Background sources such as subject encyclopedias, dictionaries, and handbooks provide an overview of a topic, definitions of terms, biographical information, and suggestions for further reading. For this course, the print Garland Encyclopedia of World Music is a good place to begin research. Oxford Music Online (database) often provides articles on music of individual countries and composers.
These are examples of print sources for music research in the Reference Collection, 1st floor.
New Grove Dictionary print Ref 780.3 N42026dmm now online as OXFORD MUSIC
Baker's Biographical Dict. Ref 780.922 B177b
New Oxford Hist. of Music Ref 780 N42 10 vols.
Oxford Companion to Musical Instruments
Ref 784.190 B580
Garland Encyclopedia of World Music is a major PRINT resource for Music History 3513. This work contains overviews of music by geographic areas and comprehensive bibliographies. This work is accompanied by cds that illustrate music selections for each region.
Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Reference Collection, 1st. floor 780.8 G169en These are print titles.
Vol. 1 Vol. 2 Vol. 3 Vol. 4 Vol. 5
Vol. 6 Vol. 7 Vol. 8 Vol. 9 Vol.10
Other Major Reference Sources
Electronic Books
The library catalog lists many electronic books for music. This is one example: Harvard Dictionary of Music.
Foreign Language Dictionaries
Foreign language dictionaries are shelved in the 400s in the Reference Collection, 1st floor. Locate call numbers for dictionaries for specific languages in the Library Catalog.