RoJaRo (review)

For information regarding the scope of this column, consult the headnote in the September 2008 issue (p. 136 of this volume). The dates of access for each review of an online source indicate the dates during which the reviewer was evaluating the resource. All Web sites were last accessed to verify availability on 20 August 2008.

RoJaRo stands for rock, jazz, and roots, but the tiny "etc" positioned next to the acronym in the top-left corner hints at this Web site's comprehensive scope. It covers popular genres of every stripe, from blues and country to electronica and house, and includes many small or ephemeral publications that are not included in more mainstream music indexes, but which are useful and perhaps even necessary to some kinds of music study. RoJaRo's main strength is its inclusion of these smaller publications and zines, many of them from outside the United States, as well as materials such as transcriptions and discographies that may not appear in databases oriented toward articles and reviews. Because it is a free resource, it is easily included in a collection of Web-based music indexes, and for studies of (or just interest in) folk and popular music, it offers a useful supplement to other indexes.

RoJaRo aspires to be "the most complete reference source related to the music press worldwide." That said, its coverage is chiefly in the pop and jazz arena, and mainly the popular or mainstream press; as noted above, this includes some obscure popular publications that may not be indexed anywhere else. It is international in scope and includes quite a few non-English publications. It does not include a specific date range or starting date for its coverage, though the index itself was launched in 1991, giving it an impressively long lifetime for a resource that is clearly a labor of love. It does not indicate the number of countries or publications covered. While the scope could be more clearly stated, RoJaRo's focus on areas poorly served by other indexes makes it useful; on the other hand, online indexes have evolved and expanded substantially since 1991, and there are ways that RoJaRo could develop to ensure that it remains useful (and used).

Among RoJaRo's strengths are its clear, straightforward interface, and a very simple search feature that is clearly explicated and easy to use. It is not especially useful for genre, period, or work-based searching, however, because its main search feature requires an artist name—either an individual or a group. Artist names are the only way to search the index; it also includes browsable, searchable publication and record label lists (cross-referenced by country), but these indicate only whether a particular title or label is included in the index. No search limiters are available. There is some indication that other search functionality is planned, but no indication of when this might be implemented. One cannot browse the database's contents. Searching an artist's name retrieves a list of publication types and subheadings. General publications, arranged by type, come first in the list, and include feature articles, performance reviews, CD reviews, discographies, and transcriptions. For some artists, the general list may be followed by subheadings such as titles of albums and songs. Clicking on each publication type or subheading retrieves a list of citations in tabular form. It is here that one of the main drawbacks of the index appears: each citation includes only the publication, date, starting page number, and number of pages. Although each publication title is hyperlinked, clicking the link leads to information about the publication, not further details on the citation (such as author, title, volume and issue numbers, or abstracts). There is no full text. Although this is not expressly stated, all content appears to be published material about artists, as opposed to primary material from artists themselves; artist Web sites, for instance, are not included, and neither is artist representation contact information. RoJaRo is primarily a quick reference database, and its content appears to...