Music Index. Detroit: Information Coordinators, 1949–. A subject and author index to more than 600 music periodicals. International in scope, its citations cover both musicology and performance journals. The index is available in print and electronic formats.

RILM Abstracts of Music Literature. New York: RILM, 1967–. Offers abstracts of articles appearing in over 5,000 international journals, books, dissertations, and other materials in the music field. Its coverage is especially strong for music history and musicology. It is available in print and electronic formats.

The Classical Composer Databasehttp://www.classical-composers.org Offers basic biographical information about composers, both well known and obscure, and links to information about them on the Web. Includes chronologies and a composer's calendar. The list is maintained by Jos Smeets.

The Classical Music Navigatorhttp://www.wku.edu/~smithch/music Provides information on over 400 composers, with works listed by musical genre, a geographical roster, an index of forms and styles, and a glossary of musical terms. Maintained by Charles H. Smith of Western Kentucky University.

Music History 102: A Guide to Western Composers and Their Music from the Middle Ages to the Presenthttp://www.ipl.org/div/mushist A nicely organized chronological survey of music, with images, audio files, and links to composer profiles. The author of this site is Robert Sherane, a librarian at the Juilliard School of Music; the site is part of the Internet Public Library.

Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. Ed. Nicolas Slonimsky. 9th ed. 6 vols. New York: Schirmer, 2001. Compact biographies of composers and performers with bibliographies of works by and about them. This reference is good for a quick overview of a musician and his or her impact.

Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Ed. Colin Larkin. 3rd ed. 8 vols. London: Muze, 1998. Offers brief entries on musicians, bands, musicals, and record labels as well as a song title index.

Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. 10 vols. New York: Garland, 1998–2002. Covers the music of peoples of the world in regional volumes that offer regional profiles, the social context of music, and in-depth information on the musical traditions of specific nations and ethnic groups. The work includes musical examples in accompanying CDs.

Music Reference and Research Materials. By Vincent Duckles. 5th ed. rev. New York: Schirmer, 1997. An annotated guide to the literature of music, including histories, bibliographies, discographies, and reference books. The book is arranged by type of source, with subject, title, and author indexes.

New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Ed. Stanley Sadie. 2nd ed. 29 vols. New York: Grove, 2001. The definitive source on music and music history. The articles in these volumes are carefully researched and documented and provide information on national music traditions, musical forms, composers and musicians, instruments, and more. Libraries may offer the online version of this work, which is available by subscription.

New Oxford History of Music. 11 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1957–1990. An excellent chronological exploration of all aspects of music. Each volume covers a different musical period. Some have been published in newer editions. The final volume includes chronologies, bibliographies, and an index to the set.

Oxford Companion to Music. Ed. Alison Latham. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. Covers primarily Western classical music, offering brief entries on musicians, works, musical terms, and movements, with surveys of musical traditions in various countries.

The Oxford Dictionary of Music. By Michael Kennedy and Joyce Bourne. 2nd ed. rev. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. Offers brief identifications of musical terms and musicians; a handy place to find dates and other facts.