Research process overview
- Find a research topic:
- Check textbooks, other books, browse the International Journal of Community Music
- Form a research question:
- Developing a Research Question (video: 5:07)
- Consider what types of materials you need (scholarly, popular, primary, secondary):
- Recognizing Source Types (video: 6:30)
- Search library resources using Omni:
- Or try a specialized databases for articles (choose from resources below)
- Improve your search results
- Better Searching Using AND, OR, NOT (video: 4:04)
- Organize your information
- Start writing
NOTE: Research isn't linear; you can always "back up" a step, for example, to find more resources after you start writing.
Music resources
- See Music Subject Guide to find books, videos, scores, recordings
- See Music Therapy Subject Guide for related journals and research guides
Interdisciplinary resources
Community Music encompasses a wide range of disciplines. Depending on your area of research, you may want to consult resources for other disciplines:
- Business
- Canadian Studies
- Communication Studies
- Education
- Health Studies
- Indigenous Studies
- Law and Society
- Leadership
- Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy
- Kinesiology and Physical Education
Grant information
Use Grant Connect to discover funding opportunities. It includes management tools for tracking data.
Books: Primo catalogue
- search for your keyword(s) in the Primo catalogue
- from the results page, limit to "books" under "refine my results"
- to focus results, check for subjects under "refine my results" or under "details" for individual books
- where are the books?
- music books--ML and MT--are on the 4th floor of the Laurier Waterloo Library
- for other books, see floor plans
- use "requests" to have a book delivered from another location in Primo
Other book resources
- try ebook collections to search every word in the ebooks at Laurier
- use WorldCat to identify books beyond Primo
- item's not in Primo? Request from other libraries
- more resources, including public library catalogues
Start here:
International Journal of Community Music
- The major research journal for the discipline
- Search by keyword or browse to discover research areas
- Included in Community Music @ EBSCOhost
Finding a specific article
- Know the article you need? (for example, from a list of references):
- Search for the Journal Title
Finding articles by topic
- Search the resources on the Articles Tab in this subject guide
- Go to News Articles
Laurier Archives, located on the lower floor of the library building, collects materials in a number of areas relating to community music:
- sacred music and congregational song
- papers of artists and composers, including Maureen Forrester and Alfred Kunz
- local and national organization papers, including NUMUS, the KW Concert Association, and the Royal Canadian College of Organists