Using the Music Lending Scheme

The newest iteration of the MLS is intended to be as easy as possible to use. With a single unified search box, searching the system has never been easier.

The search system will take any combination of terms to narrow down your search results as much as possible. The search indexes our full database and allows you to search on keywords, languages, voicing (e.g 'SATB'), and obviously the titles and names of works, in addition to all creatives (composers, arrangers, etc.) associated with the music.

When browsing the MLS, there are 3 important categories of database records: Creatives, Works, and Publications.

• Creatives: These are the people associated with the creation of a piece of music, and are broadly divided into 4 categories - composers, arrangers, editors, and writers (or lyricists). An individual creative can exist in multiple of these categories.
• Works: A work is in most cases the original piece of music produced by a composer.
• Publications: The core of the MLS is found in the publications. A publication is a published version of a work, which might be specifically arranged for a particular voicing or instrumentation, may have specific editorial changes, may have different movements or text, or any combination of these things between varying editions from varying publishers. Detailed publication information is provided where possible so you can match the specific version of a score you are searching for.