How Databases Work
Databases
The databases you can reach from this page are a selection from the many that are available from the Open University Library.There are three main types of on-line database:
- On-line reference publications.
- On-line bibliographic tools.
- On-line periodicals.
On-line reference publications
These databases serve a similar function to conventional printed dictionaries and encyclopaedias. In fact many on-line reference works have developed from earlier printed reference works – New Grove II and the Oxford English Dictionary, for instance.
The principal advantages of on-line reference databases over their printed counterparts are:
- They can be accessed remotely via your computer. The printed equivalents are usually only available in research libraries.
- They have sophisticated search facilities, which means that information can often be found quicker and more easily.
- They are generally more up-to-date than their printed equivalents.
On-line publications
These databases do not just tell you what material exists: they provide the full text. Usually their search facilities are also very sophisticated. Such qualities are shared with on-line reference tools (such as OED), but on-line publications often hold important banks of historic source material. The largest such site is probably Early English Books Online (EEBO) but the on-line full text version of The Times is also invaluable to musicians.
Full text music periodicals
Many of the databases listed below provide search facilities that allow you to obtain details of the contents of music periodicals, some also carry abstracts. However, a number of more recent serials of periodicals are available to you online in full text form. To read these publications you need to enter one or other of the databases.
This chart shows the databases in which each journal can be found.
| Periodical | Full-text starts | Reached through |
|---|---|---|
| British Journal of Music Education | 1999 | SwetsnetNavigator |
| Cambridge Opera Journal | 2000 | CUP |
| Computer Music Journal | 1997 | Academic Search Elite |
| Early Music | 2000 | Academic Search Elite |
| Leonardo Music Journal | 1997 | Academic Search Elite |
| Music Analysis | 1999 | SwetsnetNavigator |
| Music Educators Journal | 1990 | Academic Search Elite |
| Music and Letters | 2002 | Swetsnet, Ingenta |
| Nineteenth Century Music | 2001 | Catchword |
| Opera News | 1995 | Academic Search Elite |
| Perspectives of New Music | 1996 | Academic Search Elite |
| Popular Music | 2000 | CUP |