Research Guides: Music Research Guide: Home

About the Music and Audiovisual collections

Aloha and welcome to the Music Collection at the University of Hawai`i.

The Music Collection at UH is the largest music collection in the state of Hawai`i. The main function of the collection is to support the teaching and research efforts of students and faculty from the UH Music Department; the collection is strong in two areas: western classical music from the Middle Ages to the present and ethnomusicological materials. The collection is diverse and offers a wealth of material in the areas of music education, theory, esthetics, popular music, jazz, guitar repertoire, musical comedy, and history.

The Wong Audio Visual Center at Hamilton Library contains a vast array of CDs, LPs, DVDs, videocassettes, film strips, audio cassettes, etc. and also houses all the playback equipment for every form of media featured in the collection.

Music collections at University Archives

While many collections at UHM University Archives in Hamilton have items relating to music, there are three main collection from Hawaii musicians. Follow the links to the online finding aids for these collections.

Alexander Borisoff papers
Professional papers of musician and composer Alexander Borisoff and his wife and frequent collaborator, June Starr Borisoff. Most papers are manuscript scores for Borisoff's major compositions, including his two works of Hawaiiana: Liliu, an opera, and Impressions of Hawaii, a symphonic work. Other items include news clippings, correspondence, program notes, concert programs and advertisements, and pedagogical materials.
Ruth Orcutt Bacon papers
Papers of Viola "Ruth" Orcutt Bacon (1900–2003), a composer, instructor, and musician who taught at Punahou School and performed as a soloist with the Honolulu Symphony. The collection consists primarily of musical scores but also includes letters, a copyright confirmation notice, and a vinyl record.
Franz A. Ballaseyus papers
Personal papers of Franz A. Ballaseyus (a musician, teacher, and conductor who lived and work briefly in Hawaii), including journals and scrapbooks, military service documents, a marriage certificate, and news clippings.

Research Resources Quick Links

Oxford Music Online Access and cross-search the vast resources of Oxford's music reference in one location. Searchable resources include: the Encyclopedia of Popular Music, The Oxford Dictionary of Music, Grove Music Online, The Oxford Companion to Music. NOTE: Only 3 users allowed at one time. If you cannot log in, try again later.
Music Index Comprehensive subject-author guide to music periodical literature. The Music Index Online has been available in print since 1949. Coverage from 1973 to the present. Contains surveyed data from over 850 music periodicals from over 40 countries. This database duly cites book reviews, obituaries, news periodicals, and news and articles about music, musicians, and the music industry.

Grove Dictionary of American Music (2nd Edition) Grove Dictionary of American Music is a comprehensive reference publication on American Music. Articles range from small definitions of dance styles and musical terms to mid-length biographies of important performers, composers and music patrons, to longer examinations of larger subjects such as the history of jazz, musical instruments, music education in the United States, and the American history of the orchestra.
Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments (2nd Edition) Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments is a comprehensive reference publication on musical instruments. The second edition includes greatly expanded coverage of instruments from around the world and their builders, with special attention given to electronic and experimental instruments, the human body as an instrument, the history and techniques of instrument design and manufacture, performance practice, and the scholars who have shaped our current understanding of musical instruments.

Garland Encyclopedia of World Music online The Garland encyclopaedia of world music online contains more than 9,000 pages of material, combined with entries by more than 700 expert contributors from all over the world. Each volume contains an overview of the region, a survey of its musical heritage, traditions and themes; and a description of specific musical genres, practices, and performances. Articles include detailed photographs that show musicians, musical instrument, and the cultural context of dances, rituals, and ceremonies.
JSTOR The Library has purchased access to the JSTOR Arts & Sciences I-XV collections, Life Sciences collection, and Business IV. These collections provide full-text journal backfiles in various disciplines. Selected journals in the following subject areas are available: African-American Studies, Anthropology, Asian Studies, Ecology, Economics, Education, Finance History, Literature, Mathematics, Philosophy, Political Science, Population Studies, Sociology and Statistics.
Project Muse Access to selected full text of approximately 250 scholarly journals published by university presses. The publishers involved are Johns Hopkins University Press, Carnegie Mellon University Press, Duke University Press, Indiana University Press, MIT Press, Oxford University Press, Pennsylvania State University Press, University of Hawaii Press, University of Texas Press, and the University of Wisconsin Press. Most journals included are in arts and humanities.
RILM Abstracts of Music Literature (EBSCOhost) RILM, a comprehensive, ongoing guide to publications on music from all over the world, is an indispensable tool for scholars, students, librarians, performers, teachers, and music lovers. RILM includes over 620,000 records; over 30,000 new records are added every year, covering all document types: articles, books, bibliographies, catalogues, dissertations, Festschriften, iconographies, critical commentaries to complete works, ethnographic recordings, conference proceedings, electronic resources, reviews, and more.
RISM Online (International Inventory of Musical Sources) The RISM Series A/II Database contains bibliographic records for music manuscripts written after circa 1600 and, in most cases, before circa 1850. Records include information in standard bibliographic categories as well as graphical images of music incipits. The RISM-U.S. Libretto Database contains bibliographic records for more than 11,000 printed and manuscript libretti for musical stage pieces from the earliest manifestations through the beginning of the twentieth century. The RISM Libraries Directory identifies more than 5,500 libraries world-wide that hold music materials relevant to RISM series. The RISM Bibliographic Citations Database contains references for all thematic catalogues and other secondary sources cited in the RISM A/II Music Manuscripts Database and the RISM-US Libretto Database.
Music Periodicals Database (formerly International Index to Music Periodicals (IIMP) Full Text) Music Periodicals Database draws its current content from more than 300 international music periodicals from over 20 countries, and also indexes feature music articles and obituaries appearing in The New York Times and The Washington Post. It covers nearly all aspects of the world of music, from the most scholarly studies to the latest crazes. NOTE: Only 4 users allowed at one time. If you cannot login, try again later. NOTE: If you use an ad blocker, you may receive error messages when using certain functions in ProQuest databases. Please whitelist search-proquest-com.eres.library.manoa.hawaii.edu and search.proquest.com to avoid such errors.

WorldCat WorldCat connects you to the collections and services of more than 10,000 libraries worldwide. You can search many libraries at once for an item and then locate it in a library nearby and find research articles and digital items (like audiobooks) that can be directly viewed or downloaded.
Interlibrary Loan Faculty, students and staff can request items that are not owned (or lost) in the UH Library system. The ILL Department will locate the items at other universities and libraries for you. Items are generally provided free of charge.