Research Tools for Historic Sound Recordings

Lyrics posted on the web may not give the whole story! Find digitized sheet music of popular songs published in the 19th and early 20th centuries for more insight.

Recordings for your class were originally released on cylinder, 78rpm record, or other older formats, and back then, they did not include liner notes. However, old works can be re-recorded with other artists, or can be re-released in more modern formats (like CD or LP), which do have liner notes. 

Search SUMMON for re-releases of your recording, or other recordings by the same artist, to read liner notes.

SUMMON Search Tips:

1. Enter your artist name in quotation marks. example:"Florence Foster Jenkins
2. optionally also search for your song title in quotation marks. example: "Florence foster Jenkins" "bell song"
3. Refine your search on the left of the results. Under content type, choose "music recording." note: you may have to click "more" Browse the results, using the call numbers and the icons to pick out CDs, LPs or streaming

Type	Icon	Call # example	Location	Liner Notes?
CDs		Compact Disc 12345	request at Bird 3rd floor service desk	Yes
LPs		M 1507 .B72	Shelved on Bird 4th floor	Sometimes
Streaming		Available online	Your computer	Sometimes
Cylinders, 78s, etc.		(NSyU)00560597	Belfer Audio Archive	No