Classification Schedules | Uniform Titles | Cutter Numbers for Composers | Thematic Catalogs used by LC | Searching for a Particular Format |Hints for Searching the Catalog | Quick References

Why is this important for you to know?

By gaining a basic knowledge of how music materials are cataloged and how the system works you will become a more proficient searcher. Also, by sharing common knowledge and terminology, we will hopefully be able to better communicate what it is that you want and what we can provide.

M Classification Schedule

The M Classification Schedule is subdivided into three call number areas: M, ML, and MT. M call numbers are used for instrumental and vocal music; ML for the literature of or about music; and MT for musical instruction and study.

Why is this important to know? Well, if you're looking for actual sound recordings, you would find those under M; but if you were looking for a catalog of sound recordings, that would be shelved in ML. By knowing what the call numbers mean, you can save yourself the disappoinment of not finding something where you thought it should be.

• Complete Schedule for M Class [TOP]
  

Uniform Titles

"In a library catalog, you expect to find all the different versions of the same work filed alphabetically together under the author's or composer's name. This is usually easy to do for books, which are unlikely to change title from one edition to another. But a musical work may be printed or recorded with titles that vary as to language or wording.

For example, different title pages of the same piano concerto by Mozart might begin with different letters of the alphabet, depending upon the language of the country of publication, or particular wording used by the publisher.

• Concerto in A major for piano, K. 488
• Konzert A Dur, K. 488 fur Klavier
• Piano Concerto in A Major, K. 488

To bring all these different titles together alphabetically in the catalog, a distinctive or Uniform Title is created by the library cataloger according to fixed rules, and this uniform title appears immediately after the composer's name on all of the catalog records for that composition."
In the case of the preceeding work, its Uniform Title is

Concertos, piano, orchestra, K. 488, A major

What this means for you is that you should be able to enter in a uniform title and retrieve all of the records tied to that title regardless of format or language. The Uniform titles for a few of the most prolific composers are listed in a very handy publication called The Best of MOUG. You can find a copy of it in the Johnson Center Stacks, call number ML111 .W45 1989. We will revisit uniform titles in Hints for Searching the Catalog

• For a detailed tutorial on uniform titles, go to the Indiana University School of Music Cook Music Library's site Using Uniform Titles [TOP]

Cutter Numbers for Composers

Cutter Numbers are

"[a] combination of letters and numbers used to distinguish an item with the same classification number and organize under that classification number alphabetically by author, title, or other entry. Named for the table used for this purpose first devised by C.A. Cutter." (Taken from Cataloging A to Z)

Although every effort is made to maintain consistency across works by the same composer regardless of format, you will find some variation in the cutter numbers assigned composers due to an existing shelf arrangement, or changes in cataloging practices over the years. Observe how the cutter number for Mozart changes within and across formats.

• Don Giovanni : an opera in two acts: K. 527. Score. M3 .M93x no.420
• Don Giovanni. An opera in two acts with English-Italian text. Score. M1503 .M939 D6x
• Don Giovanni. [Dramma giocoso in two acts]. Record. M1500 .M84 D6
• Don Giovanni. K.V. 527. Score. M1004 .M93 K.527, 1941
• Don Giovanni. CD. M1500 .M84 D6 1991

However, also notice that the first part of the call numbers are different.

• M3 is the designation for Collected Works of Individual Composers
• M1004 designates Orchestra music
• M1500 is one of the class numbers for Dramatic Music
• as is M1503
  The difference is that M1500 is used for sound recordings and M1503 is used for scores

So, what does this mean? Well, it means that within certain M class schedules Mozart is assigned a particular cutter number, which may be different from the cutter number assigned in another schedule. But, within the same call number sequence, you would expect to find the works of Mozart grouped together. These are examples of call number sequences and their material designation.

• M3 .M93x - Collected Works of Mozart - scores
• M452 .M69 - Mozart Music for Quartets - sound recordings
• But M452 .M93 is used for the scores of Mozart's Quartets
• M1004 .M84 - Orchestra Music of Mozart (Overtures) - scores
• However, M1004 .M69 is the call number for sound recordings of Mozart's overtures
• M1500 .M84 - Dramatic Music of Mozart - sound recordings
• M1503 . M939 - Dramatic Music of Mozart - scores [TOP]
  

Thematic catalogs are reference resources that the Library of Congress catalogers use in certain circumstances to create uniform titles for works of a particular composer.

For example, to create uniform titles for works of Mozart which are not assigned an opus number, catalogers use the following reference book:

Kochel, Ludwig Ritter von. Chronologisch-thematisches Verzeichniss sic sammtlicher Tonwerke W. A. Mozarts. 6. Aufl. Wiesbaden : Breitkopf & Hartel, 1964.

The uniform title for Mozart's Concerto no. 26, in D major, for piano and orchestra also known as "Coronation" is Concertos, piano, K. 537, D major. Notice the K.537 part; that number was taken from Chronologisch-thematisches Verzeichniss sic sammtlicher Tonwerke and is called the K or Kochel number.

What this means is that you can search a library catalog using K. 537 and retrieve any and all records for that particular concerto in any and all formats--provided the catalog record contains that number. New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians lists the work numbers for composers.

We will revisit this point again in Hints for Searching the Online Catalog.

• See New Grove Dictionary of Music. Edited by Stanley Sadie. Fenwick Reference and Johnson Center Music Reference ML100. N48 1995
• See Thematic Indexes Used by the Library of Congress for Formulating Uniform Titles for Music for a list of thematic catalogs.
• Also, Work Numbers for Composers which has additional composers and work numbers. Note: complete bibliographic information is not given for the sources. [TOP]
  
  

You can search for works in particular formats by setting limits or search parameters. When you are using the library catalog, you must set your limits first. The following details the steps you would take to set limits for particular formats.

1. From the first screen of the library catalog, scroll down and click "Set Search Limits".
2. Once you have brought up the Search Limits page, you have a choice of limiting options. The three limits which will be most useful for you are:
   • Item Type: Music Scores or Musical Recording
   • Medium: Sound Recording
   • Location: Johnson Center Compact Discs; Johnson Center Records; Johnson Center Scores; and Johnson Center Scores (non-Circulating)
3. Select your search limit. You can only select one search limit per category.
4. Perform your search. You can only search by title, subject, keyword or guided keyword once you have set your search limits. You cannot search by author, call number, or reserves once you have set your limits.

The next section, Hints for Searching the Catalog will walk through several different author/title/format searches in order to familiarize you with the way the catalog works and offer suggestions for improving your search results. [TOP]

Hints for Searching the Catalog

Search Examples You may want to print out these examples and see if you can duplicate the steps and results. (**Note: These examples reflect catalog entries found on 6/1/2000--you may find more entries than listed.)

Searching for a Particular Format

1. Find a sound recording of Mozart's Piano Concerto in D, K. 537 "Coronation"
   • Set search limits for Item Type=Musical Recording.
   • Do a keyword search for "k. 537". (Note the ""; they are important, otherwise the computer does not know to look for this information as a phrase.)
   The preceeding search would retrieve four items: 3 CDs and 1 33 1/3 record. You need to look at the Bibliographic record in the Description to see what kind of musical recording it is.
   
   
2. Another way of looking for sound recordings of Mozart's Piano Concerto in D, K. 537 "Coronation" would be to do the following.
   • Set search limits for Medium=Sound Recording.
   • Do a keyword search for "k. 537".
   The preceeding search would retrieve four items: 3 CDs and 1 33 1/3 record. Again, you would need to look at the Bibliographic record in the Description to see what kind of sound recording it is.
   
   
3. Find only CDs of Mozart's Piano Concerto in D, K. 537 "Coronation" .
   • Set search limits for Location=Johnson Center Compact Discs
   • Do a keyword search for "k. 537".
   The preceeding search would retrieve three items: 3 CDs.

Searching for Works using Title Variations, Opus Numbers, and Work Numbers for the Same Piece

1. Search for a sound recording of Mozart's "Coronation" concerto.
   • Set search limits for Medium=Sound Recording.
   • Do a keyword search for coronation.
     
   This search would retrieve 20 items, some are not Mozart. To be more precise, you could do the following.
   • Set search limits for Medium=Sound Recording.
   • Do a Guided Keyword Search: author=Mozart, keyword=coronation.
   
   That search would retrieve 5 items but only one is a concerto. You could also add the word concerto as a keyword.
   • Set search limits for Medium=Sound Recording.
   • Do a Guided Keyword Search: author=Mozart, keyword=coronation, keyword=concerto.
     
   This time you would get the one item entry for the Coronation concerto. A better search would be the following.
   • Set search limits for Medium=Sound Recording.
   • Do a Guided Keyword Search: author=mozart, keyword="k. 537".
   
   This search would retrieve four item entries: 3 CDs and 1 33 1/3 record.

   Using Piano Concerto in D as a title or a keyword would only retrieve 1 entry so it seems that the most effective search --one that would retrieve the greatest number of items that satisfy the search parameters-- would be to use the K number.

   *** However, the best procedure would be to use more than one method, to be sure of retrieving all of the entries that satisfy your search parameters.***
   
   

2. Find Haydn's Symphonies, H.I, 85, Bb Major (Symphony no. 85 in Bb Major "La Reine") in any format.

   Do a title search for Symphonies, H.I, 85 [uniform title]

   You would retrieve 1 entry. It is best to leave off the B-flat information when doing title searches because of inconsistencies in the way that information was entered into the catalog. Another way to do the same search would be to

   Title search for Symphony no. 85 [alternative title]

   You would retrieve the same entry. Again, leave off the B-flat part. You could also do a search using "La Reine" [alternative title].

   Do a Guided keyword search: author=Haydn, reine=title

   Again, you would retrieve that same entry. You could also use the work number as in the Mozart example.

   Do a keyword search for "H.I, 85".

   The same record is retrieved again. As with the Mozart example, starting with the work number would be the best policy; then perform another type of search to make sure you have retrieved all of the possible item entries.
   
   
3. Find Beethoven's Symphonies, no. 2, op. 36, D major (Symphony no. 2 in D major) in all formats.

   Do a title search for Symphonies, no. 2, op. 36, D major [uniform title]

   This will retrieve 5 entries. You could also search using the alternative title.

   Do a keyword search for Symphony no. 2 in D major [alternative title]

   This search would retrieve only 2 items due to variations in the titles attached to that particular work. Finally, you could do a Guided Keyword Search.

   Do a Guided Keyword Search: author=Beethoven, keyword="op. 36"

   This would retrieve 8 item entries, three more than the uniform title search. Why? Because three items were in collections which had different uniform titles. Again, the most efficient search would be to use the opus number in combination with the composer's name. You need to use the composer's name because op. 36 is not a number unique to one composer, unlike work numbers. Once more, it is good practice to perform an additional search using another combination to make sure you are retrieving all available records. [TOP]

Quick References

Uniform Titles: Best of MOUG. Johnson Center Stacks ML111. W45 1989

• Work and Opus Numbers: New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Fenwick Reference & Johnson Center Music Reference ML100. N48 1995
  Work and Opus Numbers and Uniform Titles: A Basic Music Library: Essential Scores and Books. Johnson Center Stacks ML113. B3 1983
• Work and Opus Numbers: Schwann Opus. Johnson Center Music Reference ML156.2 .O68 [Current issues only]

Now What?

Now, you should be able to perform fairly efficient searches in the catalog. Additionally, when you have a problem finding a particular piece you have the vocabulary to articulate your needs.