Music Research

When searching, keep in mind that "music" in a library context might mean

• the actual sounding and performance of musical creations
• the printed notation of musical notes or instructions for performers
• information about music, musicians, and performances

There may also be contexts in various times and places in which the term for one of the above is something other than "music." This can make searching for things in the library and online a bit of an adventure! It helps to be willing to flexible, and to think both about the "big picture" as well as the details. 

This library organizes its physical materials in line with the classification system of the Library of Congress. 

• M = Music and Books on Music.
• This is inclusive of subcategories ranging through ML ( Literature on Music) and MT (Music Instruction and Study).

This call number system is applied across a few collections and locations: 

• The library's general collection, found in the largest shelves in the Garden Level basement. This shelving may also be called the "library stacks" or just "stacks."
• The library's juvenile and audiovisual collections, both located on the second floor.
• The library's Graphic Novel and Popular Reading collections, located on the first or ground floor. 

The Search@UW Library Catalog allows users to search materials available through the Jim Dan Hill Library. This includes physical materials held on site, many of our digital subscriptions, and items we can obtain from other Universities of Wisconsin through resource sharing. 

• You can search "everything" in the UW system, or you can use that drop down to narrow to various collections (including those only on our campus).
• You can also use the dropdown under the search bar (opened here) to specify what in the record you want to search.

The catalog can search for your words in association with the following: 

• ANYWHERE IN THE RECORD is a kind of keyword search. You can try: 
  • name
  • era
  • style
  • art form
  • genre
  • ensemble
  • instrument/instrumentation
  • You may also add (with AND) terms such as "collection" or "anthology" 
  • You may also have some luck with publisher names
• TITLE (name of the actual resource as published) 
• AUTHOR (or composer; in some recordings this may be the performer)
• SUBJECT (or what is is generally about or how it might be categorized [e.g. music -- history and criticism; popular music; etc.]) 
  • For suggestions for specific performance practice and repertoire subject terms, you may wish to see the search help suggestions in the Applied Music guide

A recommendation: begin broadly, then narrow. For instance:

• Begin by limiting to UW Superior books & media (not journals or all of UW);
• After you get results, on the left navigation narrow to “Garden Level, Books” to weed out the DVDs or sound recording
• And note you will sometimes see the option to limit by “Resource Type" (e.g. "books"; "scores"; and so on) 

If you are looking for a biography of an individual performer or composer, a keyword search in the Search@UW Library Catalog of that individual's name should be a good starting point. 

For more complex searches, depending on the attention that has been paid to your topic, you may need to think broadly.  

• Are you investigating the reception of the performance of a work by a well-documented composer?
  • You may want to include attention to biographies, memoirs, journal articles, and primary source reviews or recollections.
  • Consider, too, the era of focus (are you thinking about a historical premiere or a contemporary setting, for example?).  
• For a lesser-documented composer or performance:
  • Information may be less obviously placed within other discussions such as of musical style, performance venue, instrumentation, genre, period, country, or region. 
  • Encyclopedia entires, liner notes, and concert programs may be of benefit.
  • Publisher catalogs and various databases, such as some of those listed with finding underrepresented and emergent composers in the Applied Music Guide, may be of use, too. 

Physical Encyclopedia and Reference Materials

To locate physical encyclopedias and reference resources in the Search@UW Library Catalog: 

• Search the Catalog (Search @UW) for "Encyclopedia AND Music" [Or [[subject or area focus]] AND Music]
• Limit your search from "everything" to "books and media at UW Superior" 
• If there are too many results: consider using the features at the left (or look for the "filter" image icon on mobile) to limit the results to "books" 
• Add any additional limiters (such as by topic, genre, or creation date) that you would like