Locating Music in Napier Library

Subject Areas

• Design
• Film
• Photography
• Journalism, Media, Publishing
• Art in General
• Music

Locating Music

Is music harder to find than other subjects? Well, yes, it can be, and here's why!

CDs often contain works by more than one composer, but can only be shelved in one place. Music is international, and the same work can be equally well known by its title in several languages - e.g. The Marriage of Figaro / Le Nozze di Figaro / Die Hochzeit des Figaro. Sometimes you can find what you want just by going to the shelf, but often this is not enough.

The best way to find anything in the library is to use our NUIN catalogue. Help for music searches is available at Using the Napier Library catalogue to find music.

Arrangement of stock

Our music collection is arranged according to format:

Books, reference books, journals, videos and audiovisual kits are shelved alongside other subjects, but nearly everything to do with music will be found in the 780 range of classmark numbers.

The main exceptions are:

Music therapy

Music industry

Law relating to music

There are separate sections for Compact Discs, scores, miniature scores and LPs.

Printed music (scores and miniature scores) CDs and LPs are shelved in composer order, in response to user preferences.

Composers

Each composer has been assigned a different number to make sure that their works stay together;

for example Schubert is SCH50, while Schumann is SCH80.

Each composer is further subdivided using the Dewey Decimal numbers, so that Beethoven's piano music is kept separate from his symphonies, for example.

Any items that contain works by more than one composer will be found at the end of the section, using the number ZZZ50 to keep them together, and this section is also further subdivided by the Dewey Decimal classmarks.

i.e. if the catalogue tells you that the CD of a Beethoven symphony is at Compact Discs 784.2184 BEE50 -

• look in the Compact Discs section for Beethoven first
• then look for 784.2184 within Beethoven.
• the same goes for scores

Some of our CDs, printed music and LPs are not yet on the catalogue

As a result, there are separate sections of uncatalogued CDs and scores, also in alphabetical order by the main composer.

Listings of these items are available at the Service Desk. Check these lists or ask the staff before you decide we do not have a particular item, especially on CD, as the item you want may be shelved under a different composer.