Library: Music Research Guide: eBooks/eReference

eBooks? eReference? What's that?

eBooks are simply books that have been digitized, cover to cover, so you can read them online. Our eBooks supplier, EBSCO, also allows you to download most ebooks to Adobe-compatible devices. The ebooks are organized in a searchable database for easy retrieval.

eReference works are online versions of encyclopedias and dictionaries. Oxford University Press supplies most of our online reference sets, like Grove Music Online. We've provided links here to other reference sets that may also be useful for music history and literature classes. Remember, your search results will be encyclopedia or dictionary entries, not articles.

eBooks and eReference Sources for Music Students

Use the links below to access our eBooks and eReference collections.

Companion to Music

The Oxford Companion to Music This link opens in a new window Articles range from clear, concise definitions of musical ideas and terms to extended surveys of musical forms and styles, covering virtually every musical subject. Includes analysis, theory, ethnomusicology, and performance practice, for all varieties of musical forms, including jazz, popular music, and dance.

Grove Music Online

Grove Music Online This link opens in a new window Offers users the opportunity to access and cross-search Oxford’s music reference resources, including the Oxford Dictionary of Music, the Oxford Companion to Music, and the New Grove Dictionaries of Music and Musicians, Opera, and Jazz.

Get direct access to Oxford Music Online! Type your search term here:

eBooks/Audiobooks

eBooks / Audiobooks This link opens in a new window Ebsco offers a comprehensive collection of eBooks, making it possible for you to access a wide range of research, reference, and reading materials for online or offline reading.

Dictionary of the Christian Church

Dictionary of the Christian Church This link opens in a new window Contains over 6,000 entries, and offers coverage of all aspects of this vast and often complex subject, from theology; churches and denominations; patristic scholarship; and the Bible; to the church calendar and its organization; popes; archbishops; saints; and mystics.

Dictionary of the Middle Ages

Dictionary of the Middle Ages This link opens in a new window An essential new reference work covering all key aspects of European history, society, and culture from 500 to 1500 A.D., as well as the Byzantine Empire, Islamic dynasties, and Asiatic peoples of the era.

Dictionary of the Renaissance

Dictionary of the Renaissance This link opens in a new window All aspects of the Renaissance in 14th to 17th century Europe, including art, literature, science, culture, philosophy, religion, economics, history, and conflicts of the period. Nearly half the entries are biographical, covering artists, thinkers, statesman, and reformers.

Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History

Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History This link opens in a new window America’s values, aspirations, anxieties, and beliefs as expressed in both everyday life and formal bodies of thought, encompassing the experiences of ordinary citizens as well as the accomplishments of prominent artists and writers.

Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment

Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment This link opens in a new window Covering the “long” Enlightenment, from the rise of Descartes' disciples in 1670 to the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in 1815, these 700 articles range from discussions of mercantilism and democracy to the dissemination of ideas in salons and coffeehouses.

Encyclopedia of the Reformation

Encyclopedia of the Reformation This link opens in a new window Provides information about the entire range of religious and social changes that altered the face of Europe in the sixteenth century, encompassing not only issues of church polity and theology but also developments in politics, economics, demographics, art and literature.