USE THE LIBRARY'S SONG INDEX DATABASE from computers at Central Library, Branch Libraries or by remote internet access to search for popular piano/vocal scores in books of collected sheet music in the Central Library collection.

1. From the Library Home Page click on "databases", click on "Art Music & Recreation". Scroll down the alphabetical list of databases, click on "song index".
2. Follow the on-screen instructions to search by song title or composer. If the song you are searching for is in the database your results will show titles of books of collected sheet music in the Art Music & Recreation Department at Central Library.
3. You can check the Library catalog to see if there is a circulating copy of the song book in the library system and either check it out or place a hold on it. If the catalog shows that only a reference copy exists, you can place a request with a librarian at the Reference desk in the Art Music & Recreation Department to have the book retrieved from the closed stacks for in-library use.
4. If you are accessing the catalog remotely, you may request by telephone, fax or email that a song be sent to your nearest LAPL Branch Library. There is a 24 hour turn around time for this service.

USE THE LIBRARY'S ONLINE PUBLIC ACCESS CATALOG to do a keyword search for songs by title, composer or performer.

1. Using the key words of the song title (excluding a, an, the, and or but) do a keyword search and add the word "score". Example: California Dreamin' score. The results will list books o collected song that have their contents displayed in the catalog. You may also retrieve songs with similar titles using this type of search so be sure to check the full contents for the exact title you want. This type of search is most effective if the song title contains unique words.
2. Search by composer or performer for books of collected sheet music that may contain the song you want but which do not have their contents displayed in the catalog. Add the word "score" to the name of the composer or performer to exclude biographies. (Exclude punctuation, no comma between the first and last names.) Example: Paul Simon score will retrieve books of sheet music either composed or performed by Paul Simon.

Note: Books of sheet music have Dewey Decimal numbers beginning with 78. Example: 78.412 B36926 is a songbook entitled Best of the Beatles. Books about music have numbers beginning with 780. to 789. Example: 789.24 B369woo is a book about the Beatles, it will NOT contain sheet music.

USE SONG INDEXES AT THE REFERENCE DESK to search for music NOT FOUND in the Library's Online Public Access Catalog or the Song Index Database.

1. Ask the Librarian at the Reference Desk to search the song index cardfile for the title of the song that you want. The cardfile contains references to books of collected sheet music in the Art Music & Recreation Department as well as "Tune-dex" cards with "lead sheet" versions of some popular songs.
2. Ask the Librarian at the Reference Desk to search the most recent edition of Music Key R784.302 M9875 for the title of the song that you want. Music Key contains references to recently published collections of sheet music which may be in the Art Music & Recreation Department.
3. Ask the Librarian at the Reference Desk to search the volumes of Folio-Dex R784.02 F6655 for the song title that you want. Folio-Dex contains references to older collections of sheet music which may be in the Art Music & Recreation Department.
4. Ask the Librarian at the Reference Desk to search the Library's collection of single music sheets for the song that you want. This is a collection of single song sheets published primarily from the 1930s to the 1970s, sacred songs and songs from the turn of the century (1890-19 10). This resource is usually a `last option' because there is no index. It requires a manual search by staff in a remote storage area.

USE ADDITIONAL SOURCES AT THE REFERENCE DESK to verify the title, composer and/or performer of the song that you want. If you have not located the sheet music by any of the above methods you may have an incorrect or incomplete citation.

1. Ask the Librarian at the Reference Desk for assistance in using both print and on-line sources to verify the song title, composer and/or performer. Two sources you may search for yourself are Phonoloe which sits at the rear of the Reference Desk on top of the counter and MUZE which is an online database which you may access from the Library Home Page by clicking on "databases", "Art Music & Recreation", then scrolling down the alphabetical list.
2. Ask the Librarian at the Reference Desk to search the ASCAP, BMI or Harry Fox on-line databases for the song that you want in order to identify a publisher for the sheet music and a possible contact for you to inquire about purchase. You may search these databases yourself over the internet at www.ascap.com, www.bmi.com and www.nmpa.org/hfa.html.
3. In the Los Angeles vicinity, two other sheet music collections you may wish to search are the Brand Art & Music Library in Glendale and the Music Library at UCLA. Both of these libraries have accessible on-line catalogs with links from the LAPL web page.