Ethnomusicology : a guide to library resources

Contents:

A related library guide which may be helpful:
Popular Culture

Starting Points

When you need to define your topic and/or get some background reading try consulting a music dictionary or encyclopedia - this search can be limited to just electronic. Or restrict your search to popular music or world or folk music dictionaries and encyclopedias.

The guide to Anthropology dictionaries/encyclopedias will help if you need explanations of anthropological terminology or theory.

To find overviews on the subject try the following:

Comparative musicology and anthropology of music : essays on the history of ethnomusicology (1991) [print]

[A collection of essays by ethnomusicologists. A book review is linked here]

Cultural study of music : a critical introduction (2002) [print]
[A collection of scholarly essays on the conjunction between music and culture]

Music and technoculture (2003) [print]
[A collection of essays on the intersection of local culture, musical creativity and technological possibilities. A book review is linked here]

Music and the global order (2004) [electronic]
[Explores music as a metaphor of global social and cultural processes & interaction with reference to an anthropological and ethnomusicological account of globalization. Published in vol.33 of the Annual Review of Anthropology. Also available in print format]

Music in human life: anthropological perspectives on music (1993) [print]
[An overview of the social & cultural factors involved in music making. A book review is linked here]

Music of the other : new challenges for ethnomusicology in a global age (2007) [print]

[Considers the impact of world musics on our values, our habits and cultural practices]

New Perspectives in ethnomusicology: a critical survey [web access]
[Discusses the developments and future direction of the discipline]

World music: politics, production and pedagogy (2004) [electronic]
[A special issue of the Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology (vol. 5.2) which examines some of the key issues in world music & anthropology. Also available in print format]

Yearbook for traditional music [print] [electronic - back volumes only]
[Publishes essays, reviews and reports about music and dance research]

Another starting point are the two music bibliographies compiled by Max Richter & Rebecca Zeusse respectively which focus on anthropological/ ethnographic studies of music.

Finding Books Using The Library Catalogues

Books can be found by searching the library catalogue. Keyword searching is probably the best way of identifying material, and your results will be maximised by using keyword searching techniques such as truncation and Boolean searching, and by incorporating subject headings into your search where appropriate. Here are some examples on how to construct searches:

ethnomusicology and india

music and anthropol?

"aboriginal australians" and music

("rap music" or "hip-hop") and cultur?

Note the location for printed books may be either the Barr Smith Library or the Music Library (or both).

Finding Journal Articles

Journal articles can be found through databases listed in the Databases for Anthropology guide - Sociological Abstracts , Anthropology Plus, Academic Search Premier and Academic OneFile are probably the best starting points for articles written in anthropological journals, and the International index to music periodicals for music journals.

In addition, each issue of the journal Ethnomusicology includes an extensive bibliography of current publications. The bibliographies are also available separately via the web.

There are also printed bibliographies held by the library which are probably most useful for identifying earlier material on Ethnomusicology.

Web Resources

The following are starting points for resources on the Web

Centre for Music and Dance Performance Research
[This UK-based centre brings together experts in Asian and African artistic practice and in ethnomusicology, ethnochoreology, dance anthropology, and musicology]
Ethnomusicology, Folk Music, and World Music
[Guide to online resources. From the Music Library, University of Washington]
Ethnomusicology Online
[Web site for ethnomusicology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Includes access to the e-journal EOL Journal as well as links to other ethnomusicology Web sites]
Society for Ethnomusicology
[Founded in 1955 to promote the research, study, and performance of music in all historical periods and cultural contexts]

Last update: 17 June 2009 Helen Attar