The fourth edition of this essential reference work has grown from one volume to three, to expand outside of the classical music genre and include popular and world music. Volume 1, here reviewed, focuses on popular music. The other two volumes, listed on the ALA Bookstore website to follow in 2018, will cover World Music (Vol. 2 ISBN 978 0 8,389 1,530 1) and Classical Music (Vol. 3 ISBN 978 0 8,389 1,531 8). Each volume is available for US$258; the set price is given as US$699 (www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=11990).
Volume 1 is divided into 11 chapters: Music of Colonial North America and the USA to about 1900; Blues; Jazz; Mainstream Popular and New Age; Country and Western; Rock; Rhythm and Blues and Soul; Rap and Hip-Hop; Gospel Music and Other Popular Christian Music; Children’s Music; and Holidays, Special Occasions, Patriotic Music and Miscellaneous. Each chapter begins with a short introduction and a listing of subdivisions within that topic. Entries are fairly concise, given the variety and volume of scores and sound recordings: composer/singer/performer, title, publisher, order number, year and format. Essential materials for purchase are indicated by a star. The best way to search, if the user wants to explore by composer, singer or performer, is to start with the index in the back of each volume. Each entry is numbered, so the user will need to find the materials by their assigned reference rather than page number.
As the most authoritative music collection resource available, these three volumes are revised on a regular basis and are geared towards librarians without a music background who often work in public and small academic libraries. Given that it is a compilation by members of the Music Library Association, many of whom are the world experts in their subject area, these volumes are a great investment for any libraries wanting to build up their music score and sound recording collections.
