Jane Bradford

December 2006

Music Index:

How to Search It on the Web

I. Music Index: Searching It on the Web

NOTE: You must be connected to Stetson's Network in order to access any of the Library's subscription databases. If you are not working from a campus-connected computer, you will have to enter the network through a proxy server. See Instructions for Library Access from Off Campus: http://stetson.edu/library/offcampus.php.

Music Index is compiled from more than 725 international music periodicals offering the researcher access to a wealth of historiographic, ethnographic, and musicological data. A broad range of subjects is covered, including 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. In addition, book reviews, reviews of music recordings, tapes, and performances are indexed. First performances and obituaries are noted. The database is published by Harmonie Press. Dates covered online are 1975-to date.

The Music Index itself does not include full text, the citations do link to a limited number of full text journals available through other library EbscoHost databases, and you may limit your search to full text.

The Library also has the paper edition of Music Index with coverage from 1949-2002 in the duPont-Ball Library Reference Collection: Ref. ML118 .M84.

To see a list of the periodicals covered in Music Index, click on the “Periodicals” link near the top of the search screen.

Go to the Library’s databases page: http://stetson.edu/library/databases.php.

In the alphabetical listing of all databases along the right-hand side of the screen, scroll down to, then click on Music Index.

II. Searching

GENERAL SEARCH TIPS

Boolean operators and, or, and not can be used to construct search statements.

If you need help on how to use Boolean operators and other aspects of searching electronic databases, go to http://stetson.edu/library/handbook.doc.

Searches are NOT case sensitive. You can type your term(s) in upper case, lower case, or a combination of the two.

· Singulars and Plurals

If the singular form of a word is entered, the plural form will automatically be searched, too. However, if a plural form is entered, the singular form will NOT automatically be searched.

· Wildcards

Useful for variant forms and when you’re not sure of the spelling of a word.

? is used to replace a single character

Example: ne?t will find neat and next but will not find net since the ? stands for a missing character.

Truncation

Useful for variant forms and when you’re not sure of the spelling of a word.

* is used to replace any number of characters. The asterisk * cannot be used internally in a word.

Example: Koussevit*. This search will find all citations to Koussevitzky or Koussevitski or Koussevitsky.

Example: sonat* will find all the variants of sonata such as sonata, sonatas, sonatensatzform, sonatina.

Exact Phrases

Put terms you want to search as a exact phrase in quotation marks.

Proximity

Use N (near) for nearby terms, in any order, by adding a number to the operator.

Example: concerto N3 piano will include piano concerto, concertos for piano, and concerto for two pianos.

ADVANCED SEARCH—the screen that automatically comes up.

This screen allows you to enter a search term or terms. Boolean Operators (and, or, not) can be used. It also allows you to do proximity searches, and Wildcards can also be used. (See above for further explanations of these terms.)

Field Searching—Type the search term(s), then click on the down arrow to choose a specific field in the database.

To choose a specific author, unless you are very sure of the spelling of the author’s name (and any variations in the name), click on the Index tab near the top of the page. Then select Author from the Browse an Index drop down menu. Remember that an author may be listed in more than one way. For example, Ann Small may be listed under Ann Small, Ann Roberts Small, and A. R. Small. You would need to check the boxes next to all variations of the name to retrieve all the articles written by that person.

For additional help, click on “in The Music Index ?” button on the search screen.

You can also place limits on your search by checking or filling in one or more of the blanks in the Refine Search section of the screen.

Linked full text—Limits your search only to those articles that are available in full text

Published Date—Limits your search to only those articles published on a certain date or within a certain range of dates

Publication Name—Limits your search to only those articles published within a certain publication. You can look for a specific publication by clicking on the Index tab near the top of the page and then choosing Publication Name from the drop-down menu next to Browse an Index.

Publication Type—Choose from the drop down menu

Language—Choose from the drop down menu

Physical Description—Choose from the drop down menu

Country of Publication—Choose from the drop down menu

Journal Subset—Choose from the drop down menu

Also Search for Related Words—expands your search by including synonyms of your term

Automatically “And” Search Terms—automatically places a Boolean “and” between all the words you typed on the Find line. Example: If you type American music on the Find line, the database searches those two words as a phrase where the word American has to appear before and right next to the word music. If you check the “Automatically ‘And’ Search Terms” box, the search becomes American and music which returns many thousands more results than the phrase American music.

BASIC SEARCH

For additional help, click on “in The Music Index ?” button on the search screen.

You can also place limits on your search (for example, limit to full-text articles only, or limit by a date, or by a publication type) by checking or filling in one or more of the blanks in the Refine Search section of the screen.

Also Search for Related Words—expands your search by including synonyms of your term

Automatically “And” Search Terms—automatically places a Boolean “and” between all the words you typed on the Find line. Example: If you type American music on the Find line, the database searches those two words as a phrase where the word American has to appear before and right next to the word music. If you check the “Automatically ‘And’ Search Terms” box, the search becomes American and music which returns many thousands more results than the phrase American music.

III. Showing, Marking, and Printing Records

Showing

Each search will return a list of citations. To view a full citation, click on the title of the article. Full citations include the author(s), article title, journal name (Source), volume, date, page(s)/issue, language, publication type, journal subset, and subject terms.

Marking

You can mark items in the result list by clicking on the Add button in the right-hand column of the results page. When all items have been marked. Click on Folder Has at the top of the Add column.

Printing

Once you have clicked on Folder Has, you have the option of printing, emailing, downloading to a disk, or exporting to bibliographic management software (such as ProCite or EndNotes) the results you have marked.

IV. Getting the Article

If the result has a link to the full text, click on it. If the result does not have a link to the full text, you will need to determine if Stetson owns the journal (Source) in which that article appeared.

To determine if Stetson owns the full text of an article (in paper or on one of the other databases) go to http://xe7rh2vy9v.search.serialssolutions.com/ and search for that journal title.

If a journal title is found in this list, the list will tell you whether we have the journal in paper, microform, or in which database you need to search. If the title is not listed, we do not own the journal or have access to it full text through one of our databases. If the title of the journal is listed as being in one of our databases, you will need to link to that database and then search for the particular article you want to retrieve.

Periodicals in the duPont-Ball Library are arranged alphabetically by the title of the journal. Check where to find periodicals in the duPont-Ball Library by going to the map of the Library at http://stetson.edu/library/maps_librarymap.pdf.

If Stetson does not own the journal or have access to it full text through one of our databases, then you will need to submit an Interlibrary Loan Request by going to http://stetson.edu/library/departments_ill.php.

V. Citing Sources

Plagiarism

A basic characteristic of scholarly work is citing the sources used or referred to or borrowed from. It is academic dishonesty to use ideas from (even if you put them in different words), paraphrase, or quote from someone else’s work without acknowledging the other source.

If you use someone else’s work—their words, ideas, art work, music, Web pages, software, or some other expression—you must acknowledge the author or creator. Failure to do so is an unethical practice called plagiarism. Stetson has an official policy regarding plagiarism in the Student Code of Conduct.

For more information on plagiarism and how to avoid it, go to the following sites:

https://my.hamilton.edu/academics/resource/wc/Using_Sources.PDF

http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml

http://plagiarism.umf.maine.edu//

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/

Style Manuals

To avoid plagiarism, writers, musicians, web page designers, and others need to acknowledge where they got their ideas, quotes, music, or images. There are conventional forms of acknowledging that you have used someone else’s work. There are different forms of citation for many academic disciplines. In other words, each discipline has its own preferred way of citing sources. Many disciplines have published their preferred citation conventions in what is called a style manual or style guide.

In citing any source (book, journal article, government document, Web site, whatever), be sure you have the following relevant elements for your notes and bibliography or works cited page:

1. Author. This may be an individual person, a government agency, a department within a larger entity (for example, the Sociology Department at a university), or a business.

2. Title of the journal article, newspaper article, chapter from a book, government document, or Web site AND title of the journal, newspaper, or book

3. Name of electronic database (if the article was retrieved through a database on the Web)

4. URL to Web site

5. Date of publication or date last visited on the Web

6. Volume number and issue number if the material is from a magazine, newspaper, or scholarly journal

7. Pages of the journal article or book

If what you need to cite does not fall into any of these categories, check with your professor as to what information you will need to properly acknowledge the source.

Check with your classroom professors to see what citation style they wish for you to follow.

The most common style manuals used in college papers are the following:

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Ready Ref. LB 2369 .G53. New York: The Modern Language Association.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Ready Ref. BF 76.7 .P83. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. For information on citing electronic sources in APA style, go to http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html.

Turabian, Kate. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. Ready Ref. LB 2369 .T8. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (usually referred to as just “Turabian”)

The Chicago Manual of Style. Ready Ref. Z 253 .C572. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.