More and more sound recordings are available online through services such as Naxos Music Online and Classical Music Library. Keep in mind, however, that many recordings are not available through any of our online services, and if fact many recordings are not available online at all. Occasionally you will need to track down a recording on a CD, an LP, a 78 rpm recording, or another sound format. You can check OneSearch to see if we have access to a sound recording, whether online or through some kind of media.

Arkansas Folksong Collection

The Ozark Folksong Collection, originally recorded and compiled between 1949 and 1965, is the largest and most complete collection of traditional music and associated materials from Arkansas and the Ozarks in the nation. The physical collection contains audio recordings of songs, oral histories, anecdotes, and tales from over 700 performers.

When searching for sound recordings, stay on the "OneSearch" option on the library homepage, because an "Audio" search option is available there.

Then after your search, you can narrow further using the options listed in the left column:

Other methods to narrow down your search includes:

On the "Library Catalog" page, you can also search by "Keyword," "Author" (entering last name first), "Title," and "Subject," and then later narrow to scores.  Using the "Advanced Search" option, you can also search using a few more options such as "Call Number," "Language," and dates.  All of those options are available later using the general search.

For larger works  (my rule of thumb is about 10 minutes or longer) it is helpful to use titles to limit your searching. Remember several tricks

•   Don't include articles such as le, l', das
•   You can search by key and opus number but omit if you are having difficulty
•   Use the spelling the composer used or try alternate spellings
•   Truncate (use *) terms such as symphony or concerto in order to find the works in sets (symphon*, concert*)

Convert your search to a keyword search for both the composer and word/s in the title for short  works.

Make your life easier - limit your search to Material Type = musical score!

Uniform titles are unique titles librarians form to help patrons make sure they are finding the score they need. For example, a keyword search for "Beethoven's Fifth Symphony" or "Beethoven symphony no. 5" would pull up a list of either too many or too few items, many of which will be unrelated to that symphony. The uniform title is "Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827. Symphonies, no. 5, op. 67, C minor," and if you use that uniform title you will be sure to find that item. For a Library Guide that describes more about uniform titles, click here.