[nabs-l] accessible music databases

[Ashley Bramlett]

Hi all,

I’m doing some research on composers and music history. Now I’m looking at the baroque era and its origins and how it differs from classical and then I might look at classical.

I’m doing some music appreciation activities for senior citizens at a senior center as a volunter and I also just enjoy music.

So, toward that end, what music databases or websites can I use?
I live near the community college I attended called Nova for short.
Nova subscribes to Oxford music online which has the Grove biographical encyclopedia.
It seems accessible once you manage to find your search results.

I cannot use the others with jaws though. Naxos music library is not accessible.
The Alexander street databases which have collections of videos and music are giving me problems too, although I’m not sure if its accessible yet.

Which other databases are usable?
I found out many music databases are available to me if I get a neighboring county’s library card. My area, Fairfax county, does not subscribe to music databases, but other counties have a lot. I’d be interested in using them, but I do not want to go to the trouble of going to a library for a card and finding out the resources are not accessible.
I might have to do that, but if I can avoid it, that would be nice.

Has anyone had success using these databases?

  a.. Classical music reference library 
  b.. Fine arts and music collection 
  c.. Garland Encyclopedia of World Music 
  d.. Pop culture collection 
  e.. Popular Music library 
  f.. Smithsonian global sound


Thanks!

Ashley