[pdb-discuss] Another potential source: the library of congress

Sun Aug 6 17:21:13 UTC 2006

The library of congress catalogue:

<http://catalog.loc.gov/>

could be another possible source for data on sound recordings and has 
several advantages such as a) detailed information in a structured 
format b) programmatic interface (Z39) [^1].

Using guided search and looking for e.g. title=Goldberg 
Variations,performer='Gould' yields:

<http://tinyurl.com/gdt3w>

More info on getting recordings:

<http://catalog.loc.gov/help/gkwindex.htm>

> Example #2:
> To search for recordings of the sonatas of Beethoven, use Search Limits to restrict the Type of Material to "Music sound recording".
> 
>     Search: sonatas [ all of these ]
>     As: Title: Uniform (KTUT)
> 
>     Select: [ AND with next set]
> 
>     Search: beethoven [ all of these ]
>     As: Name: Personal Name (KPNC) 

So to get all recordings from 1900 go to guided search, set search 
limits to search for date=1900, type=sound recording and then put in a 
stirng for search in title that will pull up everything (e.g. "a e i o 
u"). This yields 184 titles.

Regards,

Rufus

[1] See <http://www.loc.gov/z3950/gateway.html#about>. Python 
implementation: <http://www.panix.com/~asl2/software/PyZ3950/>