Descriptions submitted by the libraries (institutional and recordists) or drawn from their web site's self-description. This is provided as a service, not as advertising. To submit info on other libraries, please email us.

Institutional and Collaborative Libraries

Borror Library of Bioacoustics - Hosted at Ohio State University. Has recently completed digitizing of their entire collection, which is especially rich in bird species (over 900). Samples are being prepared for sampling over the internet. [WEBSITE]

British Library National Sound Archive Wildlife Section - The Wildlife section at the British Library National Sound Archive is the largest collection of its kind in Europe and the most comprehensive in the world. Established in 1969 as the British Library of Wildlife Sounds, the collection now holds more than 130,000 scientifically organised and documented recordings of all classes of sound-producing animals from every zoogeographical region. The collection is an important international resource for anyone interested in the sounds of the natural world. Our users include specialists in the field of bioacoustics and related behavioural and zoological disciplines, naturalists, teachers, museums, nature conservation bodies and zoos. We also provide sound effects for the broadcasting, film and multimedia publishing industries. [WEBSITE]

California Library of Natural Sounds - The CLNS is a resource center whose primary role is to provide information and sound for public information as well sound for educational and creative projects in all areas of the arts and sciences. Current users include educators, museum curators, researchers, and artists in the fields of film, multimedia, music, dance and theater. [WEBSITE]

Cornell Lab of Ornithology's MacCauley Library of Natural Sounds - MLNS is a major distribution and information center for research, educational, and conservation involving animal sounds. It uniquely combines the world's largest animal sound collection with cutting-edge support and production capabilities. [WEBSITE]

Western Soundscape Archive - Collection of recordings from the western United States, held at the University of Utah. [WEBSITE]

FonoZoo - Sound collection at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid. Includes Cuban amphibeans, Madagascar, and more. [WEBSITE]

Animal Sound Archive (Tierstimmenarchiv) of the Humboldt-Universität, Berlin - Includes over 100,000 animal recordings, with free access to their database of sounds. [WEBSITE]

World Soundscape Project - World Soundscape Project tape library is housed at the Simon Fraser University School of Communication. The chronological and subject index for the collection is available on the studio website. [WEBSITE]

Xeno-Canto - Incredible colleciton of bird songs and calls from the tropics of the Americas. You can browse for particular birds, or peruse biodiversity maps that identify recording locations. Includes over a hundred hours of recordings, of close to three thousand species. [GO THERE]

Recordists with commercial libraries
Sources of Soundscape CDs

Due to limitations on our allowed activities (as a non-profit, we are not allowed to promote or link to any commercial company or sales outlet), we can no longer provide these resources. If you wish to contact recordists to obtain sounds for academic or non-commercial use, please email us and we'll try to help.