Jim Dan Hill Library: Music Research: Library Resources

Featured Library Databases

Music Database Resources
These databases focus on music and range from general encyclopedias (such as Oxford Music Online) to much more focused resources.

Streaming Subscription Audio and Video Databases

Naxos Music Library

A comprehensive collection of classical music available online. It includes the complete Naxos, Marco Polo and Dacapo catalogues of over 85,000 tracks, including classical, jazz, world, folk and Chinese music.
Access Note: Limited to 5 users at a time.

While not exclusively focused on music, a number of the video databases feature documentaries on and performances of music

Select operas are available through Digital Theatre +
Documentaries on a range of musical types (from Accordions to the music of J.S. Bach and beyond) are available on Docuseek
Select contemporary films are available through Feature Films for Education
Films on Demand offers an array of documentary and educational films on musical topics
Filmmakers Online and LGBT Studies in Video additional offer profiles of communities, individuals, and more

Encyclopedia Databases

Oxford Music Online

This database includes several music encyclopedias, including the monumental Grove Dictionary of Music. Articles from Grove cover all types of music worldwide, from ancient times to the present, and typically include extensive bibliographies.
Access Note: Limited to 3 users at a time.
Music Online: The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music

Music Online: The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music is a comprehensive online resource devoted to music research of all the worlds peoples. More than 9,000 pages of material and 300 audio recordings, combined with entries by more than 700 expert contributors from all over the world, make this the most complete body of work focused on world music.

Library Journals

Journals in Music
In the Search@UW Library Catalog, there is the option to look and search for only journals. There are also subject area limiters. This link will take you to the "Music" journals.

Subcategories for Music Journals, as listed in the Search@UW Library Catalog, include but are not limited to:

What is a Database? A Journal?: Quick Terminology Primer

database: a compilation of resources that share something in common; this may be a given format (e.g. ebooks; musical scores; audio recordings), topical focus (e.g. "musical instruments"), platform (e.g. "Google"), or something else.
journal: regularly published; typically understood to feature peer-reviewed scholarly and research articles; may include critical book, media, or recording reviews; may be produced by a scholarly organization or society.
periodical: regularly ("periodically") published; includes articles, stories and other text; news, trade, and industry-focused publications (Opera News was one) and even magazines and some blog sites may be understood as periodicals.
platform: the hosting site (sometimes a company or "vendor" but also potentially an educational or arts institution) through which you can access a resource.
peer-reviewed: has undergone a process of (often anonymous or "blind") review by the authors scholarly "peers," and likely a series of edits or revision prior to publication.
index (bibliography; citation): these are each slightly distinct terms that may generally be understood to refer to the provision of some kind of list of related information or resources with enough details to help identify and locate something (e.g. Music Index Online; Portuguese piano music: an introduction and annotated bibliography).
abstract or summary: the core argument and big idea of an article.
full-text: the complete text of the item, from beginning to end.

Adapted from The University of Oxford's Bodleian Libraries. (Updated July 9 2025). "Definitions." English Language and Literature: Journals [LibGuide]. https://libguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/english/journals. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence