A Research Guide for Music

The guide was created by expert librarians from Steely Library and music faculty, to kickstart your research, guiding you to recommended databases and other resources in music.
Online resources
The resources listed below provide you access to a variety of online information. From scholarly articles, to recordings, to videos, and to scores, these resources will help you in your musical endeavors. Be aware that some of these resources only allow for a certain number of users or require you to log out once you're done using the resource. These resources have been chosen by librarians and NKU faculty members.
Resources to Find Scholarly Articles
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Music Periodicals Database This link opens in a new windowMusic Periodicals Database is an outstanding resource used to find articles in music journals. It enables you to access articles on a comprehensive variety of musical subjects, styles, and genres. Covers 1874-present.
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Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new windowOxford Music Online includes the Oxford Companion to Music and the Oxford Dictionary of Music, as well as Grove Music Online, the cornerstone of Oxford's online music reference collection.
**Limited to 3 simultaneous users.** -
RILM Abstracts of Music Literature with Full Text This link opens in a new windowA comprehensive bibliography of music scholarship providing broad international coverage featuring citations, abstracts, and indexes. It covers over one million publications from the early 19th century to the present on traditional music, popular music, classical music, and related subjects, enhanced with the full text of more than 250 key periodicals.
Online Music Listening Resources
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Music Online: Listening This link opens in a new windowStreaming access to over 11 million audio tracks. Coverage: 11 million audio tracks, across all the key musical genres.
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Naxos Music Library This link opens in a new window
Naxos Music Library (NML) is the world's largest online classical music library. The library offers the catalogs of more than 50 classical, jazz, and world music labels with more labels joining every month. Among the labels whose catalogs are included in the service are leading independent classical labels such as BIS, Chandos, CPO, Haenssler, Hungaroton, Marco Polo, Vanguard Classics, VOX, and of course Naxos. World music content is provided by ARC, Celestial Harmonies, and others.
**Limited to 5 simultaneous users.**
**Please log out of Naxos Music Library when finished. This will enable other users to have access to the resource. Just closing the browsing window will not log you out.**
Scores & Translation Resources
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Music Online: Classical Scores Library This link opens in a new windowA reliable and authoritative resource of in-copyright scores to support teaching and research in classical music. Contains more than 53,000 titles and 1.3 million printable pages of the most important scores in classical music, ranging from the Middle Ages to the 21st century. More than 4,600 composers are included. The library has access to volumes 1-5.
Looking for more relevant databases? Check out our A-Z list
Research can be difficult. Need an extra boost?
Sign up for an appointment with a Steely Librarian. Together, we'll dig into your research and try to find what you're seeking.
- Last Updated: Oct 15, 2025 1:14 PM
- URL: https://nku.libguides.com/music
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