ILM Abstracts of Music Literature, a comprehensive, ongoing guide to publications on music from all over the world, is an indispensable tool for scholars, students, librarians, performers, teachers, and music lovers. It provides broad yet detailed coverage and facilitates both focused research and browsing for readers of all levels.
Our database currently contains over 400,000 entries; the number of entries published annually has increased from 2,532 in 1967 to some 30,000 per year. RILM is available in hardcover, on CD-ROM, and online (details below). Our subscribers represent an international body of scholars, musicians, librarians, students, large universities, small liberal arts colleges, conservatories, public libraries, and research institutes.
RILM's broad international coverage and concise abstracts distinguish it from all other music reference resources. All scholarly works are included: articles, books, bibliographies, catalogues, dissertations, Festschriften, films and videos, iconographies, critical commentaries to complete works, ethnographic recordings, conference proceedings, electronic resources, and reviews.
A typical entry gives the title in the original language, an English translation of the title, complete bibliographic data, a content description—or abstract—of up to 200 words, and indexing of names, institutions, and concepts.
Every RILM abstract represents value added to the raw material of bibliographic citation. These abstracts reflect the efforts of a team of well-trained and experienced musicologists, librarians, and translators who insure that each entry is clearly, succinctly, and accurately summarized. We strive to present our information in a form that will be readily grasped by a broad cross-section of readers and still be pertinent to the specialist.
Currently RILM has entries for publications in over 140 languages. Our International Center in New York works with some 60 RILM country committees across the globe. These are composed of musicologists and librarians and are hosted at such institutions as the British Library, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, the Rossyskaya Gosudarstvennaya Biblioteka, and Cornell University.
Established in 1966 under the joint sponsorship of the International Musicological Society and the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres, RILM was the pilot project of the interdisciplinary Bibliographic Center planned by the American Council of Learned Societies. The City University of New York graciously provides an institutional context for its endeavors. Our Commission Internationale Mixte, comprising representatives from the two sponsoring societies, form a body of distinguished scholars and librarians.
RILM is available online (updated monthly) from CSA, EBSCO, NISC, OCLC, and OVID. RILM is also available on CD-ROM from NISC (updated quarterly) and in book form from the RILM International Center (rilm@rilm.org). Go to Subscriptions for more information.