Frequently Asked Questions
General Content Questions
1. What is Oxford Music Online?
The access-point for new and forthcoming Oxford music reference subscriptions and products, Oxford Music Online is a single gateway that offers users the ability, for the first time ever, to access and cross-search Grove and Oxford reference content in one location.
2. I already subscribe to Grove Music Online. How does my subscription change?
Your subscription to Grove Music Online includes additional Oxford music reference titles, including The Oxford Companion to Music, and The Oxford Dictionary of Music. Grove Music Online also includes partnerships with RILM providers, DRAM, and Classical Music Library.
3. How has Grove Music Online changed?
First and foremost is a new structure. We now group together, under one search result, all Grove articles on a single subject (e.g. Mozart or Paris). The first article linked to by a search result is now the 'primary' Grove Music Online article on the subject, and it is subject to a regular updating and revision programme. Other articles, from specialist dictionaries such as The New Grove Dictionary of Opera and The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, second edition, are now available via a link from this primary article. These articles are static and will not be regularly updated. By singling out one article on each subject as our 'primary' online article, we will be able to ensure consistency of the content, while still making other points of view available.
See What’s New for more specific information on the new structure
Much of the work for the relaunch of Grove Music Online was devoted to the search functionality, and in addition to general technical improvements we have grounded the new search in authority files and taxonomies developed by the Grove editorial team and tailored to research in music.
See What’s New for more information on editorial work behind the search.
The ability of online resources to link to one another is a mixed blessing; information on the web is of varying quality and stability. We are moving away from general linking to partnerships with organisations that can guarantee their content and stability. We now have such partnerships with three outstanding subscription resources, all available to mutual subscribers by link from Grove:
RILM abstracts of music literature is a comprehensive international database of bibliography in music. This essential research tool, with over 400,000 entries is now available, via a link from the bibliography section of every Grove article, to all subscribers of both sites.
Classical Music Library, published by Alexander Street Press, is an online database containing thousands of recordings. A link to Classical Music Library is available from the Related Content tab of every Grove article.
Digital Recordings in American Music (DRAM) is a not-for-profit database of recordings of American Music. DRAM is also available through a link from the Related Content tab.
4. How often is the content updated?
Each of the subscription products available through Oxford Music Online has its own editorial update schedule. Grove Music Online continues to be updated and revised quarterly with updates to life dates, bibliography, and at least one major new content release each year. The Encyclopedia of Popular Music is updated three times a year with hundreds of new and thousands of revised articles per update.
5. How do I submit a comment or correction?
You may use the Contact us form to submit your comments. When providing a comment about a specific entry, please provide as much detail as possible and include the URL of the page being referred to by copying and pasting the URL from your browser's address box into your message. Comments will be reviewed by our editorial staff.
Subscription Questions
1. How do I subscribe to Oxford Music Online?
Oxford Music Online is not itself a subscription product, but rather the gateway through which you access Grove Music Online, the Encyclopedia of Popular Music, and other online reference resources. You or your library must subscribe to the individual products available through Oxford Music Online.
2. How do I subscribe to the products available through Oxford Music Online?
Annual subscriptions for Grove Music Online and the Encyclopedia of Popular Music are available for schools, libraries and organizations. For complete pricing information or to subscribe, please Contact us. Monthly and annual subscriptions are available for individuals.
3. Is it possible to have a free trial?
Free 30-day trials are available to libraries and institutions considering a subscription. If you are an individual and would like to try out the site, find out if your library or organization already subscribes or would like a free trial. Librarians and administrators can sign up here.
4. Are discounts available to consortia and consortia members?
Special pricing is available for library consortia. For further details, please get in touch with your consortia manager or contact us.
Access Questions
1. I cannot access my subscriptions through Oxford Music Online.
Library administrators
- Please verify that you have submitted your library's signed subscriber agreement to Oxford University Press. All new subscriptions require a signed license agreement on file that has been verified prior to activating service.
- Please verify that OUP has your library's most current IP address information on file. Administrators may verify account details from Subscriber Services. You will need an administrative login. If you have lost or forgotten your administrative password, you can also update or change this information from Subscriber Services.
- If your library's IP information has been changed, please contact us to report the new address(es) or to update IP information currently registered.
- Your library's access may have expired or been placed on hold if OUP has not received your subscription payment or if your free trial has expired. It is customary for OUP to contact subscribers before a renewal, anniversary date or trial expiration. For further assistance, please contact us.
Individual subscribers
You may have entered an incorrect username or password or no longer have an active subscription. Please contact us.
2. Is remote access available?
Remote or off-site access is available to all institutional subscribers at no additional cost. For further assistance setting up remote access, please contact us.
3. Is library card access available?
Libraries have the option to allow patrons to access the site using their library barcode. Please have your librarian or administrator contact us for further details on setting up library card access.
4. Is Oxford Music Online accessible through Athens?
Yes, please ask your librarian or administrator for details.
5. I have forgotten my username and password.
If you are using access information provided by your library, please contact your school's librarian or administrator for library access information. Individual subscribers click here to change or be reminded of your login.
Technical Questions
1. With which browsers is Oxford Music Online compatible?
The site should be accessible to general users using a variety of browsers but is designed to display and function correctly on the following browsers, in order of compatibility:
- IE7 (Windows)
- Firefox 2 (Windows)
- IE6 (Windows)
- Safari 2 (Mac)
- Opera 9 (Windows)
- Pages will display on Lynx.
- Pages will display on Lynx.
2. Is the site accessible to visually impaired users?
The site is designed to meet Priority 1 and 2 of the Web 3 Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0. Compliance with each of these guidelines has also been documented and reviewed during the visual design build phase.
3. Is Oxford Music Online OpenURL compliant?
Yes, the site is compliant with version 0.1 of the OpenURL specification. To enable this feature for your institution, please access your account information in Subscriber Services. Your institution will need to have an OpenURL resolver.
4. What is the service identifier (sid) for OpenURL from Oxford Music Online?
oup:omo
5. Can I add my library's OpenURL resolver logo to Oxford Music Online?
Librarians can add their library's OpenURL resolver via Subscriber Services. Your OpenURL resolver logo should be a maximum size of 19 pixels high x 55 pixels wide.
6. Can I add my library's logo to Oxford Music Online?
Yes, librarians can add their library's logo to the site footer to identify that the institution is providing access to the users. Your logo can be added via Subscriber Services and should be a maximum of 175x65 pixels.
7. Can I add the Oxford Music Online search box to my library's website?
Yes; librarians or site administrators who wish to provide a short cut into the site can copy the html text below and paste it into the your own web page. Please note that this search box will only be able to be used by those who have a subscription to the site.
<div style="margin: 20px;">
<form id="searchFormForm" method="get" action="http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/search/quick" style="border:0; padding:0; margin:0;">
<input type="hidden" name="_f:text" value="stext" />
<input type="hidden" name="_fmt" value="context" />
<input type="hidden" name="_refinePage" value="/search/advanced_search.jsp" />
<fieldset style="width:270px; margin-top: 1.5em;">
<legend style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 1.4em; font-weight: bold;color: #333;padding: 0 0.3em;margin-bottom: 0.5em;">
Search Oxford Music Online</legend>
<input name="text" id="query_field" type="text" value=" "/>
<input type="image" name="search_button" src="http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/images/button-search2.gif" alt="SEARCH" title="SEARCH" style="vertical-align: top;"/>
</fieldset>
</form>
</div>
Subscriber services
1. Are usage statistics available?
Usage statistics are available on a monthly basis to subscribing institutions and library consortia.
2. How do I access my institution's statistics?
Please visit Subscriber Services. Your administrative login will be required. If you have lost or forgotten your administrative login, please contact us.
3. How can I view or update my subscription record?
Institutions and individuals within North and South America may view or change their subscription details at our account management system. Subscribers outside of North and South America click here for Subscriber services.
4. Do you supply MARC records?
MARC 21 records are provided if available to OUP through the Library of Congress records. You can download them by right-clicking here and saving the records to the location of your choice.
Important note regarding availability of MARC records: MARC records are provided if available to OUP through the Library of Congress records. However, there are a number of situations in which the Library of Congress will not have a record for a title in Oxford Music Online:
- The cataloging data may not have made it into the Library of Congress records. In this situation we will continue to try to source the record and provide in a later update.
- With an older title, it may be that the cataloging information was never submitted to the Library of Congress.
- If a title does not have an OUP print equivalent, then we do not provide a MARC record.
In both the latter situations we are unable to provide the record.
