Subject Guides: IHUM 250: Intro to Interdisciplinary Humanities (Music): Research Help

Online Encyclopedias

The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online is the first comprehensive online resource devoted to music research of all the world's peoples. More than 9,000 pages of material, combined with entries by more than 700 expert contributors from all over the
more...less...
This release includes 1,210 essays and images from 10 sources and hundreds of audio examples. Includes:

* Volume 1: Africa
* Volume 2: South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean
* Volume 3: The United States and Canada
* Volume 4: Southeast Asia
* Volume 5: South Asia: The Indian Subcontinent
* Volume 6: The Middle East
* Volume 7: East Asia: China, Japan, and Korea
* Volume 8: Europe
* Volume 9: Australia and the Pacific Islands
* Volume 10: The World's Music: General Perspectives and Reference Tools

African American Music Reference (ASP) This link opens in a new window African American Music Reference will contain 50,000 pages that offers the first comprehensive coverage of blues, jazz, spirituals, civil rights songs, slave songs, minstrelsy, rhythm and blues, gospel, and other forms of black American musical expression
Oxford History of Western Music This link opens in a new window The Oxford History of Western Music online offers an unmatched account of the evolution of Western classical music by one of the most prominent and provocative musicologists of our time, Richard Taruskin. The online version offers convenient access for anyone interested in Taruskin’s essential history of Western music, from first-time readers to long-time fans of the work, from students assigned chapters in a course to experienced scholars seeking a handy point of entry for their research. Readers can easily search across the entire work to pinpoint quotations or follow up references. They can jump across chapters through the browsable Table of Contents or through an editorially designed index. For users that also have access to Grove Music Online, Taruskin’s text is accompanied by editorially selected links to relevant articles in Grove.

Oxford Music Online (formerly Grove Music Online) Oxford Music Online is a new gateway that offers users the ability to access and cross-search the vast resources of Oxford's music reference in one location. Includes a completely redesigned Grove Music Online, with new content and functionality. Includes: * Grove Music Online * Encyclopedia of Popular Music * The Oxford Companion to Music * The Oxford Dictionary of Music

Oxford Reference Online - Performing Arts This link opens in a new window Oxford Reference Online brings together language and subject reference works from one of the world's biggest reference publishers into a single cross-searchable resource.
Classical Music Reference Library (ASP) This link opens in a new window Classical Music Reference Library brings together more than 30,000 pages of essential reference materials, spanning the entire history of Western classical music, in a unified online database.

Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Popular Musicians Since 1990 An A-Z biographical reference that focuses on individual artists and groups in all popular styles active from 1990 to the present, including those in rock, rhythm and blues, rap, country, electronica, jazz, vocal and classical. Features include select discographies, bibliographies, a glossary of musical terms, and other information. Also features appendix essays on various topics including the music industry, rap, and grunge.
St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture Includes more than 2,700 signed essays ranging from 500 to 2,500 words, written by subject experts and edited to form a consistent, readable, and straightforward reference. Entries include subject-specific bibliographies and, where appropriate, photographs and textual cross-references to related essays.

Oxford Language Dictionaries Online This link opens in a new window The innovative Oxford Language Dictionaries Online site offers essential language resources never before available online: fully searchable, completely comprehensive bilingual dictionaries, and unique study materials that provide extra help with learning and using an expanding range of languages. Languages: Chinese, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish.

Doing Music Research

1. Locate background information.

- use encyclopedia articles to find keywords (terminology, words for narrowing topic, important scholars) and citations to other materials.

2. Develop and narrow your topic; form an issue or research question.

3. Find research materials you may use in your paper.

- books, journal articles

4. Evaluate and select materials that you will use in your paper.

5. Write draft, cite sources, and write final paper.

- use an approved citation format, and consult style manuals as needed.

- begin writing early.

Reference Works

Why consult reference works?

topical summaries help you generate ideas
bibliographies point you to previous research

What about Wikipedia?

Wikipedia can be a great place to start, but may not be the best place to end!
Entries may not include a comprehensive list of sources, whereas reference works will provide this feature.

Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online includes newly-expanded advanced search, as well as access to accompanying audio. 10-volume print version also available.in the Music Reference Collection.
Call Number: ML 100 .G16 1998 (Reference Collection)
The World's Music: General Perspectives and Reference Tools by Ruth M. Stone, editor Volume 10 in the Garland Encyclopedia of World Music series. Compiles information from previous volumes.
Call Number: ML 100 .G16 1998 vol.10 (Reference Collection)
Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World This series includes: Media & Industry, Performance & Production, Locations, Genres, and International Biographies.
Call Number: ML 102 .P66 S53 2003 (Reference Collection)
Excursions in World Music by Nettl, Capwell, Bohlman, Wong, and Turino An accessible world music textbook written by prominent scholars in the field, it exposes students to many musical cultures around the globe. Students are introduced to key musical styles, musical instruments, and performance practices. How to actively listen is demonstrated using musical examples and detailed listening guides. The role of music in society is emphasized through chapters that focus on key world cultural groups.
Call Number: ML 3798 .E92 2001 (Music Library stacks)
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians by Stanley Sadie (Editor) Now appearing in print and online simultaneously, this expanded second edition of the most substantial, comprehensive music encyclopedia in English deserves applause for including greater coverage of world and popular music, nearly 2000 more articles on 20th-century composers, and more than 29,000 entries.
ISBN: 0333608003
Publication Date: 2001-01-02