The title of this book, one of the series Guides to Information Sources is self‐explanatory. What we have is 27 chapters by authorities in each of the subjects dealt with and, considering the vast amount of information there is about music, I have to say the sheer amount of detail is impressive. The book deals with sources for ethnic and popular music, but the emphasis is mainly on Western art music.
To give a flavour of the very wide range of topics covered I will select a few. The editor’s own general introduction is required reading, and he has also contributed chapters on musical sources in UK Government publications, thematic catalogues, recordings as a research source and, with Roderick Swanston, on the early music revival. Other useful chapters deal with music and the Internet, standard reference sources and collected editions, periodicals (including e‐journals), publishing and publishers’ archives, the book trade, national collections and information centres, copyright and sources of pictures and ephemera. All sections have bibliographical references and notes, and there is a good general index. Some of the illustrations are reproduced from the editor’s own collection.
It looks as though this guide has been long in the preparation (some phone numbers are well out of date) and the publisher has been parsimonious with diacritics. This notwithstanding, there is an enormous amount of fine detail here, and it certainly added a great deal to my knowledge. Thoroughly recommended.
