Music 520: Research in Music

Objective: To provide skills for graduate-level research in music, including (1) knowledge of and familiarity with library resources and finding aids, and knowledge and familiarity with online resources and the tools to access them, (2) critical thought, including the ability to assess the relative worth, importance, and reliability of scholarly sources, and (3) the ability to compile a working bibliography on a suitable topic, and (4) the art of presenting the fruits of advanced musical research in written and oral form.

Welcome to the Music Research Web. This document is intended as a convenient way to access information about our music research course, and to point the way to resources elsewhere.

Texts:

• Laurie J. Sampsel, Music Research: A Handbook, (New York: Oxford University Press), 2009. ISBN: 9780195171198
• Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 7th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007), required purchase. See also the online citation guide
• William Strunk, Jr., and E.B. White, The Elements of Style, 3d ed. (New York: Macmillan, 1979), strongly recommended. See also online version of first edition (1918).

Written assignments

• musical autobiography
• serials project, including oral presentation
• transcription/editing project
• article review with author bibliography
• final project: annotated bibliography with bibliographic essay and oral presentation

Sample writings

• A musical autobiography
• An article: John Wyeth and southern folk hymnody
• Another article, by Alexander Silbiger
• Reviews of books and recordings
• My Curriculum vitae

Online music journals

• Journal of 17th-Century Music
• Ethnomusicology Online
• Music Theory Online
• RootsWorld
• Other online music journals

Basic resources

• Music subject guides from UM library
• UM Online Library Resources in Music Includes WorldCat, RILM, etc.
• White Mensural Notation
• Online Music Scholarship Resources
• Evaluating Internet Sources
• Evaluating Web Sites: Criteria and Tools
• Comparing and Evaluating Web Information Sources
• Doctoral Dissertations in Musicology
• Doctoral Dissertations in Music Theory
• Writing about music
• ARTFL Project: Latin Vulgate Bible Search Form
• U.S. college and university web sites
• Google search
• Ask Web Search
• WorldCat public search of worldwide libraries
• Strunk, Elements of Style

Newsgroups, mailing lists, and forums

• Usenet archive (Google)
• Music FAQs
• Alt.music newsgroups
• Music and music education newsgroups and MENC forums!
• Google music groups by category
• Another list of music newsgroups, linked to Google groups!
• "Which classical newsgroup?" FAQ

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