Widely Accessed Non-Music Databases with

Important Music Content—Overview and Searching Tips

Presented byDarwin F. Scott

Creative Arts Librarian, Brandeis Universityfor the

New England Music Library (NEMLA)Spring Meeting

at NELINET (Southborough, MA)April 29, 2005

KEY NON-MUSIC ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

WITH SIGNIFICANT MUSIC CONTENT

Five Examples:• LexisNexis Academic

• America: History and Life

• Historical Abstracts

• Sociological Abstracts

• American National Biography

WHY?

• Can be more current than music citation sources.

• Journals not indexed in music citation sources.

• Interdisciplinary.

• Newspaper coverage.

• Way to get around electronic music resources you don’t have.

LexisNexis Academic

• Among its many features, offers full-text of 350+ newspapers and 300+ magazines and journals from the U.S. and around the world—many the same day of publication

• Includes extensive archives—for example:– Boston Globe, 1994– – New York Times, 1980–– Washington Post, 1970–– Billboard, 1991–– Variety, 1993–

• Extremely useful for:– locating performance reviews – information on contemporary composers– feature articles on performers– popular culture and music — popular music– world music

LexisNexis Academic: News — Homepage

LexisNexis Academic: News — “Formula” for Searching Concert Reviews, Music and Popular Culture, World Music, etc.

Tips on how to fill in the boxes:

Step One — News category: Arts & Sports News Step Two — Select a news source: Entertainment news or Book, movie, music, & play reviews

Step Three — Enter search terms: select Full Text (rather than Headline, Lead Paragraph, etc.)

Use and between search words, such as music and globalization or klezmer and jazz or metropolitan and parsifal.Put quotes around expressions, such as "popular music" or "united states" — combine as "popular music" and "united states".Wild cards: * for each letter; ? for indeterminate number of letters.

Step Four — Select the appropriate date range (default Previous six months is usually too narrow)

Step Five (optional) — Limit the publication (New York Times, Boston Globe, etc.) — enter automatically from Source List link next to Step Two box.

LexisNexis Academic: News — Search for Peru Negro

Step One — News category: Arts & Sports News Step Two — Select a news source: Entertainment news or Book, move, music, & play reviews

Step Three — Enter search terms: “peru negro” — select Full Text

Step Four — Select the appropriate date range: Previous five years

Step Five (optional) — Limit the publication — left blank

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

LexisNexis Academic: News — Search on Peru Negro, Sorted by Date

Listings interfile with more substantive articles

and reviews.

LexisNexis Academic: News — Search on Peru Negro, Sorted by Relevance

More substantive articles tend to fall at the top of the list.

LexisNexis Academic: News —Peru Negro Article in the Miami New Times

E-mail option

America: History and Life

• ABC-Clio product.• Provides bibliographic references with abstracts to

the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present.

• Articles date back to 1954.• Reasonably up to date; April 28 search showed 557

citations to 2005 publications.• Covers 2,000+ journals published worldwide. • In addition to covering all key English-language

historical journals, includes selected historical journals from major countries, state and local history journals, and a targeted selection of hundreds of journals in the social sciences and humanities.

• Includes citations for dissertations and book and media reviews.

America: History and LifeA Few Searching Tips

• Use quotation marks around phrases.

• Boolean AND is default between search words.

• Truncation: * = multiple letters; ? = single letter. (Exactly the opposite of LexisNexis! Lesson here: always check the truncation symbols for each product; there is little consistency across databases.)

America: History and Life — Homepage

America: History and Life — Mozart [and] Franklin Search

s

Latest hit on Mozart and Franklin in RILM is 1996!

Brandeis SFX link

America: History and Life — Output Options

America: History and Life — Mozart [and] Franklin Search — Following the SFX Link

s

Clicking leads to:

America: History and Life — Mozart [and] Franklin Search — Full Text of Article via PsycARTICLES (EBSCOhost)

America: History and Life — Hip-Hop / Rap Music Search

Keyword Search: (hip-hop or hiphop or “rap music”)

and music

Eliminated books from search.

America: History and Life — Hip-Hop / Rap Music Search Results — First 8 of 54, with Sample Subjects from Full Records

Subject: California (Los Angeles).Music.Ethnic identity.Akwid (musical group).Mexican Americans.

Subject: Rap music.Music.Social networks.

Subject:Psychoanalysis.Death and Dying.Music.Rap music.Real (term).Hip-hop.Shakur, Tupac.

Subject:Rap music.Popular Culture.Political Commentary.Music.Internationalism.Hip-hop.

Subject:Religion.Rap music.Music.Blacks.Black Nationalism.

Historical Abstracts

• ABC-Clio product.• The “rest of the world” equivalent of

America: History and Life—covers 1450 to the present—but completeness of world coverage controlled by the journals indexed.

• Published since 1954.• Covers 2,000+ key historical journals

published worldwide as well as a targeted selection of hundreds of journals in the social sciences and humanities that are of special interest to researchers and students of history

• Also selected books and dissertations.

Historical Abstracts — Homepage

Historical Abstracts — User Options

Historical Abstracts — Search Limiters

Historical Abstracts — Search for Subject Jazz [and] France

Historical Abstracts — French Jazz Search Results

Subject: Jazz.Hot Club de France.France.Blacks.Americans.

Subject: National Self-image.Jazz.France (Paris).Debates.

Subject: Popular Culture.Jazz.France (Paris).

Historical Abstracts — Early Music 2004–2005 Search

Historical Abstracts — Early Music 2004-2005 Search

Sociological Abstracts —Some Music / Interdisciplinary

Topics

• Popular culture• Popular music and society• Mass media• Ethnic issues• Women and music• Entertainment industry

Sociological Abstracts — Homepage

Default is Relevance — you may want to change to Date (descending order)

Sociological Abstracts — Rap Music Search

Sociological Abstracts — Rap Music Search

Sociological Abstracts — Rap Music Search — Sample Record

American National Biography

American National Biography: Music — Occupations and Realms of Renown

     Comb Players

                Cornetists                Fiddlers                Flugelhorn Players                Flutists                Guitarists                Harmonica Players                Harpsichordists                Horn Players                Keyboard Players                Oboists                Organists                Percussionists                Pianists                Saxophonists                Sitar Players                Trombonists                Trumpeters                Vibraharpists                Violinists                Violists

             Types of Music and Singing                Blues Musicians / Singers                Cantors                Chanters                Concert Singers                Country Musicians / Singers                Folk Musicians / Singers                Gospel Musicians / Singers                Jazz Musicians                Jazz Singers                Opera Singers                Popular Singers                Ragtime Musicians                Reggae Musicians                Rhythm and Blues Musicians / Singers                Rock Musicians / Singers                Soul Musicians / Singers                Western Swing Musicians

Radio and Television            Disc Jockeys            Radio / Television Engineers            Radio / Television Personalities            Radio / Television Producers / Directors            Radio / Television Writers            Religious Broadcasters

         Theater and Live Entertainment            Acrobats            Burlesque Performers            Circus Performers            Clowns            Comedians            Costume Designers            Cowboys            Daredevils            Impersonators            Magicians            Midgets            Mimes            Minstrel Show Performers            Monologuists            Orators            Puppeteers            Rodeo Performers            Sharpshooters            Siamese Twins            Stage / Screen Actors            Theatrical Designers            Theatrical Producers / Directors            Toastmasters            Vaudeville Performers

            Ventriloquists

Performing Arts

Composite of 3 screens(single columns)

American National Biography—Andrews Sisters

American National Biography—Andrews Sisters, continued

OTHER NON-MUSIC ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

WITH SIGNIFICANT MUSIC CONTENT

Note: I have tested all of these resources for music content; coverage varies, but if used with limited expectations,

the results can often be surprising and retrieve materials not found in the standard music resources.

List is based on what is available from Brandeis University.

American Music (through 1876)• Early American Newspapers, 1690–1876 (Readex)

Asian Music• Bibliography of Asian Studies

Eastern European Music• American Bibliography of Slavic and East

European Studies Greek and Roman Music

• L’année philologique

OTHER NON-MUSIC ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

WITH SIGNIFICANT MUSIC CONTENT

Jewish Music• Index to Jewish Periodicals

Latin American Music• Handbook of Latin American Studies Online• Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI)

Music Aesthetics• Philosopher’s Index

Music and Medecine• PubMed (Medline)

Music and Society (Popular Culture)• Social Science Abstracts

Music Cognition• CogNet (MIT Press)

OTHER NON-MUSIC ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

WITH SIGNIFICANT MUSIC CONTENT

Music Education• Education Index

Psychology of Music• PsycINFO or PsycARTICLES

Women and Music• Contemporary Women’s Issues• Women’s Studies International

World Music / Ethnomusicology• Anthropology Plus (Eureka; combines

Anthropological Index and Anthropological Literature)