select discographies, bibliographies, a glossary of music terms, a table of best-selling music since 1990 and more.
Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians
Covers all musical genres, with new entries written by a distinguished group of area specialists as well as the original articles by Nicolas Slonimsky. This work continues the tradition of offering the most comprehensive and authoritative information on musicians, along with interesting and insightful evaluations of their contributions to the musical world.

RIPM Jazz Periodicals This link opens in a new window
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High quality archival scans of 105 American jazz periodicals dating from 1914 to the 2000's. Includes full runs where possible.

Jazz Discography
General discography of all categories of recorded jazz, 1896 to present; must be on campus to use

Grove Music Online This link opens in a new window
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Includes The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz

Music Research by Laurie J. Sampsel
Call Number: ML113 .S28 2020
ISBN: 9780190644505
Publication Date: 2019-01-30
Introduces students to the major print and online research tools available today.
Sourcebook for Research in Music, Third Edition by Allen Scott
ISBN: 9780253014481
Publication Date: 2015-06-01
Comprehensive but concise guide to navigating materials for music research. Includes a list of common bibliographical terms with definitions, German and French bibliographical terms, and plans of the Library of Congress and the Dewey Decimal music classification systems, then seven bibliographical chapters, covering lists of sources as well as collective annotations that introduce and identify specific items.
Unlocking the Digital Age by Kathleen DeLaurenti; Andrea Copland; Valerie Hartman (Editor); Christopher DeLaurenti (Editor)
ISBN: 9798218385873
Publication Date: 2024-02-26
Serves as a crucial resource for early career musicians navigating the complexities of the digital era. This guide bridges the gap between creative practice and scholarly research, empowering musicians to confidently share and protect their work as they expand their performing lives beyond the concert stage as citizen artists. It offers a plain language resource that helps early career musicians see where creative practice and creative research intersect and how to traverse information systems to share their work.