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Five College Library Catalog: Finding Music Scores & Recordings

Werner Josten Performing Arts LIbrary

Ask at the service desk for a member of the permanent staff. Searching for music can be tricky and our most important job is to help you! (413) 585-2935 or josinfo@smith.edu

Search the Five College Library Catalog

Connect to the Five College Library Catalog. The default search is All Five Colleges - choose Smith to search all Smith libraries. Choose Smith in Five College Library Catalog
Click on Advanced (the second green tab).

 

Advanced Tab
Limit your search by Format:

From the Format dropdown menu near the bottom, select one of the following:

To Find ... Select...
printed i.e. "sheet" music Music Scores

ALL recordings
including CDs

 Sound Recordings

Select Format Music Scores or Sound Recordings

Limit your search by Location:

From the Location dropdown menu, you may select an individual library.

Limit by Location
Search for Keywords anywhere:

Enter specific, brief information about the score or recording from some or all of the following categories, depending on the kind of music:

 Search keywords anywhere
Search Keyword Anywhere for... Examples
Composer, artist, or performer name Verdi, Dylan, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Johann Sebastian Bach, Sting, Mamadou Diabate
Name or title of piece Traviata, Blood Tracks, Hermit Thrush, Blue Hawaii, Fanfare Common Man
Type of composition, in PLURAL
always, even if you are looking for a single sonata, concerto, or symphony		 symphonies, cantatas, concertos, sonatas
Style or instrument for traditional/world music rai, merengue, hip-hop, shakuhachi, zheng
Index number
without prefixes or punctuation		 525 (not K 525 or K.525), 140 (not BWV 140 or S.140)
Country or geographic region
world/traditional music, combined with subject terms such as "music" or "popular music"		 Algeria, Puerto Rico, Japan, Africa, Akan, plus the terms "music" or "popular music"

Search Tips

Use distinctive names and titles. More specific information can make a better search.

Use subject terms from the bibliographic record to broaden or refine your search.

Once you have located the uniform title of a classical piece, you may wish to repeat your search using the uniform title.

Example: Vesna sviãshchennaiã for Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring

 uniform title

If you don’t get any results, check your spelling, especially on transliterated names.

You may browse Josten Library sound recordings online using our unique call number system. Ask a permanent staff member for assistance in browsing by composer last name in the Western classical tradition, or geographic area for traditional music.

Some older scores and recordings in the Josten Library collection still require a search of the card catalog (first floor near the service desk) for complete results.

Ask a staff member! Finding scores and recordings may not be straightforward. Ask at service desk for a permanent staff member, call (413) 585-2935, or Ask a Josten Librarian

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