Music 150 - Introduction to Music Traditions:
The resources listed on the following page are all electronic databases. While "database" is a common word used today, many do not understand what a database is. Databases have three distinct charecteristscs which are:
It's important for the student to understand that databases and the internet are not the same thing. While you will access many of these tools through the internet, they are not physically available on the internet. They are tools developed and owned by organizations whom determine the searchabuility, the storage, and the contents of their database. It's important to differentiate between these tools and searching Google or Yahoo and finding information on Wikipedia.
As you conduct your research for your coursework for Music 150, take advantage of these databases to locate Journals, Magazine articles, Reference information or even Books, Scores, CDs and DVDs that support your writing.
Cunningham Memorial Library, Indiana State University collects Music Materials in a variety of Electronic formats
What you are looking for can make a difference in where you should look. Different types of sources offer different information. Electronic Books: Electronic Reference Databases and Reference E-books:
Books take about a year to be published. They will not include the latest studies and research. Textbooks and encyclopedias are good for basic information. Further editions of books demonstrate that a source has been updated to reflect new information and may be a standard source in the field. Cunningham Memorial Library is slowly adding E-Books to our collections. As you conduct searches in the library catalog, you may come across the occasional E-Book record.
Reference books, such as encyclopedias and dictionaries, collect accepted facts from the established literature. In health and science, they can be huge and may take years to put together. Therefore, they do not contain the most current information, although they may mention studies that were recent at the the time of publication. But they are a good one-stop-shop to start by learning the basics of a topic. Cunningham Memorial Library collects both E-books and databases in electronic format. Appropriate Art reference databases can be found under the Arts and Music Subject List from the Library's Electronic Resources Homepage.
Full Text Journals and Magazines:
The latest research is published in journals. It can be difficult to find basic information in journals. Nowadays, most journals have a web site that allows viewing of the table of contents and summaries of articles. The majority of Journals today are collected electronically however we continue to preserve our older journals in paper and mircoformats. Journals and Magazines can be searched electronically by individual title or you can search using the recommended databases. Some recommended Music Databases and Popular Databases are listed as links on this page.
Electronic Journals in Music are broken down into 9 subject areas:
