How to Find Music Scores and Recordings in CLICnet

The purpose of this page is to enable you to locate a score or a recording of a particular musical piece by using the CLICnet online library catalog.

On this page:

Logon to CLICnet
Basic searching using Keyword

Works with Distinctive Titles | Works with Generic Titles

Limiting your searches by type of material or collection

Didn't find it in CLICnet?

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Logon to CLICnet

CLICnet is available at http://clicnet.clic.edu/ .

Basic searching using Keyword

Start with Keyword for most music searches.

Enter the composer's last name and three or four important words from the title. Use the AND connector.
 

Omit articles (a, an, the)  in any language from a Comprehensive Keyword search.
 

Finer point:  The exception to this rule is titles for songs or other shorter works in other languages which have an elided article.  For example, the safest way to search for Nadia Boulanger's song "L'echange" is:

boulanger and (echange or l'echange)

This is because this song may only appear in a contents note with its article intact. The OR connector is used to retrieve either echange or l'echange.

Works with Distinctive Titles

Using the Keyword search, search under both

1. Words from the title
   

   For titles by non-English-speaking composers, use words from the title in the original language (a basic understanding of uniform titles for music is helpful here) and words from the English version of the title.

2. The composer's name

Works with Generic Titles

Generic titles include "symphony," "concerto," "sonata," and other terms indicating musical form or genre.  Generic titles often are part of a numbered series.

Two concepts are useful here:

• Truncation.  Use truncation to retrieve a root word and any variants.  The truncation symbol in CLICnet is the asterisk. One asterisk matches up to five characters, while two asterisks match any number of characters. For most music searches, one asterisk is sufficient.  For example, if you wish to retrieve sonata, sonate, sonatas, and similar variants, type:  sonat*
• Use of the OR connector and parentheses.  Group similar words using the OR connector and enclose them in parentheses.  For example, if you wish to retrieve either mass or masses or messe, enclose all three terms in parenthesis:  (mass or masses or messe) and mozart

Search for generic titles using the Keyword search.  You may need to try several variations of your search. The following tips may help:

1. Figure out what the initial title element is.  Truncate it.
   
   

   Type this:	To retrieve this:
   symphon*	Symphony, symphonies, symphonie, etc.
   concert*	Concerto, concertos, concerti, etc.

2. Consider including a foreign equivalent, too, which frequently increases relevant retrieval, if slightly.  For example:
   
   

   Type this:	To retrieve this:
   (symphon* or sinfon*)	Any variants of the stem "symphon" plus sinfonie
   (concert* or konzert*)	Any variants of the stem "concert" plus Konzert

3. Identify some numbers which are associated with the work, such as opus number, thematic catalog number, etc.
4. Identify some other keywords that might appear, such as a popular title.

   Example:  Beethoven's Sonata no. 14, opus 27, no.2,  in C sharp minor, is also known as the "Moonlight Sonata."  So try including the word "moonlight" in your search.

5. It is difficult to search CLICnet using a key signature.  Using a key signature tends to retrieve a lot of irrelevant entries, and it's impossible to search for flat and sharp keys effectively.
6. Don't forget to include the composer's last name.

Limiting your searches by type of material or collection

You may wish to restrict your search results to just items that are in the Performing Arts Library.  Or you may wish to limit to scores or sound recordings.  There are several ways to do this:

• In Keyword searches, change the settings on the Keyword search screen.
• If you are using other types of searches, for example author or title searches, notice the button at the top of the screen labelled "Limit or Sort this search."
• Restrict your searching to music scores and sound recordings by selecting "Start Over." Under "Search by Collection," select "Music Scores and Sound Recordings."

A word of caution: If you apply too many different types of limits to your search, sometimes you will retrieve nothing. If this happens, remove some or all limits and try a simpler search strategy.

Didn't find it in CLICnet?

Please contact Amy Shaw, Systems/Reference Librarian (music liaison).  Amy can double-check CLICnet, or perhaps locate your piece in a collection or anthology. If you're looking for a recording of a particular piece of classical music, try searching for it in the Classical Music Library.