Music 245: Music and Social Justice
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Research and Instruction Librarian for Music & Fine Arts
Tracing a Song
Here are some tips for completing your project to trace the history of a song!
Tip #1: Search by Composer/Songwriter, Not Title
It may be easier to find information about song by searching for its composer or songwriter. If you find a good biography of that person, you can use the index to find where that song is discussed.
If it is an e-resource, you can also look for a "search within" search box. If you have downloaded a PDF, try a ctrl+f/cmd+f search on the song's title.
The entry for "This Land Is Your Land" in Ronald D. Cohen's Woody Guthrie: Writing America's Songs.
Tip #2: Use Liner Notes
Liner notes can be an excellent source of information about a song on a recording.
Tip #3: Use Music Research Databases
Doing your research in Catalyst is perfectly possible! But if you would like to target music research in particular, try these music research databases.
- RILM Abstracts of Music Literature This link opens in a new windowKaren's favorite music research database, because it covers both music books and music journals.
- Music Index This link opens in a new windowGood coverage of music magazines and journals; can be better for popular music than RILM or Music Periodicals Database. Only goes back to 1970.
- Music Periodicals Database This link opens in a new windowFull-text articles from scholarly and popular journals and magazines on music.
- African American Music Reference This link opens in a new windowCovers the blues, jazz, spirituals, civil rights songs, slave songs, minstrelsy, rhythm and blues, gospel, and other genres. Includes biographies, lyrics, sheet music, and liner notes.
Tip #4: Evaluate Online Sources Before Using Them
Sometimes your research topic is so new or so specific, it is hard to find scholarly sources for it. For example, if you're researching a film or song that came out last year, there hasn't been enough time to publish a fully peer-reviewed paper on that topic.
In that instance, you may find yourself relying on other kinds of sources: blogs, non-scholarly magazine articles, and so on. When you use these materials, you want to ask yourself: How credible is this source?
Even if the resource hasn't been peer-reviewed, you can look for clues to tell you if the information is reliable. The categories in the ACCORD method help you determine if a source is reliable for your project.
Alt-Text for ACCORD Method Inforgraphic
Evaluate with ACCORD
Agenda
Why was it created?
- to inform?
- to express an opinion?
- to sell something?
Credentials
Who created it?
- a subject expert?
- a professional writer?
- an enthusiast?
Citations
Can you follow the research?
Look for citations, bibliographies, and functional hyperlinks.
Oversight
Who published it?
Academic presses, professional organizations, and reputable news outlets employ peer reviewers and fact-checkers.
Relevance
Is it suitable?
- how does it relate to your project?
- is it written for an appropriate age group?
Date
When was it created?
- can you easily find the creation date?
- is there likely to be more recent research?
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