A) Finding a focus
- Developing a research question (video tutorial: 5:07)
Important tips for finding resources:
- identify more items than you need (some may be hard to find or off topic)
- keep track of where you look and the keywords you use
- start early: library staff can deliver items from other libraries
B) Background
If the topic is unknown to you, get your bearings with a Google or Wikipedia search
1) Search for your composer in Oxford Music Online
- Includes Grove's and The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
- Read the main article, then choose "Bibliography" under "Article contents" to find references (books and articles)
- in Grove's, references are listed chronologically, oldest to newest
- look for references in English
- Use the "Find it in your Laurier" links to track down references
2) Search for your theory (eg. race, gender, ethnicity) in Sage Knowledge or Gale Virtual Reference Library
- Note: these collections each contain a wide variety of sources; some will be more appropriate to your topic than others
C) Books
- Use Omni to identify books at Laurier and other Omni libraries
- Check the facets at the left to focus your search
- Floor plans locate your books by the call number
- Requesting books from other libraries
- request from other libraries using RACER
D) Scholarly Articles
1) Learn about Peer-Reviewed (scholarly) Journals
2) Identify scholarly articles using a database:
- RILM abstracts of Music Literature
- Covers articles, books, and more. Limit by language and source type.
- Music Periodicals Database
- Articles for popular and classical music. Note: find more results by changing the search field from "Anywhere except full text" to "Anywhere"
- JSTOR
- Need more results? Try this database: full text, scholarly journals in wide range of disciplines. Narrow search using musical terms.
3) Track down articles from lists of references:
- search by journal title
- see Finding an article when you know the title (video tutorial: 3:50)
4) Be on the lookout for these major journals. Consider searching some individually. *Full text of these journals is not included in Music Periodicals Database or JSTOR.
- American music
- Current musicology
- Ethnomusicology
- Journal of the American Musicological Society
- Journal of musicological research
- Journal of musicology
- Journal of popular music studies
- Journal of the Royal Musical Association
- Music & letters
- 19th-century music
- Popular music
- Popular music and society
- Women & music
E) Tracking down references
- Looking for a journal article?
- Search for the journal title, then search or browse for the article
- Finding a journal article when you only know the title (video: 3:50)
- Looking for a book? Search Omni
F) Other resources
- Improving your thesis statement (video tutorial: 5:25)
- Guides to citing Music (Chicago Style)
Having problems? Don't hesitate to contact me: call, email, drop in, or make an appointment. My office is one floor up from the main floor of the Library on the Waterloo campus. Come up the stairs, then walk straight ahead.