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Postgraduate music research guide

Guide aimed at final year music and drama students. Recommendations on books for different stages of the research process.

Journals and Databases

A journal is a regular publication issued, which may be issued weekly, monthly or quarterly.  It is intended for an academic audience.  The articles published in a journal are usully written by experts in the particular discipline.  Some journals are peer reviewed meaning that the articles are reviewed by an editorial board prior to publication.  In contrast a magazine is also a publication which could be issued weekly or  monthly for example.  However, magazines are usully intended for a general audience.

 

 

Music journals: print and online

To search for journals held by TU Dublin libraries click on the library home page here.   Scroll down to find the catalogue search box.  Change the default arrow to journal then simply enter keywords in search box and click submit..  For example: British Journal of Music Education.   You will then retrieve your search results.  Click on the relevant link to get further information.  For example you may want to know whether the journal is available in print format, electronic or both.   .   I have listed below  a selection of music journals/magazines with online access.

 

Key research databases for postgraduate music students

Music Research Databases

Database Full  text Scope  
Music Periodicals Database

Topic coverage includes:  Classical music and opera, Jazz and blues,

folk music, music business, ethnomusicology, music education and music therapy.

TIP: Database is hosted on the Proquest platform.  Music Periodicals Database is a music journal resource with more than 770,000 articles, plus detailed abstracts and full text from 1874 to current, covering the scholarly to the popular.

 
RILM An indispensable tool for scholars, students, librarians, performers, teachers, and music lovers. RILM includes over 570 000 records and over 33 000 new records are added every year  covering all document types. 
Coverage: 1967 to present.

 
JSTOR

Multidisciplinary.  Note:  IS login details needed to access database on site.

Full text online backfiles of core scholarly journals on many subjects. JSTOR's full-text coverage begins at the first issue of each journal and usually ends within five years of the present.

 
Academic Search Complete

Multidisciplinary.  May search more than one database simultaneously.  This database is hosted on the EBSCO platform.

 
Arrow

Archiving Research Resources on the Web is a digital collection of research publications produced by researchers at TUDublin.  All items in this collection are full text.  This collection is being developed and is not currently a full listing.

 
Oxford Music Online

This database includes several music encyclopedias, including the monumental Grove Dictionary of Music. Articles from Grove cover all types of music worldwide, from ancient times to the present, and typically include extensive bibliographies. It is the best starting point for most music-related research.
 

 
Oxford Reference Online

Includes dictionaries and encyclopedias.  Good starting point for research.

Two million digitized entries across Oxford’s Dictionaries, Companions and Encyclopedias,  spanning 25 different subject areas.

 

 
Proquest Dissertations & Theses   Citations and abstracts of many dissertations and theses from the United States and throughout the world. Previews of some dissertations are available.  Formerly known as Dissertation Abstracts International.
 
 
Sage Journals Sage journals online includes over 500 journals in the fields of Health Sciences, Social Sciences & Humanities, Materials Science & Engineering, Life & Biomedical Sciences.  
Sage Research Methods   Sage Research Methods Core Collection shows how students and researchers can explore concepts to help them design research projects, understand particular methods or identify a new method, conduct their research, and write up their findings....  
Scopus   Multidiscoplinary database.  Includes books, conferences, and peer reviewed journals.  Section on Arts and Humanities.  Connect to Scopus here.  Please input IS login information  before accessing database.  
Web of Science Core Collection Search the world’s leading scholarly journals, books, and proceedings in the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities and navigate the full citation network.
 
 

 

How to search

Search tips:

Link to library homepage here.

Use advanced search option for topic searches.  The advanced search facilitates more flexible searching.

Link to music advanced search here or general advanced search here.