Origins of the Research Library
Our museum’s collections were born out of the research process. In fact, the Museum of Portable Sound (MOPS) was originally established as a creative research tool to investigate whether it was possible to operate a cultural institution that displayed sounds as its objects within the parameters of accepted museum theory and practice. MOPS served as the subject of our Director’s cross-disciplinary PhD thesis, Listening to Museums: Sounds as Objects of Culture and Curatorial Care (2020).
Through a three-year process of trial and error guided by visitor feedback, MOPS found its place as a museum dedicated to sound studies ‘beyond music’, and increasingly, contemporary and historical acoustemology – ‘an interdisciplinary area of study dedicated to understanding … sounds, hearers, and listeners in their historical contexts’ (Mansell, 2021). This focus on both past and present histories of sounds, hearing, and listening continues to guide our library’s acquisitions process.
Research Library Online Catalogue
The MOPS Research Library currently holds over 2,000 books, articles, patents, manuals, audio recordings, and ephemera, in both physical and digital formats. It not only contains resources related to the study of sound but also museology and experimental curatorial practices.
We catalogue our library’s materials using Zotero, industry-standard software for researchers and librarians.
FREE and Open Access to All
Our Research Library Catalogue is now fully searchable online with no restrictions – you do not need a Zotero account to view the catalogue.
Download original Guide
In October 2021 we published the first edition of our Research Library Catalogue, a bibliography organised into over fifty cross-disciplinary subject areas.
While this guide may still be useful, it is no longer updated. For access to the current Research Library Online Catalogue, please visit our open access Zotero Group Library. This version of the Catalogue is preserved here only for archival purposes.
Collection Highlights
Browse a selection of notable items held in our Research Library at Museum of Portable Sound Laboratories in Southsea, Portsmouth, UK.
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Digital Image Library Highlights
Our social media accounts contain significant amounts of research – links, historic images, and our museum’s own creative output creating sound-related memes. Our Research library also keeps an archive of all the digital images we post across social media. Below is a gallery of some of our most popular (and/or infamous) meme images at the intersection of sonic and online culture.