Several important catalogs contain bibliographic information for audio recordings held by the Library of Congress, as well as thousands of national and international libraries and archives. These invaluable resources enable one to augment and expand research beyond the confines of the Library of Congress. In addition, these catalogs may help in locating uncataloged commercial recordings at the Library of Congress by supplying label names and issue numbers which are needed for manual shelf-checks.

• OCLC Online Union Catalog: The OCLC Online Union Catalog is a bibliographic utility created in the 1960s to which thousands of libraries contribute. It includes bibliographic records for commercial and archival recordings as well as all kinds of music and the spoken word. These recordings may or may not be held by the division and the records are searchable by name, album title, song title, subject, date, label name and number, and keyword. OCLC is available through university libraries, often through a public interface.
• Silver Platter Musiliibrary CD-ROM: The Silver Platter Music Library CD-ROM contains records for only those music recordings that have been cataloged on OCLC from the mid-1960s to the present. These are mostly commercial recordings—although some are archival. All types of music are included and the recordings may or may not be in the Library's recorded sound collections. These records are searchable by name, album title, song title, subject, date, label name and number, and keyword. This catalog is available only in the reference center.
• Rigler and Deutsch Index: The Rigler and Deutsch Index to 78-rpm recordings held in five libraries, including the Library of Congress, indexes commercial recordings of all kinds of music and the spoken word. The recordings may or may not be in the division and the index is searchable by name, song title, and label name and number. This index is also available through RLIN.
• RLIN Bibliographic Database: The RLIN Bibliographic Database is a bibliographic utility created in the 1970s to which more than 160 cultural, academic, and scientific organizations contribute. It includes both commercial and archival recordings of all kinds of music and the spoken word, which may or may not be held by the division. The database is searchable by name, album title, song title, subject, date, label name and number, and keyword. RLIN is available at many university libraries, often through a public interface.