- St. Olaf Libraries
- Research Guides
- Music 345: Music & Value, Popularity & Taste
- Resources for Secondary Sources
Music 345: Music & Value, Popularity & Taste
Karen Olson
LibKey Nomad
Research and Instruction Librarian for Music & Fine Arts
Music Databases
The music-specific databases are mostly good for secondary sources -- but some of them have articles dating back to the 19th century that could be used as primary sources.
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Music Index This link opens in a new windowMagazine and journal articles, book reviews, performance reviews, news items, obituaries, and other materials on classical and popular music, musicians, and the music industry. Covers materials published 1970-present. Also available in print.
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Music Periodicals Database This link opens in a new windowFull-text articles from scholarly and popular journals and magazines on music. Covers materials published 1874-present.
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Performing Arts Periodicals Database This link opens in a new windowFull-text articles from scholarly and popular journals and magazines on the performing arts. Covers materials published 1864-present.
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RILM Abstracts of Music Literature This link opens in a new windowRILM Abstracts of Music Literature, a bibliography of music articles, collections, and books, offers researchers and music scholars thousands of records in music research. Records are added and updated on a monthly basis.
General Databases
These databases cover a wide range of subjects and topics, so they are good to use if you are just starting out or if you are looking for interdisciplinary material to provide broad context.
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Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new windowArticles on virtually every topic, drawn from scholarly journals, professional journals, trade magazines, news publications, and lifestyle magazines. Provides full-text access to over half of its 8000+ publications. Covers materials published 1975-present.
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America: History & Life This link opens in a new windowScholarly journal articles, magazine articles, books, and dissertations on US and Canadian history and culture from prehistory to the contemporary period. Provides some full text. Covers materials published 1964-present.
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JSTOR This link opens in a new windowFull-text scholarly journals articles in many disciplines. Dates of coverage vary by title, typically from the journal's first issue (sometimes in the eighteenth century or earlier) through about five years ago.
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Readers' Guide Retrospective: 1890-1982 This link opens in a new windowMagazine articles published in the US, 1890-1982.
Looking For More Help?
One of my FAVORITE ways to find new sources is to see what other librarians have put into their research guides!
Most academic libraries (including St. Olaf) use a system call LibGuides for their course guides (like this one!)
You can use your web browser to search for a general topic, plus the word "LibGuide" to see if any librarian has made a public-facing guide on the topic, like this:
