University of Melbourne Library Louise Hanson-Dyer Music Library

 

 

 

Finding books in Music Therapy

Browsing | Google Options | Online Collections | Using Catalogues | Research Collections |
Subject bibliographies | Guides to music therapy research
Browsing library collections - important call numbers
Browsing through the collection is highly recommended as scanning the contents pages and book indexes offer more detailed indexing than library catalogues. Knowing the shelf arrangement makes it easy to find the best place to browse the shelves.

Even from home, you can use the library catalogue to virtually browse the book shelves. Use the Call no. search option. Try some of the links below to display the call no. searches using the library catalogue.

 

152- Psychology of behaviour
153.9478 Measurement and evaluation in music
371.904487 Special education - Music
372.87 Music education - children, elderly, , etc
615.85154 Music Therapy
780.1 Philosophy of Music ; Music and meaning
780.7 Music - Instruction and Study
781.1 Philosophy of music ; Music perception and interpretation
781.11 Exploring the musical mind

There are two sequences of Dewey numbers in the Music Library, the general and folio sequence for taller books. Use the above numbers to browse both sequences.


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Google Options
Google Advanced Book Search - Using Google Book Search

Search the full text of books to discover those that are most useful to you. From your results, you'll be able to see everything from a few short excerpts to the entire book. Click on a book title and you'll see the Snippet View. You may also see the Sample Pages View if the publisher or author has given permission or the Full Book View if the book is out of copyright. Alternatively, check for local holdings in :


Google Scholar Search @ unimelb - Learn Google 201
Google Scholar searches books, journals and other materials from academic publishers, professional societies and pre-print archives. This configuration will access SourceIt @ Melbourne links to University of Melbourne holdings and subscriptions.

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Online Book Collections : a selection
  • The Internet Archive - texts, audio, movies, images, etc.
    "The Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, we provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, and the general public.". About the Internet Archive.

Using Catalogues
Catalogues of large, historical, music collections are invaluable for finding materials for comprehensive research. Read through some Catalogue searching tips to improve your searching skills and try Smart Searching guides to learn better searching techniques.

Search the library catalogue by title, author, keywords, subject, or the other indexes available.

  1. Searching by Keyword.

    If you are new to a topic, start with a keyword search to find some intitial resources. To search by keyword use a medical condition, disability, population name or any other distinctive words that describe the information you are looking for. For example:

  2. Searching by Author or Title

    Use your course reading lists or use the material on Reserve for resources which have been especially selected by your lecturer. If using a reading list, use an author search or title search instead. Once you have some books in hand, these resources will often provide bibliographies -- lists of books and articles that will allow you to discover what else is available on a subject.

  3. Searching by subject

    Searching by subject is a very precise way of searching and you must search using Library of Congress subject headings. These are the words that have been assigned by a cataloguer to describe the subject and may not be the same as your keywords. It may be useful to do a keyword search first. Then check the Subject field in records retrieved to see what words are used as subject headings in the catalogue. For example:

    Arts Therapeutic use Musical instruments for people with disabilities
    Children with disabilities Musical Perception
    Music, Influence of Occupational therapy
    Music Physiological Aspects People with disabilities and the arts
    Music Physiological Effect People with disabilities and the Performing Arts
    Music Psychological Aspects Performing Arts and Children
    Music therapists Recreational Therapy
    Music therapy Special Education Music
    Music Therapy for children Teenagers with disabilities
    Music therapy for older people  

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Research Collections
Australian Collections
  • Libraries Australia Search Service - Australian National Bibliographic database
    Search more than 40 million items held in over 800 Australian libraries. You can search for any item and locate which library in Australia holds it. Search for books, journals, newspapers, theses, pictures, music, manuscripts, maps and more. Many online resources such as digitised images and full text publications can also be accessed immediately online. A Searching for Music in Libraries Australia guide is available.

International collections
  • National Libraries Catalogues Worldwide, from University of Queensland.
    "National libraries are responsible for collecting all publications issued in their respective countries. For this reason, the catalogue of a national library is the best guide to publications issued in the country in question, and anyone wanting information on the publications of that country should make the catalogue of the national library the starting point of their search."
  • The European Library - searches the content of European national libraries.
    Allows searching limited by format - newspapers, maps, music collections, photographs, theses, etc. Also limit by specific country, or browse collections by subject, or by description, e.g. sound, software, etc.
  • WorldCAT - a catalogue to the holdings of a large library network.
    Books and other materials in libraries worldwide, but especially at U.S. academic institutions.

Britain
  • British Library Integrated Catalogue
    One of the most comprehensive collections of Western Art music, the catalogue identifies printed books on music, including periodicals, libretti and printed music in both the Hirsch and Royal Music Libraries as well as collections of popular vocal and instrumental music, concert programmes, etc.
  • COPAC - Academic and National Library Catalogue
    A union catalogue which provides access to the merged online catalogues of the largest university research libraries in the UK and Ireland PLUS the British Library & the National Libraries of Scotland and Wales.

United States
  • Library of Congress Online Catalog - also access to SONIC (Sound Online Inventory & Catalog)
    Another outstanding collection including music, books on music, sound recordings, etc. (from 1960- present). Be aware that "older materials in the general collections cataloged before 1980 may ... not be represented in the Online Catalog. Onsite researchers should use the Main Card Catalog. Some examples of collection materials not comprehensively available in the Online Catalog include: 78 rpm sound recordings, prints and photographs, films and videos, maps, libretti, sheet music, .... "
  • New York Public Library Catalog
    Includes the catalogue of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts for materials cataloged since 1971. Earlier material can be found in the published catalog volumes at: UniM Music REF 016.78 NEW Dictionary Catalog of the Music Collection (1964) 33 vols., plus suppl. (1973) 10 vols. This print catalogue lists books, music, and indexes PERIODICAL ARTICLES up until 1973.

France
  • Union Catalog of France (Catalogue collectif de France/CCFr)
    A powerful online bibliographic and document research tool making it possible to locate more than 15 million documents available in the French library system. The CCFr provides a single search interface for the three major French catalogs:
    • the Catalog of Digitized Municipal Library Collections (Catalogue des Fonds des Bibliothèques Municipales Rétroconvertis/BMR);
    • BN-Opale Plus;
    • and the University Documentation Catalog (Catalogue du Système Universitaire de Documentation/Sudoc).

Sweden
  • LIBRIS WebSearch
    Search the holdings of approximately 300 Swedish research libraries, consisting of 5,5 million titles.

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Subject Bibliographies
Book lists, compiled by experts, are invaluable publications, outlining the lists of writings on a topic, period, composer, etc. Often includes critical annotations for each entry and includes books, articles, conferences, dissertations, etc. A must for the start of any literature review or comprehensive research topic. Many are located in our Reference Collection and some examples include :


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Guides to music therapy research

If you have a question about locating the information you need, contact us for expert assistance.

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