Reference Resources for Music -- Contain a variety of formats
- Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online This link opens in a new window
Now part of MUSIC ONLINE. Music research of all the world's peoples with regional overviews explaining musical heritage, traditions, themes and a description of specific musical genres, practices, and performances. Also contains illustrations and sound recordings.
- Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new window
This music encyclopedia includes the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, New Grove Dictionary of Opera, New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, Grove Dictionary of American Music, Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, Oxford Companion to Music, Oxford Dictionary of Music and the Encyclopedia of Popular Music. It is recommended to students of all levels as a beginning point for research.
Audiovisual Databases for Music Research
- Smithsonian Global Sound This link opens in a new window
Now part of MUSIC ONLINE. An international database of traditional and historical music recordings from across the world which can be searched by country, cultural group, artist, instrument, genre, and more. Highlights of the collection are in folk, jazz, blues, bluegrass, and old time country music as well as musical traditions from Africa, the Americas, and Asia. For current music see the complementary database, 'Contemporary World Music.' It is possible to create individual playlists or course folders for entire classes.
- Naxos Music Library This link opens in a new windowStreaming audio files of classical music, jazz, world music, folk, instrumental and more. From more than 86,690 CDs with more than 1, 250,000 tracks. Updated monthly.
- Ethnomusicology: Global Field Recordings This link opens in a new windowDelve into the cultural study of music and explore content from across the globe with this diverse and comprehensive collection. Produced in collaboration with the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive, the material in this collection includes thousands of audio field recordings and interviews, educational recordings, film footage, field notebooks, slides, correspondence and ephemera from over 60 fields of study.
Available through July 31, 2025
- The Strachwitz Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American Recordings at UCLAThis collection contains over 100,000 songs celebrating North America’s Spanish-language musical heritage
- Latinx Thought and Culture: The NPR Archive, 1979-1990 This link opens in a new windowLatinx Thought and Culture: The NPR Archive, 1979–1990 showcases two radio programs available for the first time in audio with transcripts: the weekly Spanish-language Enfoque Nacional and the Daily English-language Latin File. This archive includes 500 episodes (30 minutes each) of Enfoque Nacional with coverage from 1979 to 1988 and 414 episodes (15 minutes each) of Latin File from 1988 to 1990. These episodes focus on Latinx issues related to politics, sociology, human rights, the arts and more including interviews with key figures and coverage of important historical events, all reported by a new generation of Latino/a journalists at the time.
Available through June 30, 2025
- Ethnographic Video Online This link opens in a new window
This collection of streaming video provides access to hundreds of classic and contemporary documentaries useful in the study of anthropology, ethnography and social psychology. The videos are global in scope, with footage from every continent and material relevant to hundreds of cultures. In addition to published content, Ethnographic Video online includes unpublished footage from archives or the personal collections of anthropologists and others.
Using OneSearch to find Articles, Books, and other Materials
Using OneSearch is easy but it can be a little tricky for doing research in many multidisciplinary subject areas including this one. Here are some tips to help you use it.
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Use the ADVANCED SEARCH option found to the left of the OneSearch search box on the library homepage.
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At the first opportunity, get in the habit of signing in. Signing in lets you see more options and allows you to request books, articles and other materials that the Pollak Library does not own from other CSUs and other libraries.* There are certain databases that will only be searched once you are logged in.**
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OneSearch emphasizes full text. Abstract databases and Index databases -- SOME IMPORTANT DATABASES ARE IN THESE CATEGORIES -- can be excluded from your search results until you expand your results. Here is how to do this: Once you have done a search, look for a sentence below the search box that says: Didn't find what you are looking for? Click here to include Results from Other Libraries (This may seem misleading as you are actually getting more results from our library as well as those from other libraries. We may actually have access to the full-text in another database we own or we can request it from another library.)
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Examine the other possible options in Refine my Results column to narrow your search.
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If you are still having trouble come to the researchdesk or contact me at bmiller@fullerton.edu
- OneSearch from the Pollak Library HomepageStart Searching OneSearch from the Pollak Library Homepage
*Including books that are checked out here at CSUF!
**Please note that not all of our databases are actually being searched by OneSearch. We are adding them as quickly as possible. If you go to the databases tab on the Pollak Library homepage and browse by Database Name, you can see which databases are being searched. They have the OneSearch symbol
Article Databases for Music Research
- Music Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window
Formerly known as International Index of Music Periodicals Full Text (IIMP), the Music Periodicals Database is an international music resource which indexes articles from journals and magazine. This database includes all musical genres from classical to popular. The Music Periodicals Database is the music periodicals section within this database. It can be searched separately or in a combined search with the Performing Arts Periodicals Database (formerly known as the International Index to Performing Arts Full Text), the performing arts periodical section of the database.
- RILM Abstracts of Music Literature This link opens in a new windowPremier international music database recommended as first choice by Music faculty for scholarly writings from journals, books, dissertations, and more. Covers all aspects of music but focuses on classical music. Rpertoire International de Littrature Musicale.
- Performing Arts Periodicals Database This link opens in a new windowFormerly known as International Index to Performing Arts Full Text (IIPAFT). The Performing Arts Periodicals Database is a dynamic resource for the performing arts that provides indexing and abstracts for more than 210 international journals. International index for articles from performing arts journals and magazines. Database includes all aspects for the performing arts from theatre to the entertainment industry. The Performing Arts Periodicals Database is the performing arts section within this database. It can be searched separately or in a combined search with the Music Periodicals Database (formerly known as International Index of Music Periodicals Full Text), the music periodicals sections of the database.
- Humanities Full Text This link opens in a new windowNeed to find articles from over 600 journals covering various broad subjects in the humanities including archaeology, art, classics, film, folklore, linguistics, philosophy, religion, and world literature? Try this!
- Humanities and Social Sciences Index Retrospective:1907-1984 This link opens in a new windowHumanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective is a bibliographic database that cites articles from English-language periodicals. Periodical coverage includes some of the best-known scholarly journals and numerous lesser-known but important specialized magazines. Coverage includes a wide range of interdisciplinary fields covered in a broad array of humanities and social sciences journals. Content from H.W. Wilsons International Index is also included. Limited to 2 simultaneous users.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
A digital interdisciplinary archive of over 1,000 leading academic journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. JSTOR also includes other valuable materials for academic work, such as select monographs, photographs, manuscripts, speeches, maps, and pamphlets. All collections are full-text searchable, offer search-term highlighting, include high-quality images, and are interlinked by millions of citations and references.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new windowSearch for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from all subjects. Use Google Scholar to find articles from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles available across the web.
If you have problems connecting, go to the main Google Scholar page (https://scholar.google.com/) where you will find a link to Settings. Once you click on it, you'll be taken to a page with "Library Links" on the left side. Search for Fullerton or "California State University Fullerton" and once you check the box next to "California State University Fullerton - Pollak Library FindIt!" you'll see the links appear.
Note - if we have it electronically, a link will appear on the right. If we have it in print, you'll have to click on "More" under the article to get the FindIt! link.