RISM for Researchers

RISM has long been the cornerstone of musicological projects. The following pages will help you if you are using RISM for research, scholarship, university projects, or data analysis.

Guides

Research projects

RISM can serve as a partner in research projects on a small or large scale. The extensive pool of RISM data can launch research from a variety of starting points, such as by composer, repertoire, genre, time period, geographic area, or material type. When partnering with RISM, project participants have direct access to our database and cataloging program. There is therefore no need to develop separate cataloging systems or databases. Records are published in the international RISM database, and data can be extracted for use elsewhere.

Read the following reports for examples of various collaborations with RISM:

Researchers focusing on music by a particular composer or preserved at a certain institution can catalog the music in RISM, ensuring that the musical sources can be explored by an international audience. The RISM records can be referenced in university theses and publications, or published as separate catalogs. Here are some examples:

Data sets

The RISM records can be used in data analysis. The data can be accessed from the RISM Catalog’s Data page or by using the RISM Online API.

We have also published subsets of the data in spreadsheets that can be used for research. The links below are to our blog posts for context, and the spreadsheets can be downloaded from the posts.

Send us your feedback

If you have feedback about any records in the RISM database, please let us know by sending an email to contact@rism.info or through any record in the RISM Catalog (“Send a comment on this record” on the left-hand side of the record) or RISM Online (“Report an issue” at the bottom of the record).