Articles in CUL Search
The Cornell University Library homepage features a single search that includes the library catalog, articles, databases, and more. These can be searched separately or simultaneously. Use Articles & Full Text to discover articles or to access articles you have seen cited somewhere; enter keywords from the article title and the author's last name. Use E-Journal Titles to browse the contents of specific journals, or search for specific journal titles in the catalog. Read the Search Tips to learn more about searching for articles.
To discover articles (that is, to find citations for articles that you don't yet know about), also use the music-specific databases listed on this page, especially Oxford Music Online, RILM Abstracts of Music Literature, and Music Index Online. For access to many other useful research databases and music- or dance-related websites, visit the music library website.
Music Literature Databases
- Oxford Music OnlineOxford Music Online (OMO) is the access-point for Oxford music reference subscriptions and products, including Grove Music Online, The Oxford Companion to Music, The Oxford Dictionary of Music, and Encyclopedia of Popular Music. With OMO patrons can cross-search Grove and Oxford reference content in one location. Articles from specialist dictionaries such as The New Grove Dictionary of Opera and The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, 2nd ed., are available via OMO.
- Garland Encyclopedia of World Music OnlineThe Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online is the first comprehensive online resource devoted to music research of all the world's peoples. More than 9,000 pages of material, combined with entries by more than 700 expert contributors from all over the world, make this the most complete body of work focused on world music.
- RILM Abstracts of Music LiteratureExtensive collection of bibliographic records and abstracts focused on music reference and other music related fields. Offers international coverage of books, bibliographies, conference proceedings, catalogs, discographies, dissertations, ethnographic recordings, Festschriften, films, iconographies, and videos. Includes both the traditional RILM database from 1967 to the present and the RILM Retrospective database for materials published prior to 1967.
- Music Index OnlineBibliographic database covering more than 725 international music periodicals from over 40 countries in 23 languages. Topics include every aspect of the classical and popular world of music, and are thoroughly categorized and organized according to the framework of an internal Subject List, which includes both Subject and Geographic headings. Covers all styles and genres of music. Cites book reviews, obituaries, new periodicals, and news and articles about music, musicians, and the music industry. Selected coverage before 1973. Coverage: 1973 to present.
- Oxford Handbooks Online: Scholarly Research ReviewsThe complete texts of the Oxford handbooks in Archaeology, Business and Management, Classical Studies, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Economics and Finance, History, Law, Linguistics, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, and Religion online.
- MGG OnlineDie Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (MGG) is a general encyclopedia of music. It offers in-depth articles on every aspect of music as well as many related areas such as literature, philosophy, and visual arts. MGG Online contains the second print edition of MGG, published from 1994 to 2008, as well as current, continuous online updates and additions.
Music Press and Music Industry
- Rock's BackpagesRock reviews, articles and interviews from the late 1950s to the present day.
- Entertainment industry magazine archive"An archival research resource containing the essential primary sources for studying the history of the film and entertainment industries, from the era of vaudeville and silent movies through to 2000. The core US and UK trade magazines covering film, music, broadcasting and theater are all included, together with film fan magazines and music press titles. Magazines have been scanned cover-to-cover in high-resolution color, with granular indexing of all articles, covers, ads and reviews."--Publisher description.
- Music Industry DataMusic ID is a growing repository of historical and current data from Billboard, Official Chart Company, GfK Entertainment and many more reporting agencies from over 30 countries around the world. Sales data drives the rankings. Rankings tell the story of the impact of music on society and cultures.
- RIPMInternational annotated bibliography of writings on musical history and culture, found in music periodicals published in seventeen countries between approximately 1800 and 1950. Treating primary source material, RIPM indexes the content of complete runs of journals, including articles, reviews, news columns, miscellaneous items, surveys of the press, bibliographies, iconography and advertising. In addition, RIPM offers access to an immense bibliography of music and to thousands of English-language translations of foreign documents.
General Research Databases
- Academic Search PremierThis multi-disciplinary database provides full text for more than 8,500 journals, including full text for more than 4,600 peer-reviewed titles. PDF backfiles to 1975 or further are available for well over one hundred journals, and searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,000 titles.
- JSTORJSTOR is a fully-searchable database containing the back issues of several hundred scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, mathematics, music, ecology and botany, business, and other fields. It includes the following collections: Arts & sciences I, II and III, General science, Ecology and botany, Business, Language and literature.
- Project MUSESearchable database that provides access to the full text of journals and ebooks published by university presses in the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics. Covers such fields as literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, and others.
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses GlobalSearchable and browsable database of dissertations and theses from around the world, spanning from 1743 to the present day. It also offers full text for graduate works added since 1997, along with selected full text for works written prior to 1997. It contains a significant amount of new international dissertations and theses both in citations and in full text.
- ProQuest Historical NewspapersThis database offers full-text and full-image articles for newspapers dating back to the 19th century. For most titles, the collection includes digital reproductions of every page from every issue, cover to cover, in downloadable PDF files. The database is an ongoing project.
Additional Databases
Cornell University Library provides access to many databases pertinent to disciplines in the arts and humanities, social sciences, and other areas. Explore the categories on the Databases page. Here are some examples of History: Primary Sources databases that feature music or musicians.
- The SixtiesThis searchable database brings the 1960s alive through diaries, letters, autobiographies and other memoirs, written and oral histories, manifestos, government documents, memorabilia, and scholarly commentary. The database covers subjects in arts, music, and leisure, civil rights, counter-culture, law and government, mass media, new left and emerging neo-conservative movement, student activism, Vietnam War, women's movement, etc.
- British PeriodicalsA fully searchable database that provides the full text of periodical articles published in Britain from the 1680s to the 1930s. Topics covered include literature, philosophy, history, science, the fine arts and the social sciences, literature, music, art, drama, archaeology and architecture.