Searching at item and collection levels
Conservatory Library Special Collections
Special Collections hold a broad array of source material originating in the Long Nineteenth Century.
Books, journals, print music, and sound recordings are discoverable at the item level in OBIS, Oberlin’s library catalog. Other formats—including prints, photographs, manuscripts, papers—may be described at the collection level, rather than the item level; these are rarely listed in OBIS, but instead in finding aids, which are searchable PDFs.
For full coverage of a topic, researchers should explore both OBIS and finding aids. Additionally, highlights of some collections have been digitized and may be browsed visually.
Conservatory Special Collections
The traditional core of Conservatory Library Special Collections centered on European classical music.
- Books and print music: OBIS (limited to years 1780–1914)
Musicians’ Autographs and Photographs
- Photographs and papers: finding aid
- Photographs and papers: digital collection (highlights only)
The Frederick R. Selch Collection of American Music History
- Books and print music: OBIS (limited to years 1780–1914)
- Books: finding aid (items not cataloged in OBIS)
- Visual material: finding aid
- Visual material: digital collection (highlights only)
Violin Society of America and Herbert K. Goodkind Collection
- Books: OBIS (limited to years 1780–1914)
- Periodicals: OBIS (limited to years 1780–1914)
- Dealer and auction catalogs: finding aid