Music Research: A Handbook

Music Research: A Handbook introduces music students to the major print and electronic research tools available to them. Ideal for graduate-level music bibliography and research courses, it can also be used in any undergraduate or graduate music course that requires students to engage in library research or to write a research paper. Concise and practical, this unique handbook does not aim to provide an exhaustive introduction to the subject; rather, it is highly selective and guides students to the most significant English-language research tools and resources, reference titles in major areas, and the principal sources in French, German, Italian, and Spanish. The book's first section (Chapters 1-14) is organized by type of research tool–for example, encyclopedias, periodical indexes, and discographies. Each chapter in this section includes an overview of the tool it covers; an annotated bibliography that describes the tool's purpose, scope, strengths, and weaknesses; and an evaluation checklist that encourages students to think critically about the tools and materials they discover as they do research. The second section (Chapters 15-16) discusses style manuals and various resources for writing about music and citing sources. Methods for evaluating reference and research tools are emphasized throughout the book.
Music Research: A Handbook is supplemented by a companion website, www.oup.com/us/musresearch, which includes supplemental links, updates to available bibliographies and readings by chapter, research tools listed by composer, and lists of core music journals and major professional music associations.