World Music
REFERENCE SOURCES
- The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music (ref ML 100 .G16 1998 v. 1-10)
- The best place to start research on the music of a country or people. Each volume is devoted to a different continent or region of the world.
- The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (ref ML 100 N48)
- The comprehensive, authoritative music encyclopedia. Extensive articles about music in countries and cultures, with illustrations and bibliographies.
- The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments (ref ML 102 I5 N48 1984)
- Another authoritative source, with illustrations and information about musical instruments from around the world. Articles have bibliographies.
BOOKS - VIDEOS - AUDIO RECORDINGS
Start with our library catalog. A FAST SEARCH using KEYWORD ANYWHERE will find all these formats. To find videos or CDs only, go to BASIC SEARCH and limit to the format you want before searching. See the handouts for the Audio Recordings Collection or the Video & DVD Collection for more help. Be sure to ask at the Reference desk for personalized assistance with your research.
Some tips for keywords:
- Use different forms, for example Irish, Ireland or France, French
- Use tribal names, if relevant
- Use truncation, for example:
- Africa? to find Africa or African
- Bali? to find Bali or Balinese
- Start with the most specific geographic designation you can, but try more general ones if you don't find anything. Here are some examples of geographic designations used in our catalog:
- Countries: Bali; Ghana; Greece; Mali; Nigeria; Peru; Tibet
- Regions: West Africa; Central America; Latin America
- Continents: Africa; Asia; North America
If our library doesn't have what you need, use the catalogs below to find items to request on interlibrary loan. Books will arrive in a week or two. We may or may not be able to get audio or video recordings.
- Pharos is the combined catalog for all the libraries in the CSU system.
- California State University Libraries has links to each of the CSU library catalogs.
- Melvyl is the combined catalog for all the libraries in the UC system.
- WorldCat (HSU users only) is the combined catalog for thousands of libraries worldwide.
ARTICLES IN JOURNALS
Start with the bibliographies of encyclopedia articles or books on your subject. Use the Journal and Newspaper Finder to see if the Library has these articles. Search by the title of the journal you want--not the article--and check that we have the date you need.
To find more articles, search the databases below. Some include the fulltext of articles. If the fulltext isn't included, check the Periodicals List to see if our Library has the article, either in print or fulltext. Remember to search in the Journal and Newspaper Finder by the name of the journal you want, and check for the date you need. If we do not have the article, you may request it on interlibrary loan. It will usually be here in one week to ten days.
- Academic Search includes articles, many with fulltext, published from 1984 to the present.
- Anthropological Literature includes articles published from the late 19th Century to the present.
- Dissertation Abstracts lists dissertations and master's theses. The bibliographies of these are especially helpful. You will probably have to request the items you find here on interlibrary loan.
- Essay and General Literature Index lists chapters in edited books published from 1900 to the present. Use our catalog to see if we have the books indexed here, or request the chapters you want on interlibrary loan.
- Music Index indexes articles published from 1979 to the present. Older articles, from 1949-1999, can be found in the print version. Its call number is abstr ML 118 M84.
- OmniFile Full Text Mega includes articles from 1982 to the present, many with fulltext. For articles before 1982, use these print indexes: Humanities Index or Social Sciences Index, from 1974 to the present (1907-1974 under other titles), located at Index table 2, or Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, from 1890-2001, located at Index Table 1.
For more information about researching music topics, please check the Music Research Guide.