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MUSC 386: Research and Bibliography in Ethnomusicology

Key Ethnomusicology Journals

Below are some key ethnomusicology journals.  Many good articles will also be found in other interdisciplinary journals.

Use the Journal Search in Omni to see if the journal is in print or electronic format at Queen's:

Asian music
Black music research journal
British journal of ethnomusicology
Bulletin of the International Council for Traditional Music
Canadian journal for traditional music (formerly: Canadian folk music journal)
Ethnomusicology*
Folk music journal
Latin American music review
MUSICultures (formerly: Canadian journal for traditional music)
Journal of popular music studies
The World of music*
Yearbook for traditional music*

Article indexes

Find citations or full-text of journal articles or book chapters on your topic in an article index or subject-related database such as RILM or Music Index Online.

Nota bene: Once you have found a useful citation, then search Omni for the source journal or book title which contains the article you need: i.e the title of the whole book or the whole journal in which the article can be found.

Some databases will provide the full text of articles, or contain links to the full text if it is available via other databases in our collection.

If you can't find the article you need at Queen's either in print or electronically, try RACER, our interlibrary loan service.

Music and Other Databases

Major Music Article Databases (see more music databases below Interdisciplinary and Crossdisiplinary Databases)

Access from off-campus to electronic databases or electronic journals provided for the Queen's community requires use of the web proxy

Publication coverage: 1970 - present (with some backfile indexing from 1962-1969)
Indexes articles from over 700 international music periodicals, as well as book reviews and reviews of music recordings, tapes, and performances. Obituaries and first performances are noted. Access to historiographic, ethnographic and musicological data. Topics include past and present personalities, the history of music, forms and types of music, musical instruments from the earliest times to modern electronic instruments, plus computer produced music.
Publication coverage: 1967 - present (updated monthly)
Access restricted to the Queen's community (4 user limit)
Comprehensive, international index to music literature, from Western and Eastern classical to pop, folk, and jazz.
 

Other Music Databases

Citations to nearly 30,000 articles on music in Canada, dating from the late-19th century to the present day. Also indexes significant articles on international music and musicians, published in Canadian periodicals since 1999. Covered are 500 Canadian music journals, newsletters and magazines, almost 200 of which are currently active and continue to be indexed.
Publication coverage: 15th - 21st centuries
Find classical music scores, manuscripts, and previously unpublished material.
Part of the Canadian Encyclopedia
 
Publication coverage: 1900 to present
Access restricted to the Queen's community (3 user limit)
Covers popular music of all genres and periods, including jazz, country, folk, rap, reggae, techno, musicals, and world music as well as popular music trends, styles, record labels, venues, and music festivals.
Access restricted to the Queen's community (3 user limit)
Full text online version of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, and The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz , with annual updates (updated articles are date-stamped in the upper right corner of the screen).
Access restricted to the Queen's community (100 user limit)
Online listening access to more than 24,000 music recordings. NOTE: Check system requirements and settings.
Access restricted to the Queen's community (3 user limit)
Full-text, online version of Grove Music Online (which includes The New Grove Dictionary of Opera), Encyclopedia of Popular Music, The Oxford Dictionary of Music, and The Oxford Companion to Music, with ongoing additions of new material and updates to the texts.
Access restricted to the Queen's community (5 user limit)
Audio files for published recordings owned by the non-profit Smithsonian Folkways Recordings label and more.

Interdisciplinary and Cross-Disciplinary Databases

 

Academic Search Complete (multi-disciplinary index to peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings, monographs and reports, with approximately 50% of the journal titles also containing the full-text of articles)

America: History and Life Canadian resource (covers also Indigenous populations in Canada, U.S., Mexico)


ATLA Religion Database (covers topics such as world religions, and religious perspectives on social issues)


Bibliography of Indigenous Peoples in North America (covers Indigenous North American culture, history, and life)


Gender Studies Database (interdisciplinary topics related to gender studies include music)


IBSS: International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (areas include anthropology, art, cultural studies, gender studies, geography, race and ethnic studies, religious studies, sociology)


International Bibliography of Theatre and Dance (selective articles with full-text)

 

JSTOR (an electronic journal archive providing access to the entire "backrun" of many core academic journals in the humanities, social sciences, business, and law, from v. 1 to within 2-5 years of current volume).


Oxford Reference Online - Music (Music collection component of Oxford Reference Online, a database of full-text e-book dictionaries, companions and Oxford reference works, 5-user limit)


Oxford Reference Online – Society and Culture (Society and Culture component of Oxford Reference Online, a database of full-text e-book dictionaries, companions and Oxford reference works, 5-user limit)


Political Studies @ ProQuest (searches 4 political studies databases, including IBSS, PAIS, Worldwide Political Abstracts, ProQuest Political Science)


Sociology @ ProQuest (searches 3 sociology databases simultaneously, including Sociological Abstracts, IBSS and ProQuest Sociology)

Evaluating Journal Articles

Journal articles are important as they contain the most-up-to-date research in a given field and often focus on a particular aspect of a topic.

Consult our guide Distinguishing Scholarly Journals from Other Periodicals, to help evaluate and decide which journal articles will be useful for your essay.