Guide to Using RILM Abstracts Online

Created by Rachel Crane, Music/Fine Arts LibrarianWichita State University

978-5078 rachel.crane@wichita.edu

RILM Abstracts of Music Literature

• Provides abstracts and indexing for music-related items from 1967 to the present

• Covers over 500 scholarly journals, books, bibliographies, dissertations, festchriften, etc.,

• Covers different journals than Music Index, but with some overlap

• Has a much more scholarly focus relative to Music Index

Access RILM Abstracts through the library webpage by clicking on the link to “Electronic Databases.” (Or click on the “Resources by Subject” link, or select the “Subject Guides” tab, and choose “Music” from the lists of guides by subject.):

Type “RILM” in the search box, or click on the letter ‘R’ and see it listed as the 4th item:

Click on the title link for RILM to enter the database. Choose the to icon to view a print guide to the database:(Note: For off-campus access you will need to log-in with your myWSU ID and password.)

To search both RILM and Music Index simultaneously, Select “Choose Databases” toward the top of the screen. Click the check box for the additional database and then click “OK.”:

In the RILM database, enter a search term or phrase in the first field. Accept the default search and make no selection in the field on the right, or search a specific field from the pull-down menu:

You may add an addition row if needed.

A broad search for Bruckner resulted in 2263 records:

Focus the search further by adding a term. Use an ‘*’ as a truncation sign to provide all ending forms of a word (ex. symphony, symphonies, symphonic, and etc.).

This search resulted in 848 records:

Limit further by “Source type”:

Results searching for “Journal Articles” or an “Article in a Collection,” about Bruckner and Symph* (550 records):

The search may also be limited to “Peer Reviewed” publications, a date range, RILM assigned subjects, or journal title (Publication). Do not use the “Linked Full Text” option.

Again, DO NOT USE the “Linked Full Text” option. When this option is checked, it displays ONLY those articles that appear with a full-text option through the RILM database. This excludes all other articles that the library may offer having full-text online through additional subscriptions. For example, it will exclude full-text articles found in JSTOR.

Note that although this publication is in German, the abstract is in English. Abstracts, when available, are always in English. Reading through abstracts may present new ways to develop or refine a topic.

This is the top portion of a typical entry. The subjects may provide additional suggestions for search terms:

Explore/browse additional subject headings through the link at the top-left of the page. Here is a search for “harmonics.” It is confirmed as a subject heading.

Click on “Explode” links to see the list of records relating to that subject. Click “Expand” to view narrower subject headings. Linked subject headings, such as “aesthetics of perception” lead to a single record.

A typical abstract and additional citation information:(Note: the original search terms are in bold.)The “Source” field provides is the journal title, volume and issue number.

To check to see if WSU has a copy of this article in the collection, click on the “WSU Full Text Finder” link.

In this case, the full text is not available online. (If full text is available online, links will automatically be provided, or the article will appear directly.) The page then provides recommended steps to assist in locating a copy of the article. Next, try the ISSN link to see if a print subscription is available in Ablah Library. If not, you may click on the “Submit request” link to send a request to the Interlibrary Loan department, and so on, down the page.

The tools to the right will assist in organizing the research process. (Note: Beware of potential inaccuracies with the “Cite” tool.)

If you have any questions or need further information, please contact

me by email:

rachel.crane@wichita.edu

Revised June 2011