To be honest at the reference desk I rarely get questions involving music any more challenging than "I'm looking for a recording of "Where is the Love" but not the original--its was in a movie with 'Presidents' in the title." Actually that was easy, it was on the soundtrack of "Dead Presidents" and when the gentleman came in to get it he proposed to me! (Sorry, he wasn't my type...)
But once in while there is a much more involved question and if allmusic.com doesn't do the trick then I am going straight to the Harvard College Library Online Resources for Music Scholars: http://hcl.harvard.edu/research/guides/onmusic/ The variety of websites listed here is amazing--and most of them can be accessed for free!
Here is but a selection of them--
The ARChive of Contemporary Music http://www.arcmusic.org/begin.html - the website is work in progress but has a wonderful overview of music in film, articles about the music scene in Paris and Havana, as well as listing its new acquistions.
The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive http://diamond.boisestate.edu/gas/ Want to learn more about the composers? Does every opera involve duty (sorry, West Wing reference)? This is the place to start. One amazing part of this website is that some of the operas even have karaoke files so you have a do-it-yourself "Pirates of Penzance" in your living room!
Some links lead to websites concentrating on very specific time periods. One of these is Voices from the Dust Bowl: The Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940-1941 http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/afctshtml/tshome.html It contains an overview of the time period, song lyrics and photos. It would be perfect for any student trying to gain a fuller understanding of life at that time.
Other websites are for archives located outside the United States. Library and Archives Canada website http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/sheetmusic/028008-4000-e.html has pdf files of sheet music as well as audio files for selected titles.
Sites such as The American Music Center http://www.amc.net/ provides support to musicians and even hosts its own online radio station at http://www.counterstreamradio.org/ If someone is looking for American classical music, both old and new-this it the place to hear it!
Some links such as the American Recorder Society's website, http://www.americanrecorder.org/ and the Historic Brass Society's page, http://www.historicbrass.org/ will probably have only limited appeal and may already by known by many patrons it seeks to serve. That being said, my son, a college music major, was thrilled when I showed him the International Clarinet Association's site at http://www.clarinet.org/ The organization allows members to borrow scores and there are numerous events world wide that a person can participate in or attend.
Of broader appeal is the Grammophone website, http://www.gramophone.net/ which offers full text articles in a searchable database. Grammophone is carried at our library and back issues are available through a database, but it is nice to know that I can direct patrons to one dedicated to that publication.
While most websites are well laid out and very user friendly. I was disappointed by the Music, Mind, Machine site http://www.nici.kun.nl/mmm/ The group conducts research regarding music and the mind however it presented a format that was a bit beyond me.
I will post a review of the Evolver.FM site in the discussion section.
Til next week, enjoy this week's video
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