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Guide to free eresources

Access a list of free eresources selected by our experts, including websites, full text databases, abstracting and indexing databases and other reference sources

Music

British Library Sound Archive 

The British Library Sound Archive, archived on the website of the online radio NTS, features hundreds of wildlife and world and traditional music sound recordings from our collection. 

Cecilia 

Online guide to music collections in archives, libraries and museums in the UK and Ireland. 

Concert Programmes 

Database of collections of concert programmes held in European libraries, archives and museums. Some British Library programme collections are fully-indexed here. 

DIAMM (the Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music) 

Searchable database of images of European manuscripts containing polyphonic music from the medieval and early modern periods. 

Early Music Online 

Over 300 of the world's earliest surviving volumes of printed music, held in the British Library, have been digitised and the content can be browsed in the Royal Holloway's digital repository. 

RISM 

An online catalogue providing details of music manuscripts held by libraries and archives across the world. Its principal focus is material dating from before 1800. 

Soundcloud 

The British Library on Soundcloud:  A selection of 1000+ spoken word, wildlife and music recordings, held at the Library, including the podcast series ‘Classical Music at the British Library’ 

True Echoes 

A research project reconnecting a rich archive of early sound recordings of Oceanic cultures with the communities from which they originate. The website showcases recordings and research undertaken between 2019 -2022.