Reliable, Useful, and Free: Notable Bibliographic Databases on the Web

The World Wide Web has permanently and profoundly changed the way researchers go about their business and how they think about information. While the need for authoritative, subject-specific resources providing bibliographic and other research-oriented information is not new, the method for delivering this information has changed dramatically in recent years. Gone are the days when bibliographies were relatively obscure print resources of which only librarians and a select group of scholars were aware. Today bibliographic databases are big business--as OCLC FirstSearch and Web of Science prove--and most, if not all, are migrating to the Web. The following bibliographic databases are notable because they are reliable, useful, free, and related to significant musical topics.

 

Bach Bibliography. http://www.npj.com/bach/. Maintained by Yo Tomita.

Johann Sebastian Bach is unarguably one of the most thoroughly researched composers of Western music. For scholars and students working in the field of "Bach Studies," it is a daunting task to keep abreast of current research. With new articles, books, and dissertations being published constantly--resulting in a vast accumulation of information--a primary need of Bach scholars is a comprehensive bibliographic resource providing easy access to up-to-date information. Whereas compiled lists of contemporary Bach references published in print resources (such as the Bach Jahrbuch) are cumbersome to use and woefully out of date, the Web provides unparalleled opportunities to create and utilize superior bibliographic resources, of which the Bach Bibliography is an example.

Created and maintained by Dr. Yo Tomita of the School of Music, Queen's University of Belfast, this database contains references to more than 17,500 books, articles, facsimiles, dissertations, and papers read at recognized conferences and meetings. With frequent updates and advanced search capabilities, it is the most comprehensive, current, and easy to use bibliographic resource for Bach scholarship in existence.

The Bach Bibliography is available through three English- and two Japanese-language mirror sites, and features both simple and complex search functions. It lists essential collections of Bach-related research materials, including catalogs, serials and periodicals, Festschriften, and conference reports; announcements of new and forthcoming publications (including dissertations); online book reviews; and a notice board with news about Bach conferences around the world.

If you are a student, scholar, or librarian doing (or advising) research on J. S. Bach that requires more than a superficial knowledge of the literature in this field, then this resource is for you.

 

Beethoven Bibliography Database. http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/beethoven/database/database.html. Maintained by the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, San Jose State University.

The Beethoven Bibliography Database is a fully indexed bibliography of published and selected unpublished materials relating to Ludwig van Beethoven and his music. It contains approximately 14,000 bibliographic records created from direct examination of materials in the collection of the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, San Jose State University. Here you will find information on books, dissertations, articles, and scores, not to mention iconography, concert reviews, handbills, program notes, letters, bibliographies, and more.

The contents of this database are remarkable in that the Center for Beethoven Studies has the largest collection of Beethoven-related materials in North America, and nearly two thirds of their holdings are indexed in this database. (The remainder of the collection will be cataloged and online by the year 2004.) Of particular interest is their collection of first and early editions of Beethoven's music.

But the real strengths of this database lie in the depth of indexing of the materials, and the search capabilities, which are truly extraordinary. The materials are cataloged using terms from the Beethoven Thesaurus developed at the Center (William R. Meredith and Patricia Elliott, The Beethoven Bibliography Database: User's Guide and Thesaurus, 8th ed. [San Jose, Calif.: Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, San Jose State University, 2001]). Comprised of 7,400 subject and genre terms, the thesaurus is organized in eight hierarchies with...