Music: Stage 6 Research Guide
Music Research Resources
State Library of NSW Database Resources for Stage 6 Music Students
The SHHS Library webpage Databases describes why you should use databases to search for information resources, and why at times general internet searches are best; this page also has a video demonstration of how to navigate the State Library of NSW (SLNSW) webpage, how to choose the most relevant databases for your purpose, and how to use database services.
While the State Library of NSW provides access to over 700 databases, they have provided a list of the databases most helpful for the field of Music research:
Click here for Music, Film and Performing Arts specific databases.
Click here for the full range of databases grouped by subjects.
From the State Library of NSW list of 25 databases for Music, Film and Performing Arts, I would narrow that down further and suggest that you start with these:
JSTOR is an interdisciplinary digital archive of scholarly material in the social sciences and humanities and the sciences. It includes the full text of non-current issues from over 1,000 leading academic journals as well as select monographs and other materials.
Oxford Music Online contains; The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, The Oxford Dictionary of Music, Grove Music Online and The Oxford Companion to Music with articles on composers, performers, conductors, individual works, instruments and notation, forms and genres, as well as biographical encyclopedia of rock, pop, and jazz artists etc from 1900 to the present.
"Built upon a proud 22-year heritage, ArtsHub is Australia's leading independent online resource dedicated to the world of the arts. Features current arts news, articles, commentary and reviews for visual arts, performing arts, literature, music and live entertainment. Includes career advice, job listings in the arts and culture industry, grant advertising and opportunities, and links to education courses Australia-wide.
Lists over 7000 international institutions with material relating to the performing arts, including theatre, opera, music, ballet, film, circus, radio, television, cabaret, and pantomime.
Other noteworthy general databses that can be helpful include:
If you need a reminder of how to use databases, go the the SHHS Library Databases page that features tips for beginners to research gurus!
NOTE: If you do not already have a membership number for SLNSW you can sign up for free: for a Library card click here or https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/research-and-collections/get-library-card/sign-library-card
Tools to help your research process
Read through the SHHS guide to improving your Internet Search Strategies by clicking here.
If you need to create a question for purposes such as framing your research, breaking down questions into sub-questions, or creating an inquiry question, read the SHHS guide to Questioning. This logically helps you understand what makes a good question and how to create one in a step-by-step process.
The SHHS guide to Referencing will easily teach you how to create in-text citations and reference lists. This is a simplified version of APA 7th referencing style; this is similar to other author/date referencing styles -please check with your teacher if they have a different referencing style that they would prefer you to use.
The Critical Reading Proforma is a worksheet that you can copy and use. This prompts you to think critically about the information resource (article/book/website etc): click here
Historical Thinking Skills from the American Historical Association has a helpful guide if you are undertaking historical research; this website includes:
Library of Critical Thinking Resources
Glossary of Ideas that Support Open-minded Inquiry
"This is a brief guide to the ideal of open-minded inquiry by way of a survey of related notions... From assumptions to zealotry, the glossary provides an account of a wide range of concepts in this family of ideas, reflecting a concern and a connection throughout with the central concept of open-mindedness itself...
A review of certain key ideas provides a clearer sense of the dimensions of the ideal of open-mindedness for all those who are determined to make this aim central to their work as teachers. What follows is a road map to the terrain which surrounds the idea of open-minded inquiry" (Willian Hare. 2004).
Go to the website to read the Glossary of Ideas that Support Open-minded Inquiry
Books in the SHHS Collection
“The Princeton guide to historical research” by Zachary M. Schrag. (2021)
Summary: The Princeton Guide to Historical Research provides students, scholars, and professionals with the skills they need to practice the historian's craft in the digital age, while never losing sight of the fundamental values and techniques that have defined historical scholarship for centuries. (Publisher)
If you would like to preview the Index of subjects, and the Introduction, click here.
Find this book in our SHHS library collection, it is located in Nonfiction: 907.2 SCH
Note: More resources will be added soon, in the meantime, you can search using the Oliver Library catalogue and you are welcome to visit the library and ask for help anytime.
List of Free Access Online Databases & Tools
First is an interesting tool, it is a Chrome Extension Add-On called Unpaywall. Just in case you are not aware, a Chrome Extension is a little thing you can add to your Chrome Web Browser and it modifies the program. Unpaywall is an extension that notices when you are in an academic database, and if it is a database that requires payment for access to the full article, Unpaywall searches for a legally accessible free copy and displays a green unlock button that you can click and access. Click here to add Unpaywall to your Chrome Web Browser.
Free Open Access Databases:
CORE: "CORE is a multidisciplinary aggregator of Open Access (OA) research. CORE has the largest collection of OA articles available. It allows users to search more than 219 million OA articles" (Scribendi, 2024).
Directory of Open Access Journals: "A multidisciplinary, community-curated directory, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) gives researchers access to high-quality peer-reviewed journals. It has archived more than two million articles from 17,193 journals, allowing you to either browse by subject or search by keyword" (Scribendi, 2024).
Social Science Research Network: "The Social Science Research Network (SSRN) is a collection of papers from the social sciences community. It is a highly interdisciplinary platform used to search for scholarly articles related to 67 social science topics. SSRN has a variety of research networks for the various topics available through the free scholarly database... 700,000 abstracts & 600,000 full-text papers... You must become a member to use the services, but registration is free" (Scribendi, 2024).
Public Library of Science & PLOS Journal Search: Public Library of Science (PLOS) is a big player in the world of OA science. Publishing 12 OA journals, the nonprofit organization is committed to facilitating openness in academic research. According to the site, "all PLOS content is at the highest possible level of OA, meaning that scientific articles are immediately and freely available to anyone, anywhere."
Bielefeld Academic Search Engine: The Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (BASE) is operated by the Bielefeld University Library in Germany, and it offers more than 240 million documents from more than 8,000 sources. Sixty percent of its content is Open Access" and you can filter for open access only. "BASE has rigorous inclusion requirements for content... Search results can be organized by author, title, or date" and free open access. Basic and advanced search.