Research Guide

Music & Fine Arts

Use the Master’s College Library Web site:  http://www.masters.edu/library for access to the library’s online catalog to identify all of the resources in the library or to find those available electronically through its many online databases.  The library’s Web site also provides information on how to do research, library services, hours, personnel, links to other libraries’ catalogs and links to other useful Internet Resources.

Dewey Decimal Classification (used by TMC): 

The TMC library’s collection is arranged according to the Dewey Decimal Classification System (DDC) with a few exceptions.  An outline of the whole DDC can be found at Summaries: DDC.  The following are the more common Dewey numbers used in the field of Music & Fine Arts:
Church Music = 264.2

Landscaping = 710

Architecture = 720

Sculpture = 730

Drawing = 740

Paintings = 750

Graphic Arts = 760

Photography = 770

Music = 780

Performing Arts = 790

Library of Congress Classification (used by TMS):

The Master’s Seminary Library and many other libraries around the world use the Library of Congress Classification System (LC).  For an outline of the entire LC System go to the Library of Congress Classification Outline.  The following are the more common LC numbers used in the field of Music & Fine Arts:

Music = M; Hymnology = BV; Fine Arts = N

Library Catalog

Reference Resources

The reference collection is one of the first places to start doing research because the resources there will provide background information on the topic, a ready made outline, expert authors in the field and contextual parameters of a topic. To find appropriate reference books go to the library catalog Advanced Search screen and set the Location: to Reference then search your terms using the appropriate Boolean options of “any of these” “all of these” or “as a phrase” and either “Keyword anywhere” or “Subject” fields.

Subject Specific Encyclopedias: Conduct a search as described above and use the search query music?; and select the Subject field.  Truncating “music” with the use of the question mark will retrieve “music”, “musical” and "musician" as well as any other variation on the root word.
 

Main Books

To find materials in the main collection use the same search strategy used to find reference books but without setting the Location to Reference.  For example type in the appropriate search term(s) in the “Search for:” free text field, select the most suitable Boolean operation (“any of these”, “all of these”, as a phrase”) and then select an applicable field from the “Search in:” drop down menu.

Research TIP:  Use Sources to Find Other Sources -- when relevant records are identified search the Call Numbers and Subject Headings found with those records to identify additional related resources.  Also, scroll through the hit list and identify the most commonly used Dewey Classification numbers and then browse the shelves in those areas.

Biographical Information

Search the “Library Catalog” using either the “Basic Search”, “Advanced Search” or Subject tab using the last name of the musician or artist in the “Subject” field.  Use "first name" last name" as a phrase in Keyword but only if the Subject search fails.

Audio – Video Resources

To retrieve records reflecting the library’s holdings in a specific format such as video, DVD, CD or audio cassette from the Library Catalog use the “Advanced Search” screen then from the “Location” option select the desired format.  Search for a broad topic or specific keyword as appropriate for the research need.

Finding Periodicals

Magazines, Journals, Newspapers

For all periodical titles available through the TMC Powell library go to library Web site and select Periodical Holdings from the menu on the left.  From this page you can find periodicals by title or by subject.  There are also links to the online indexes that provide full-text articles. The periodical holdings list indicates which periodical titles are held by the library as well as inclusive dates and format availability (e.g. microform, print, electronic).

For a list of all of the TMC subscribed periodicals related to the Fine Arts (whether print or electronic) use the "select a subject category" drop down menu, select "Arts, Architecture and Applied Arts" [search] then select one of its subheadings.  For Music select "Music, Dance, Drama and Film"

Research TIP:  The Periodical Holdings List is especially useful when you have a citation and need to know whether or not the library has the journal containing the desired article.  Simply search for the journal title found in the citation.  If the journal is available in print or online, it will be listed along with holdings information indicating which volumes are available.

Periodical Indexes

Periodical Indexes are used to identify the location of articles contained in magazines, journals and newspapers.  These indexes provide citations to the articles (author, title of the article, journal name, volume, issue, date, and page numbers).  Some indexes also provide abstracts (includes a summary of the article) and many online indexes provide the full-text (FT) of the article (e.g. the complete text of the article).

To access the indexes available to the TMC community go to library Web site and select Databases/Indexes.  Use the various search options to identify all available print and electronic indexes by either title or main topic and type.

All of the available online indexing tools have the added benefit of the Check for Full Text service.  When the online index being searched does not have the full text of a needed article, Check for Full Text provides a link directly to the article, if it is full text in another index.  It may be that the article is not full text in any of the online indexes TMC provides, but it is available in print in the library itself.  Check for Full Text will also connect to the library catalog showing the holdings information for the print journal containing the article.  And in the event the article is not available at all through the TMC library (either in print or full text online), Check for Full Text provides a link to our interlibrary loan service.

Of particular interest are:
Academic Search (EBSCO)
Arts & Humanities Citation Index (FirstSearch)
ATLA Religion (FirstSearch)
ERIC (EBSCO)
ProQuest Research Library
Wilson Select (FirstSearch)

Online Databases/Indexes

The Databases/Indexes page includes all periodical indexes as well as other subscription based electronic research tools. To access all of these online research tools use the Databases/Indexes menu option found on the library Web site.

Online Reference resources of particular interest are:

-Naxos Music Library - streaming audio service of classical, new age and world music.

-Biography Resource Center
-Encyclopaedia Britannica Online
-Credo Reference
-Gale Virtual Reference
-Oxford Reference Onine
-WorldCat (FirstSearch)

Web Links

Go to the library Web site and select Web Resources from the menu on the left.  Select the appropriate subject related to the field of interest.  All Web sites posted have been evaluated and recommended by subject specialists.  Many of the library's databases also provide links to scholarly Web sites.  Using these will save you from the need to evaluate for yourself their reputability.

There are a number of Subject Directories and Portals that have links to Web sites searchable by subject.  These Web sites have been selected, evaluated and abstracted by librarians, scholars and subject specialist.  It is strongly recommended that you use these to locate focused scholarly Web sites instead of just broadly searching the public Internet.  You will find these on the library’s Web Resources page as well.

INFOMINE http://infomine.ucr.edu/ Scholarly Internet Resource Collections - University-level virtual library of Internet resources built by librarians and relevant to faculty, students, and research staff.

The Digital Librarian http://www.digital-librarian.com/

An annotated Internet directory providing hand selected links maintained by a librarian.

The Internet Public Library http://www.ipl.org/

An annotated collection of high quality Internet resources, selected by IPL staff for their usefulness in providing accurate, factual information on a particular topic.

BUBL Link http://bubl.ac.uk/

Selected Internet resources covering all academic subject areas. All items are selected, evaluated, described and catalogued in the Dewey Decimal Classification System.

Librarians’ Internet Index http://www.lii.org/

Reliable, librarian-selected Internet sources. LII is a searchable, annotated subject directory of Internet resources selected and evaluated by librarians for their usefulness to users of public libraries.

Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com) is more of a search engine than a subject directory yet it provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature.  From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources for peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles.  Scholarly resources are culled from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations.

The Scout Report at http://scout.wisc.edu/
For a more exhaustive listing of Web sites reviewed and annotated by scholars and specialists in the field. 

·       Basic Steps in Library Research – six simple steps explaining the research process

·       From Cite to Hand - Books – how to actually obtain books and other materials whether or not the library owns them

·       From Cite to Hand - Articles – how to actually obtain magazine and journal articles whether or not the library owns them

·       Finding Articles in Two, sometime Three, OK maybe Four Easy Steps

·       Identifying Scholarly Books – clues for distinguishing scholarly books and journals

·       Identifying Scholarly Periodicals- clues for distinguishing between magazines, journals and peer reviewed journals

·       Evaluating Resources – easy way to help evaluate the usefulness of research resource both paper and electronic

·       Research Worksheet – designed to make research simpler by working step by step through the research process

·       Copyright for Higher Education– help in understanding the copyright law as it pertains to faculty and students
 

© Janet Tillman/The Master’s College, 2004-2009, permission is granted for non-profit educational use; any reproduction or modification should include this statement.

Last updated August, 2009.