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MUS 381: Reference and Research Materials in Music

Research Tips

General Library Search Tips

  • Develop a list of keywords: Brainstorm a list of synonyms and related words to expand your search.
  • Use double quotes: When searching with phrases, be sure to join them together by using double quotation marks.
    • For example "rhapsody in blue" or "appalachian spring"
  • Use truncation: Truncation allows you to search for a root word and all of its various endings.
    • When using the search bar on the UT Libraries homepage or searching in library databases for articles, be sure to use a * to indicate the search should accept any letters that follow.
      • For example: symphon*, sonat*
      • Just keep in mind when truncating that some common musical terms, especially when truncated, are common outside of music: organ* includes organism, organization, organic; opera* includes operation, operator
  • Use AND/OR/NOT: Boolean keyword searches link multiple search terms and return more efficient search results.
    • For example:
      • brahms AND quartets AND henlea
      • mozart AND "quartet OR chamber"
    • Use AND to narrow down your results. Use OR to expand your results.

Choosing a Topic

Topic Finding and Thesis Formation

  • Follow your interest
  • Look for tensions, anomalies and unanswered questions
  • What assumptions have been made in previous scholarship surrounding a topic? 
  • What critical approaches have and haven't been taken with certain topics?
  • Narrow or broaden an area of interest, and look for ways you can situate an argument within a larger argument, or in opposition to another argument
  • Look outside of music at other influences and factors that are related to your topic

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Generic License.