Finding Books
MnPALS is our library catalog. Use it to search for books, videos, and other materials by author, title, or topic. You can also search other libraries by selecting them from the drop-down list on the upper right.
Our library uses the Library of Congress shelving system. Books are shelved on the upper level and the main floor. You'll find the music section upstairs.
MnLINK is a statewide system. It includes some academic libraries that are not in MnPALS. It works best for known titles or for very specific topics. Use the "get it" button to request a book through interlibrary loan.
WorldCat is a huge, worldwide catalog with over 60 million books and other items. Some of the items you find in this catalog may be unavailable through interlibrary loan or may take longer to arrive than those found in regional libraries.
Reference Books
If you want quick, authoritative background on a topic, try a specialized encyclopedia. They not only offer good overviews, they generally will point you to additional high-quality sources.
Why not use Wikipedia? Though popular and convenient, Wikipedia articles are written by whoever cares to contribute and articles change as others weigh in. It's not a source you'd want to cite in your research - check out Using Wikipedia.
New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 2nd ed. 29 vols. New York: Grove, 2001. (Ref ML100 .N48 2001) The most definitive source on music and music history. The articles in these volumes are carefully researched and documented and provide information on national music traditions, musical forms, composers and musicians, instruments, and more. There are several more specialized Grove encyclopedias--the New Grove Dictionary of Jazz (Ref ML 102 .J3 1988), the New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments (Ref ML 102 .I5 N48 1984), and the New Grove Dictionary of Opera (Ref ML 101 .O6 .N5 1992). This encyclopedia is also available online.
New Oxford History of Music. 11 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1957-1990. (Ref ML 160 .N44) An excellent chronological exploration of all aspects of music. Each volume covers a different musical period. Some have been published in newer editions. The final volume includes chronologies, bibliographies, and an index to the set.
Taruskin, Richard. The Oxford History of Western Music. 6 vols. New York: Oxford UP, 2005. (Ref ML 160 .T18 2005) Attempts to cover not only the history of music as a survey of repertoires and changing tastes, but to explore "why and how things happened as they did." Volume 6 offers a chronology, a bibliography of books in English, and a list of musical examples cited in the set.
. . . in related disciplines
Encyclopedia of Religion. 2nd ed. 15 vols. Detroit: Macmillan, 2005. (Ref BL 31 .E46 2005) Covers religions from around the world and through history as well as people and ideas related to religion. The articles are written by experts in their fields and include excellent bibliographies. This new edition includes hundreds of new articles, thoroughly revised coverage of all topics in religion, and a handful of "visual essays" that illustrate visual culture as a significant aspect of religion.
New Catholic Encyclopedia. 15 vols. Detroit: Gale, 2002. (Ref BX 841 .N44 1967) This recently-revised encyclopedia is dated and covers many general topics, but is particularly thorough in its coverage of Catholic doctrine, history, and traditional practice. Includes many illustrations.
Encyclopedia of European Social History from 1350 to 2000. 6 vols. New York: Scribner, 2001 (Ref HN373 .E63 2001) Offers substantial, well-documented survey essays on topics such as social change, urban and rural life, gender, popular culture, religion, and everyday life.
Dictionary of the Middle Ages. 13 vols. New York: Scribner's, 1982-89. (Ref D 114 .D5 1982) A scholarly, readable, and beautifully laid-out encyclopedia covering people, events, ideas, movements, texts, and cultural features of the medieval world. Articles are often illustrated with period art work and are followed by bibliographies of primary and secondary sources.
Encyclopedia of the Renaissance. 6 vols. New York: Scribner's, 1999 (Ref CB 361 .E52 1999) Covers nearly 1,200 cultural and historical topics relating to Europe from 1350 to the early seventeenth century.
Encyclopedia of the Englightenment. 4 vols. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. (Ref B 802 .E53 2002) Covers ideas, figures, historical events, and culture in Europe from the 1670s to the early nineteenth century.
Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation. 4 vols. New York: Oxford, 1996. (Ref BR 302.8 .O93 1996) Covers people, places, events, documents, and ideas relevant to the Reformation in lengthy, scholarly articles. Each reflects current research and interpretation and is followed by a selective bibliography.
Finding Articles
Scholarly vs. Popular (vs. Trade)
RILM - Includes summaries of articles, books, dissertations and other materials in the field of music. Invaluable for music research. Because the materials are in many languages, it may be valuable to limit a search to English language sources.
Music Index - an electronic subject and author index to around 640 music periodicals. International in scope, it covers both musicology and performance journals.
In addition to RILM, we have databases for a wide variety of subjects that will provide references to articles and sometimes books; once you do a search, check to see what's available in our library by clicking on the yellow "find it" button.
Citing Your Sources
Documentation Guide - Includes models for APA, MLA, and Chicago styles.
Using RefWorks to compile and format your citations
You might notice that in RILM there's an option to export your references to RefWorks. This is a citation management program you can use to store and reformat references in any of a variety of styles.
First, you need to set up a personal account from a computer on the campus network.
Later, log in and use the system to input references by hand, sort out your references into folders, add notes if you want, and then export in whatever citation format you prefer.
- To send references to your RefWorks account from RILM, mark the references you want to save, then click on "save to RefWorks."
- To send references from other databases or from the MnPALS catalog, look for an option to export to a citation management program.
- You can then move them from the "last imported" file into a folder of your choosing. Or you can choose items you want to format for a bibliography and put them in "my list" temporarily.
To print out references -
- click on "bibliography" and choose a citation style.
- choose a folder or "my list"
- choose whether to create a text, html, or Word document, then cut and paste into your paper.
- "write 'n cite" is a plug-in program for use with Word - not necessary, but an option.
- NOTE: When you import from different databases, you'll need to do some editing. Edit your final works cited list to make sure the entries are all complete and consistent.
last updated 9/06
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