Music 396: Special Studies in Music History

Wagner and The Ring

Fall 2006
Dr. Mark Harbold


Consult the Blackboard course site (MUS396W) to find the course schedule, term paper assignment, worksheets and other information. To log in, use your Elmhurst College technology account information. If you do not know your E.C. login and password, please see Computer Services, Room 107 CSTC.



Locating Books, Scores and Sound Recordings in the A.C. Buehler Library

Reference Sources

A list of all materials on Reserve for this course is available here.

Use I-Share to find books, scores, and sound recordings on your topic. Scores and books are located on the second floor of the library; scores have call numbers of M780-M789, books have call numbers of 780-789. Sound recordings on Reserve for courses are checked out at the Circulation Desk; there are several listening stations available in the library.

Music can be difficult to locate in library catalogs because the titles of musical works may be in different languages. Libraries make finding musical works easier by using Uniform Titles. See this guide about Using Uniform Titles for further assistance.

In I-Share, use Author or Prolific Author/Composer to find scores and sound recordings by a particular composer. Use Subject to find materials about these works. Examples of some Subject searches that can get you on the right track, for both musical and cultural topics:

Items that are not available at Elmhurst but appear in the catalog may be requested directly in I-Share. Click "Repeat Search in The I-Share Catalog" to see materials from 64 other academic and research institutions in Illinois. Please ask a librarian if you need assistance. Items not available through I-Share may be ordered using our online Interlibrary Loan book request form.

Sound Recordings Available Online

In addition to the library's collection of over 2000 records and CDs, we also subscribe to two databases that provide music online: Classical Music Library and Naxos Music Library. Go to the library's Databases by Topics: Music page to log in.

A few notes about the listening databases:
1. Only a limited number of users can be in the Classical Music Library simultaneously. Read the Compatibility Overview for information on software requirements.
2. Only a limited number of users can be in the Naxos database simultaneously. Be sure to LOG OUT (upper right corner of screen) whenever you're finished with a Naxos session. Read the Naxos FAQ for information on hardware and software requirements - choose to stream the music at 64kbs for near-CD quality. UPDATE 9/11/06: we are still experiencing trouble with accessing Naxos from off-campus, but it should work from the residence halls.

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Locating Articles About Music, History and Culture

The library recommends several databases that cover music as well as history and culture. Be sure to evaluate the sources in these databases before using them:
Go to the library's Databases by Topics: Music page to log in.

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Finding Information about Music and Culture on the Internet

Music Sites

History and Culture Sources

SEARCH ENGINES TO TRY:

www.google.com

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Using the Internet for Research

Citing Information

MLA Style information - collected by E.C. librarians

For music, the best guide for MLA is Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Format from Purdue University. See "Other Types of Sources" for sound recordings and "Basic Forms for Electronic Sources" for citing online information.

See the following sections in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers 6th ed. 2003 (R 808.042 M685 2003, available at the Reference Desk) for more details on citing music:

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Elmhurst College Library

Elmhurst College Music Department


Created 31 August 2006 and last updated 11 September 2006
Created by Elaine Fetyko Page, Assistant Librarian
Report Problems to Elaine Fetyko Page