Folk Music Index - Update Information

November 22, 2013 - What's New. Yes, in the past two years, I have actually managed to add another 283 items to the index. For a listing of these new items go to new items in the Sources listing. Given that I had my big 75 birthday this year, this update will probably be the last big one, although I do hope to add 3 or 4 more print items along a few more field recordings. Suggestions and donations are still welcome, as I continue to seek an institution that might be interested in housing this collection.

Additionally, the same titles that are used for more than one piece, are now distinguished by the use of roman numerals (I, II, etc) for songs and regular numbers (1, 2, etc.) for hoedowns, waltzes, and other tunes. Examples of this can be seen for the song, Railroad Blues and the tune, Eighth of January.

In conclusion, I would like to dedicate this update to the memory of two people who have made a big difference in the area of old time music. Charles Faurot passed away this past August, and his field recordings and collecting in the 60s thru the 80s were a vital force in preserving and facilitating the many old time music revivals from the 60s onward. I feel fortunate to have had a chance to meet him and to add some of his Old Blue Records releases as well as many other of his field recordings that were issued on County Records. The second person I wish to honor is Bill Martin, of Vancouver, Washington, who passed away last year. Bill was a square dance caller, musician and a major organizer and supporter of the old time music scene, and he is sorely missed by all of us here in the Portland/Vancouver area. To learn more see bubbaguitar.com

Current statistics on the various categories are listed below:

More complete statistics can be found in the database software section, including a listing of the top ten titles for songs and ballads, as well as for dance tunes.


June 11, 2011 - What's New. This way overdue and mostly likely last major update contains 281 newly indexed items. For details and a complete listing of these items go to new items in the Sources listing.

Current statistics on the various categories are listed below:


Nov 19, 2008 - What's New. This update includes the addition of 376 books and recordings. To see a complete listing of these items go to new items in the Sources listing.

Current statistics on the various categories are listed below:

Jun 16, 2007 - What's New. This update includes the addition of approximately 150 books and recordings. Due to some record keeping problems and computer gliches, I do not have the exact amount that have been added. For a listing of some of these newly indexed items, see new items in the Sources listing.

Current statistics on the various categories are listed below:

Jun 21, 2006 - What's New. This update includes the addition of some 264 books and recordings. For a listing of these newly indexed items, see new items in the Sources listing. Other new features are:

Current statistics on the various categories are listed below:

More complete statistics can be found in the database software section, including a listing of the top ten titles for songs and ballads, as well as for dance tunes.


Feb 24, 2005 - What's New. This update includes the addition of some 250 books and recordings. For a listing of these newly index items, see New items in the Sources listing. Music titles now display any Laws, Child or Sharp bibliographic IDs assigned to them from any source. Similarly, O'Neill's numbers are also displayed when given. For a full listing of such IDs see the abbreviations listing in theintroduction section.

Statistics on the various categories are listed below:

More complete statistics can be found in the database software section, including a listing of the top ten titles for songs and ballads, as well as for dance tunes.


Feb 15, 2004 - Whats New. This update completes the indexing of the books in my collection that were originally indexed on cards, as well as more recently acquired volumes.

Statistics on the various categories are listed below:

More details on the number of records in all the files is listed in database software file section

May 9, 2003 - What's new. This update includes a fair number of print resources, including one of the few items that I do not actually have in my home collection, Cecil Sharp's two volume "English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians." Also indexed are the first 2 volumes of the 4 volume Vance Randolph Ozarks Folksongs collection. Most of the instructional material originally indexed on paper cards is now listed in the database, and Miles Krassen's revised edition of O'Neill's Music is also included.

Titles identified with Child, Sharp or Laws numbers now display this information in brackets following the title and pieces may have more than one classification. This information is based primarily on the commentary contained in the recording liner notes or print source headnotes, and it should be noted that the Sharp numbers are those assigned in the Southern Appalachian volumes and these may be distinct from numbers assigned to items he collected in England. These songs and ballads are of course fairly common and have been sung and performed under numerous different titles. I have done some cross checking, but there is still probably a fair amount of confounding for some of the titles. Some but not all entries have been collated under a single title with cross references to alternate titles. So take these classifications with a grain of salt as you search for related titles.

There are slightly more than 2800 titles with one of these numbers; however, some 1200 of these are strictly alternate titles that will point you to the main entry.

Statistics on the various categories are listed below:

Oct 5, 2002 -  New Home!  The index is now located at http://www.ibiblio.org/folkindex

The Folk Music Index is now being hosted at the iBiblio site provided by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.   The new URL is http://www.ibiblio.org/folkindex.   Many thanks to all the folks who helped make this possible with special thanks to Paul Mitchell of the UNC computer systems who made the transfer possible.

This update has worked towards adding to the index most of the material that I originally indexed in the early 80's on old-fashioned 4x6 cards.   As a teacher back then, it was really useful for me to know where to find all those tunes I was learning and teaching, and thus I indexed both Cole's 1000 Tunes and the three O'Neills collections I had, along with numerous instrumental and instructions books.  This update includes all titles in both the Dance Music of Ireland (1907) and O'Neills Music of Ireland (1903) along with the Cole's One Thousand Fiddle Tunes. Except for the reels, hornpipes, and miscellaneous tunes in the Dance Music, the cross references that O'Neill listed are also included.  These remaining items will be included in the next update.   There is of course substantial overlap between these two O'Neills collections, with the Dance Music edition providing corrections in key and modes that were problematic in the original O'Neills Music.   Still to be indexed is Miles Krassen's edition.    The statistics below reflect this latest indexing effort especially with a big jump in the number of titles listed, much of which is due to the cross references in O'Neills.

The sources indexed now include some 200 printed sources, 220 CD's, 270 cassettes, and 2,670 LP's. These printed resources include song and tune collections, instruction books and the folk music magazines, Dulcimer Player News, Old Time Herald, Mandolin Magazine, and the Devil's Box.

I continue to seek an archival home for my collection of  recordings and books that are  in the index.

Dec 23, 2001 - Looking for a new home!

The index is now celebrating six years of existance with the generous support of the Milton S. Eisenhower Library of the Johns Hopkins University.  However, for a variety of reasons, it is now time to move on.   Thus I am currently in the process of finding a new home for the website.   Additionally I am also seeking to locate an archive or other publicly accessible location for the recordings as a resource both for folk musicians and scholars. Please feel free to contact me with suggestions or proposals with respect to the relocation of the index and/or the the recordings.

The current update includes more books including some instructional sources with recorded sound samples. etc.   The breakdown currently stands at:

The sources indexed now include some 60 printed sources, 175 CD's, 150 cassettes, and 2,650 LP's. These printed resources include song books, instruction books and the folk music magazines, Dulcimer Player News, Old Time Herald, Mandolin Magazine, and the Devil's Box.

Jan 20, 2001- Latest News.

The addition of all the entries in G. Malcolm Laws, American Balladry from British Broadsides, published in 1957, has been completed. This accounts for much of the large increase in titles indexed as all variant titles have been included and crossed referenced. Additionally, when there were conflicts and uncertainties between previous listings of these titles in the index and the Laws listing, the recordings & books were reviewed again to resolve, as much as possible, these differences and ambiguities. As always, such judgements do contain a subjective element and my listings may differ from others as to whether a certain version is the same as, related to, or distinct from another version. Such is the nature of Folk Music. Still yet to be reviewed are the listings from Laws' Native American Balladry.

Statistics for this update are:

May 31, 2000 What's New.

 With this update, the Folk Index gets it's own URL, http://folkindex.mse.jhu.edu and moves to the Digital Knowledge Center (DKC) of the Eisenhower Library. The DKC, dedicated to the development and enhancement of digital knowledge resources for the support of educational, scholarly and research activities, is in many ways an ideal host for the index, and I very much appreciatate the opportunity to participate in this new world of digital knowledge.

The old edition of the index will remain on Milton's web for a short time, but will no longer support a key word search engine. Users will be alerted to the change and should change their bookmarks and links accordingly.

Statistics for this update are:


May 24, 1999 what's new

 G. Malcolm Laws' Native American Balladry, 2nd edition, published in 1964 has been indexed and tittle information now includes the Laws identifier, if known and/or assigned by recording annotators. Thus, for example you will see:

The Wreck Of Old Ninety-Seven [Laws G 2] - Whitter, Henry
   1. Native American Balladry, Amer. Folklore Society, Bk (1964), p213
   2. ...
   3. ....

This indicates that the song has been identified as Laws' G 2 and the page number for this listing is p. 213, as noted in the citation following the title.

Laws identifiers for ballads that he designated as of doubtful American origin are also included if there are other items with this title in the index. These are indicated with a "d" after the main Laws number; e.g., Laws G 45d. Laws Identifiers for ballads of British origin from his 1957 publication are also included, if the recording provided this information, but no citations to the book are given.

These Laws identifications are by no means totally consistent, although I have completed some review of titles that were clearly problematic with respect to this identification. Not all titles, however, have undergone this scrutiny. Plans for the next update of the index are to provide this review and to also display the Laws identifiers for all the British ballads and perhaps also the Sharp and Child numbers.

 Statistics for this update are:


January 12, 1999 update includes the following:

No file names were changed and only minor display changes for the cross references were implemented.


The August 8,1998 update included the following:


Fourth edition (Jan 8, 1998) of the Folk Index features:

This frame design features a navigational panel for easy switching between performer and title indexes and keyword searching. Frame borders can be resized at any time to increase display space. Additionally, access to the abbreviations used is available in a separate browser window that can be resized or minimized for quick reference. Although I believe this frame based design to be an improvement, I will appreciate your comments as to possible flaws and suggestions for further improvement.

Jane Keefer, November 29, 2013.      Return to Folk Music Index Homepage