LibGuides: Music: Finding Articles

Databases are great sources for finding information for your research paper. In databases, you will find peer-reviewed or scholarly articles, news articles, videos, and more for your research. Databases pull their information from a variety of Journals and other sources and compile it so that it is more easily found by the researcher. It is important to note that not any one database contains all the information a researcher needs, so be sure to check across several databases when searching for information.

What are the differences between articles, journals, and databases?

An Electronic Journal (or E-journal) is a traditional journal that is in an electronic format; either because it was originally created that way, or because someone took a print journal article and scanned it to make it available electronically.

A Database is what is created when a large number of electronic journals are put in one place and a search interface (usually a search box) is added to help find what you need. Both databases and electronic journals can be subject specific. When you have a database that only has the title or abstract, but not the full text, it is usually referred to as an Index.

Databases

Below is a list of a variety of databases. These databases, while some are not specific to music, may be of some use to those searching for information because they will contain information on music. Please note that this is not a comprehensive list of databases but rather a starting point for your research.

Humanities Source This link opens in a new window
Provides articles on subject areas that include music, dance, performing arts and many others. The full text of articles is available in this database beginning with January 1995.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
This database gives access to full text articles from many scholarly journals in the area of music. It can be searched by using keywords in a Basic Search screen or by using other options (e.g. article title) in the Advanced Search screen. It can also be searched by selecting the Browse option and viewing subject or title lists of journals and their contents.
Music & Performing Arts This link opens in a new window
Music & Performing Arts combines audio and video that spans all time periods, hundreds of thousands of seminal artists, composers, choreographers, and ensembles to provide an unparalleled learning environment for the teaching of music.
Music Online: African American Music Reference This link opens in a new window
Contains biographies, chronologies, sheet music, images, lyrics and other reference materials about the diverse history and culture of the African American experience through music. Information can be located by using a Quick Search or Advanced Search or by browsing lists of works, people, etc.
Music Online: Classical Music Library This link opens in a new window
Provides access to audio selections of classical music recordings and supplementary reference information. Classical recordings can be located by browsing alphabetical lists of composers, artists, genres, and more or by browsing lists of categories, such as orchestral works.
Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new window
This authoritative full text online resource covers all aspects of music and is comprised of The Oxford Dictionary of Music, Grove Music Online, and The Oxford Companion to Music. This is an excellent starting point for all music research.

Locating Full-Text Articles

Select Find it @ FAU if the article you are looking for does not appear as full text in the database.

Video Tutorial

Below is a quick video tutorial on how to find a database and how to search within them. If you need additional help, please feel free to reach out to your liaison librarian.

Last updated on Sep 10, 2024 3:14 PM