Music Library

Circulation Policy

Library Card

Students, faculty, and staff: Your Hofstra University ID card is your library card. Bring it to the Circulation Desk to be linked to your record in our system.

Alumni: You must have an active alumni card in order to borrow materials from our Library. For information on the benefits of an Alumni ID and how to obtain one please refer to the Alumni Benefits section of the University webpage.

Checkout Periods

Books and scores: Students 14 days/Faculty 180 days/Alumni and Staff 30 days
Ensemble Scores: Students 14 days*/Faculty 180 days/Alumni and Staff 30 days
 (*extended to three days after scheduled recital or MUS020 performance)
CDs, LPs, DVDs, and electronics: Students 2 hours/Faculty 7 days/ Alumni and Staff 2 hours
Practice Room Keys: Students 3 hours

Renewal and return of materials may be done in person at the Circulation Desk in the Music Library.
For information about renewals, recall/hold requests, returning materials, fines, lost or damaged items, check the “Borrowing Information” page for Axinn Library.

Finding Scores

The Music Library is currently in the midst of a major multiyear project in which the holdings records are being fully cataloged and entered into the University’s online catalog, Lexicat. Until this project is completed, you will need to check both Lexicat and the Music Library Card Catalog to locate items in the collection.

Music Library Card Catalog

Useful for finding scores, and some books, which have not yet been entered into Lexicat.

• Title Cards: (white) cards list the title of the book or score. Works published in collections are listed by the publisher’s title, and not the individual works as listed in the Table of Contents.
• Author/Composer: (blue) cards for each composer list a work by that composer.
• Category: (salmon) cards are grouped by etude/ensemble, piano, voice, etc., as listed on the drawer labels.

CD Catalog

This is in a three-ring binder at the Music Library Circulation Desk. Works are listed alphabetically by composer using uniform titles.

Searching Techniques

Using Lexicat

Easy to find: Operas, works with distinctive titles, or works of lesser known composers.

Best searches: by title (e.g., Tosca), by composer (e.g., Partch, Harry -- but not Bach, Johann Sebastian), or guided search to combine author/title (author: Crumb; title: Black Angels)

Harder-to-find: Works with generic titles (e.g., symphonies, concertos, sonatas).

Best searches: words from titles/subjects (e.g., to find Mozart's Haffner Symphony, K.V. 385, do a keyword search: symphon* 385 [Note: The asterisk is a wild card here to catch symphony, symphonie, symphonies, etc.]

Finding works for specific combinations of instruments: (know your subject headings)

Technique 1: Find a work you know has the right combination - look at its subject heading(s) e.g., If you're looking for works for bassoon clarinet and oboe and you know that Jacques Ibert's Cinq pieces en trio is for that combination, search the title: Cinq pieces en trio - [Note: the subject heading is: Woodwind trios (bassoon, clarinet, oboe)]. Search under it for similar works or simply click on it to "re-direct" the search.

Technique 2: Use keyword search: bassoon clarinet oboe - [Note: The results are fuzzier, but more comprehensive.]

Limiting your result set: Once you've done your search, look for the "Limit/Sort search" button at the top of the screen. By clicking it, you can filter your results by one or more of the following (Note: You can only do this once, so be sure to get all your limits in place the first time.)

• Location: Here you can choose a specific collection in Lexicat, (i.e., Axinn Circulating Collection or Monroe Hall - Music Library).
• Format of material: Here you can choose to limit your results to printed music or sound recordings.
• Language: Here you can choose to limit your results to a particular language.
• Words in Author: If you initially searched by title or keywords, you can narrow your search with the composer's name (or in the case of a recording, the performer). The pull-down menu allows you to change this limit to words in Author/Title/Subject/Publisher.

Using call numbers: (best for browsing the stacks, NOT for finding something specific)

Find call numbers by using the Library of Congress M Class Schedule and look up the subject in the index. (Note: Look for call numbers beginning with M for scores and recordings. (e.g., Looking under Horn, one finds Instrumental Music M80- with orchestra, M1028- with string orchestra, M1128- with piano M255-)

Or use the Library of Congress Subject Headings (a set of five volumes in Axinn - Reference Z695 .L695  2010) to find the subject heading and note the LC class number. Subject headings for musical works are often musical "forms" or genres (e.g., symphonies, concertos, operas, cantatas, waltzes, sonatas), ensembles (e.g., string quartets, wind trios, choruses, piano trios, etc.) or in the case of solo and duet repertoire, use simply the names of the instruments (e.g., piano music, violin and piano music, flute and continuo music, violin music (violins (2)), flute and guitar music). Most works for voice and piano are simply given the heading songs.

Special Cases:

Songs/piano music in collections: (Often songs and shorter piano works are not published separately and must be found in collections or anthologies.)

There are a number of indexes to songs in collections (most can be found at Axinn and Music Library Ref. ML128.S3). Here are a few examples and a useful website:

• Index to Song Books (Axinn and Music Library Ref. ML128.S3 L45)
• Repertoire for the Solo Voice (Axinn Ref. ML128.S3 E8 2 vols.)
• Songs of the American Theater: a comprehensive listing of more than 12,000 songs, including selected titles from film and television productions (Axinn Ref. ML128.S3 L53)
• Index to Arias and Art Songs in Collections (University of Washington Music Library)

Search for an opera aria: Usually the easiest way to find an aria is to find it in the vocal score for the opera of which it is a part. If you don't know what opera it's from, look it up in Appendix B of the New Grove Dictionary of Opera (Axinn and Music Library Ref. ML102.O6 N5 1992 v. 4, and online via the Library’s link to Oxford Music Online).

Search for piano music (in Lexicat): Piano music, like songs, can sometimes be found by searching in Lexicat for its title or by searching "words from notes" (e.g., search title: bagatelles and words from notes: bagatelles).

Piano works in collections can often be found in Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire by Maurice Hinson (Axinn and Music Library Ref. ML128.P3 H5 1973).

FINDING SCORES AND RECORDINGS BEYOND HOFSTRA

Note: With the following web catalogs, one can use many of the same search techniques used in Lexicat. Most U.S. libraries use Library of Congress subject headings, so anything found in Lexicat can be used elsewhere as well. However, while most U.S. libraries also use Library of Congress call numbers, the exact call numbers will necessarily vary from library to library.

WorldCat: WordCat includes a powerful search interface allowing one to search for scores or recordings of musical works by author, title, subject, and publisher.

Other music catalogs on the web:

• Eastman School of Music
• Indiana University
• Library of Congress

Repertoire lists (or bibliographies): In general these are available in the Axinn or Music Library Reference Collections under the call number ML128. X , where X is the alphanumeric abbreviation for the instrument or ensemble. For example:

• ML128 .C4 H5 1978 The Piano in Chamber Ensemble
• ML128 .F7 V48  Flute repertoire catalogue: 10,000 titles.
• ML128 .S3 E8 1977 Repertoire for solo voice (bibliography of songs)

Research Databases

Music research resources available via the RESEARCH DATABASES on the Library Webpage

Jstor
Digital Scholarly Journal Archive

Music Index Online
(1973-present) Subject-Author Guide to Music Periodical Literature, over 1.4 million records
from more than 850 music periodicals from over 40 countries. Covering all musical styles and
genres. Citations cover book reviews, obituaries, new periodicals, news and articles about
music, musicians, and the music industry.

Oxford Music Online
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, 4th Edition
The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, 2nd Edition (2001)
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd Edition (2001)
The New Grove Dictionary of Opera (1992)
The Oxford Companion to Music (2002)
The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 2nd Edition Revised

Naxos Music Library
Streaming Audio from over 55,000 CDs

Project Muse
Digital Scholarly Journal Archive

RILM Abstracts of Music Literature
(1967-present) is the world's largest, continuously updated bibliography of music literature providing broad international coverage including records in over 100 languages from thousands of journals, books, dissertations, conference proceedings, Festschriften, and more.