This work serves as the definitive reference for the history, construction, and cultural significance of musical instruments across all global traditions. Edited by Laurence Libin, the dictionary synthesizes contributions from hundreds of international scholars to provide a comprehensive taxonomy of acoustic and electronic sound-producing devices. It functions as a foundational resource for musicologists, performers, and historians seeking to understand the evolution of organology within diverse societal contexts.

Experts and musicologists regard this dictionary as the primary authority in the field of organology. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the exhaustive nature of the cross-referencing, which makes it a standard tool for serious research in music history.