BASIC SEARCHING
To begin, enter keywords in the search box in the online catalog. Set the pull-down box to left to "All fields" in order to retrieve keyword results. Set pull-down box at the far left to "MSU Collection" to limit search results to items only available at MSU.
To further limit search results, check the boxes along the left-side to check which elements to include or exclude from your results.
Do not include common grammatical conjunctions like "and", "or", "in", "of", in your search.
AND is assumed when searching a string of keywords together.
Use the truncation symbol * at the end of a term to search for all variant spellings. For example, pian* finds piano, pianist, pianism, etc. It is best to place the * as further to the end of a word as possible to retrieve narrower results.
Examples:
| Variant spellings of a composer's last name |
rachmanino* (retrieves "rachmaninov" and "rachmaninoff") |
| Variant spellings of a title |
sonat* (retrieves "sonata", "sonatas", "sonate", "sonaten") |
| Combination search |
Handel* opera* (retrieves "Handel", "Handel's", "opera", "operas", "operatic") |
Use quotation marks around keywords to retrieve results with the exact phrase. Searching 'piano sonata' without quotation marks will find items in the library that mention 'piano' and 'sonata' anywhere in the title or other part of the library record.
| Find items with the exact phrase | "piano sonata" |
Search by subject:
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On the Advanced Search page, select "subjects" from a search box's dropdown menu. Use keywords in the plural when searching for specific music forms or genres; e.g. "sonatas", not "sonata" |
Sonatas Symphonies Concertos Music -- 19th century -- History and criticism |
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Search subject headings by medium of performance. To do that, enter the plural form of the music genre (e.g. sonatas) and the instrument(s) without parentheses in a "subjects" search box. |
Sonatas (Piano) Choruses, Sacred (Women's voices) Band music Songs (High voice) with piano |
Reading the Catalog Record
Mississippi State University Library uses the Library of Congress (LC) Classification System to organize its materials. Click here to see the Full LC Classification Outline for Music. LC call numbers contain letters to indicate the general topic and numbers to provide more specific information about the material.
M = Music or Scores
ML = Music Literature and/or Music History
MT = Music Theory and Pedagogy
Below is an outline of the LC classification system for music which will help you narrow your search to a particular topic when either browsing the shelves or searching our online catalog by call number range.
M 1-5000 MUSIC SCORES
M 1.A5-3.3 Collections of Musical Sources
M 3-3.3 Collected works of individual composers
M 5-1480 INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
M 6-175.5 Solo instruments
M 177-990 Music for two or more solo instruments
M 180-298.5 Duets
M 300-386 Trios
M 400-486 Quartets
M 500-586 Quintets
M 600-686 Sextets
M 700-786 Septets
M 800-886 Octets
M 900-986 Nonets and larger combinations of purely chamber music
M 990 Chamber music for instruments of the 18th century and earlier
M 1000-1075 Orchestra
M 1001 Symphonies
M 1004 Overtures
M 1100-1160 String orchestra
M 1200-1270 Band
M 1366 Jazz ensembles
M 1375-1420 Instrumental music for children
M 1473 Electronic music
M 1495-2199 VOCAL MUSIC
M 1495-2199 Secular vocal music
M 1497-1998 Dramatic music (including operas and musicals)
M 1500 Full scores
M 1503 Vocal scores with piano accompaniment
M 1611-1624.8 Songs for one solo voice
M 1627-1853 Folk, national and ethnic music
M 1990-1998 Secular vocal music for children
M 1999-2199 Sacred vocal music
M 2000-2007 Oratorios
M 2010-2014.5 Masses
M 2020-2036 Cantatas, choruses, etc.
M 2101-2114.8 Songs for one solo voice
M 2115-2146 Hymnals and hymn collections
