What does PBM consist of? – A Guide to the Polish Music Library

ENCYCLOPAEDIA

The Polish Music Library is not only a collection of musical and iconographic resources, which we discussed in previous entries, but also a platform providing access to the digital version of the most important Polish source of knowledge about music – the PWM Music Encyclopaedia. Encyclopaedia entries are made available systematically; there are already over 3,500 of them on our website! Below is a small guide on how to navigate these resources and how to use them.

Filtering search results

To find the entry you are interested in, you can use the main search engine (by entering the composer’s last name, as we suggested in previous entries). Sometimes, however, we expect more precise results – in such a case, filters will come in handy, which also reflect the division of the Encyclopaedia’s entries into sections and categories.

To use the alphabetical search option and filter entries, display the Encyclopaedia -> Entries subpage. In addition to the option of displaying content by subsequent letters of the alphabet, you can search them using the following criteria:

• Surname – search for the subject of the entry by last name, similarly to the main search engine
• Country of activity – search for people associated with specific geographical areas (sometimes one person is assigned to more than one country, so a given entry may be displayed several times)
• Period of activity – search for subjects of entries active in different eras, from the 11^th century BC to the 21^st century AD
• Profession – search for representatives of various fields, from composers, instrument builders and performers (singers, violinists) to painters, philosophers and even… politicians and doctors.

*Tip:

The above filters can be combined, so you can search for composers working in Germany in the 19^th century, for example. It is worth remembering that the names of some professions have their female equivalents.

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What is hidden in an encyclopedia entry?

When the search engine displays the entry you are interested in, it is worth knowing that it hides much more than just the text. Each entry contains hyperlinks to other PBM resources:

• the biography contains links to other entries in the Encyclopaedia – so that the user can easily familiarise themselves with other names appearing in the text
• the list of compositions contains links to sheet music available in PBM
• in some entries, the hyperlink is also included at the beginning of the biography in the bolded name of the entry’s hero, referring to iconographic collections related to a given character.

*Tip:

In addition to hyperlinks, some entries also contain a Related section – additional materials related to a given character can be found there.

© Note: the materials described above are intended for use within the framework of fair public use or fair private use. Read more about fair use.

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The PBM Encyclopaedia is a digital version of the PWM Music Encyclopaedia, which is why the following subpages contain information about encyclopaedia sources, abbreviations used in entries, as well as a list of published volumes of the Encyclopaedia with bibliographic data. Additionally, we have included a list of illustrations used in the entries. We encourage you to browse our resources and follow the next content provided!

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