Subject Guides: Music

Find a music-related article using Music Index

This page will show you how to use the online Music Index to find music-related journal articles. If you have any questions about this, or any other Library matter, your best bet is to go to the General Reference Desk (on the 2nd floor) and ask. The people at that desk are very willing to help, and are there to help you. The general rule is: if you haven't found what you need in 15 minutes, ask someone for help.

This process will probably take about 45 minutes to 1 hour to complete.

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STEP 1
Ask for help. Please do not hesitate to do this. Thomas Bell is the interim Music Librarian, and he likes helping you. There is no substitute for face-to-face instruction. Use this page after he's helped you a couple of times, or if he's unavailable.

STEP 2
You must have your student ID to check out items from the Library. There are no ifs, ands, or buts. You cannot check out anything without your student ID. Sorry.

STEP 3
First, you'll need to decide exactly what it is you need. You may need a review of a particular concert or recording, or just a general article about a topic. Do you need an article about a composer, or will an article just about the piece of music do? Try to narrow down what you want, then go on.

STEP 4
Get to the online Music Index via K-State Libraries web page. At this point, it is worthwhile to indicate the differences between the KSU Library Catalogue, and a Database. Our catalog will tell you what we own, and where you can find it. For magazines, journals, etc., our catalogue will tell you the titles of the publications, but not what specific articles are in each issue. So, you could see that we have a subscription to American Bach Society Newsletter, but you couldn't use our catalog to see what articles are in that journal. This is what a database does. The database you'll want to start with (for music) is the Music Index.

Part a.
To get to the Music Index database, click here. (This link will open a new window.) If you'll ask Thomas Bell or at the General Reference Desk , someone can show you how to get off-campus access to the Music Index (!!!).

Part b.
I would go directly to the "Expert" search. It isn't too hard.

Part c.
Now, at this point, to save a lot of time, I'd try to contact a real live human being and get some face-to-face help. I'd go to the General Reference Desk on the second floor, or just contact Thomas Bell directly. If no one is available to help you, keep reading, and I'll give you some pointers to get you started.

Part d.
When you search using any database, what you're searching for is a list of citations. Meaning, you'll get a list of directions that tell you to go to a certain issue of a certain journal, and look on a certain page. So, finding the actual article is a two-step process. First, you've got to find the directions (citation) in the Music Index, then you've got to search our catalog to see if we have the journal and issue you need. IMPORTANT: K-State Libraries may not own all the items that are indexed in Music Index. We'll start with using Music Index, and get back to our catalog later.

Part e.
You have lots of options on this page. In the "Key word(s)" blanks, type in your search terms. Notice at the bottom of the page, there are hints as to tricks you can use to make your search more specific. Use "ADJ" to make sure multiple search terms are found adjacent to each other (so, "mozart ADJ requiem" would look for the exact phrase, "mozart requiem"). Use the "?" to truncate words one character (so "concerto?" will find "concerto" or "concertos"). The "$" will truncate multiple characters. Be creative.

Part f.
In the "Index" blanks, you can tell where you want Music Index to look for your terms. Do you want to search for an author, or title, or just look for keywords throughout the whole document (this is what I suggest).

Part g.
Be patient. It takes a while to get totally familiar with any database. Again, do not hesitate to ask for help from Thomas Bell or the General Reference Desk .

Part h.
When you find items that look useful, you must write down some information to see if Hale Library has what you need. IMPORTANT: To find a specific article, you absolutely must have the Article Title, the Name of the Journal, and the Specific Issue! Your next step is to check our catalog.

STEP 5
Using your list of citations, check our catalog to see if we have the items you need. Unless you have just had a long string of successful attempts to find journal articles in the past, ask for help! You could easily waste hours of your life if you don't thoroughly understand the K-State Libraries Catalog. Ask at the General Reference Desk , or contact Thomas Bell. These folks can help you find what you need in the catalog, and then find what you need in the building. If you don't ask for help, I would bet huge sums of money that you will waste your time. IMPORTANT: At this point, you must ask for help unless you are intimately familiar with the Library Catalog (a. k. a., you work in Hale).

STEP 6
Still can't find what you need? There are plenty of other print or electronic "databases" for music stuff, but it would be pointless to try and explain them in text. Come ask Thomas Bell and he will help you.