As with any research project, the first step is generally to select your topic. Reference materials (encyclopedias, dictionaries, bibliographies, etc. . .) can be a great way to get started. These resources offer overviews of thousands of topics and will help you launch into your search for the scholarly resources that you will need to use to support your research. On this page you will find some selections to get you started.
When brainstorming, it can also be helpful to browse popular, non-scholarly resources in order to understand the status of general discourse on your topic and explore diverse viewpoints while developing thesis statement that can be supported with scholarly resources.
For more information on planning your research, visit the Writing Center, where professional and accomplished writing consultants will guide you through your writing project.
Running a basic search in Grove Music Online/Oxford Music Online is similar to searching in Wikipedia. You can use general keywords and phrases in your search and Grove Music Online/Oxford Music Online will return results that include some or all of your keywords.
For a list of abbreviations used within Grove Music Online, visit the "Tools and Resources" section that is linked at the top of any page and then select "Abbreviations and Library Sigla". This page provides detailed information on the abbreviations used for general terms, periodical titles, standard reference books and series, libraries and institutions, and instrument collections.
Clicking the "Advanced Search" button to the right of the search box opens up a search results page that includes all items in the collection. From this starting point, you can use the filtering tools on the left side of the results list which has been renamed from "Modify your search" to "Advanced search" for this mode.
Use the provided filtering options included in the "Advanced search" menu on the left-side margin to narrow down the results list form the full catalog.
In related Oxford databases, such as Oxford Reference Premium, item availability is indicated to the right of the result with a green open lock , the word Free in a green oval
, or a red closed lock
. NSU provides full access to the entire Grove Music Online / Oxford Music Online platform and you should only see the green open lock
on records in this database.
For a list of abbreviations used within Grove Music Online, visit the "Tools and Resources" section that is linked at the top of any page and then select "Abbreviations and Library Sigla". This page provides detailed information on the abbreviations used for general terms, periodical titles, standard reference books and series, libraries and institutions, and instrument collections.
Grove Music Online/Oxford Music Online has a robust collection of additional resources compiled by Grove Music Online editors that can help with discovery and understanding the materials on the platform. To access this area, click the "Tools and Resources" link at the top of any page and then select "Subject Guides and Research Resources".
Grove Music Online / Oxford Music Online includes two help resources: a general help page for using the database platform and a specific Grove Music Online User's Manual that provides specific details on the structure of Grove Music Online and its content.
A comprehensive bibliography of writings about music featuring citations, abstracts, and indexes. It covers over one million publications from the early 19th century to the present on traditional music, popular music, classical music, and related subjects, enhanced with the full text of more than 200 periodicals.
RILM Abstracts of Music Literature with Full Text is part of the EBSCOhost platform. By default this platform will open on the Advanced Search screen. You can enter general keywords and phrases in the top search box or switch to Basic Search by clicking the "Basic Search" link below the search boxes. Either way, MLA International Bibliography with Full Text will return results across its full collection that include some or all of your keywords.
Many of the EBSCOhost databases available at Norfolk State University search huge volumes of resources and using the Advanced Search to narrow your results is often advised. See the Advanced Search tab of this block for more information.
The "Advanced Search" option is the default and preferred method of using the EBSCOhost platform search.
Use the provided Advanced Search boxes to build your search and refine it by assigning values to the "Select a field" dropdown menu at the end of each search box.
Below the search boxes, there are a variety of Search options that can be used to narrow results by language, publication date, and many more.
RILM Abstracts of Music Literature with Full Text includes many items in languages other than English and many abstract only results that will not provide full text. If you would like to limit your results to full text documents in English, it can be helpful to use the Search Options checkboxes on the Advanced Search screen. This section is also where you will find the "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals" checkbox to limit your results to only scholarly resources.
For detailed explanations of every field in the Advanced Search feature, review the instructions in the user manual that can be accessed from the "Help" link in the upper-right corner of any page.
RILM Abstracts of Music Literature with Full Text and other EBSCOhost databases offer several specific filtering and time-saving features.
EBSCOhost offers a full user manual that can be accessed through the "Help" button in the upper right corner of any page. Additionally, anywhere that you see a "?" symbol at the end of a line, you can click that button for support on that specific topic.
On the search results page, Oxford Reference Premium offers a series of post-search filtering options on the left side of the page under the heading "Narrow Your Choices":
By default, Oxford Reference Premium shows all content in the results, which includes articles that are not available in full-text. Item availability is indicated to the right of the result with a green open lock , the word Free in a green oval
, or a red closed lock
.
To limit the results list to items that are available in full-text, check the "Unlocked" and "Free" boxes under the heading "By Availability" in the left side menu and click submit:
Credo Reference provides full-text online access to hundreds of multidisciplinary reference book collections, including art, history, law, medicine, psychology, technology, bilingual dictionaries, and encyclopedias through a one-stop search platform. Search results often include articles from a wide array of publications and frequently present subject coverage from multiple perspectives. Using Credo Reference to approach a topic from different viewpoints can be a great way to expand your familiarity with the topic and it can help you develop new arguments and observations for your research.
Clicking the "Advanced Search" button below the search box opens up additional options to control what kinds of results your search returns.
Use the provided Advanced Search boxes to refine your search based on the prompts.
In addition, the Advanced Search box includes drop-down menus that will allow you to limit Subjects, Titles, Publication Dates, and Features by checking the appropriate box.
Credo Reference supplies a visual related topics map that can be a great way to explore your topic and see connections that can further your research. Click the links in the map to jump to articles on that topic and generate a new visual topic map.
Click the Hugo Award and a new series of search results will load:
Credo Reference is equipped with a Research Quick Tips tool for help with research, searching, and topic selection to help you make the most of the database. To access the Research Quick Tips area, click on the three-lined "hamburger" menu in the upper-left corner of the screen and choose "Research Quick Tips":
The Research Quick Tips menu has several helpful guides:
Source: https://musicmap.info/