Why using good sources matter...

When you endeavor to find sources related to a topic of interest for your academic writing, you are demonstrating a number of skills

• You are able to synthesize a variety of information and integrate it into your own work
• You are able to investigate the dialogue that has occurred related to an area of interest and engage in that conversation through your academic writing
• Using good, credible reliable sources will elevate the accuracy and authority of your own work

Authority is Constructed and Contextual

Information, in any format, is produced to convey a message and is shared via a selected delivery method.  The iterative processes of researching, creating, revising and disseminating information vary, and the resulting produce reflects these differences (ACRL par. 13).

• Information creations are valued differently depending on the context and purpose for which they are created
• Audience matters. Certain things are created for certain purposes and it doesn't really make one format of information better than another. It is up to us to discern what information process best fits our information need.
• In your own creation process, understand that your choices in what type of information you use, impacts the purpose for which the information product you create will be used and the message it conveys.

Source: Project Cora - https://www.projectcora.org/assignment/information-spectrum

Take 3-5 minutes and sort these sources into the column that you think it would best fit (academic/scholarly or not academic). 

Source Sorting Activity

Scholarly Sources 

• Are written by "experts" or scholars.
• Are reviewed by "experts" or scholars.
• Always consult other research/scholarly sources (include a list of references).
• Will normally be in the form of scholarly books, scholarly journal articles, scholarly book chapters or thesis and dissertations.

THIS is an example of a scholarly source!

Pope, A. (2016). Musical artists capitalizing on hybrid identities: A case study of Drake the “authentic”“black”“Canadian”“rapper”. Stream: Culture/Politics/Technology, 9(1), 3.

THIS is an example of something that you would find in the library, but isn't scholarly.  

Higgins, D. (2012). Far from over : the music and life of Drake, the unofficial story (1st ed.). ECW Press.

A Reminder....

A scholarly publication contains articles written by experts in a particular field. The primary audience of these articles is other experts. ... Many of these publications are also referred to as "peer-reviewed", academic or "refereed". They all mean essentially the same thing and refer to the editorial and publication process in which scholars in the same field review the research and findings before the article is published.

1. What are the author’s credentials? Is it written by an expert?
2. Published in a journal (is there a DOI?)
3. Academic language
4. Includes reference list
5. Length
6. A "Received" and "Accepted" date
7. Is it an actual article? Sometimes other types of content are included in scholarly publications, such as editorials/opinion pieces and book reviews.  Make sure you are looking at an article. 

Search Reference Databases and Resources

• Oxford Music Online (Grove) Offers more than articles on composers, performers, conductors, instruments and notation, forms and genres, and individual works.

• The Canadian Encyclopedia (Web source) Can search for Canadian music topics.

  The Canadian Encyclopedia includes biographies of Canadian musicians and histories of organizations. Topics covered include: Inuit music, piano building, awards, education, instrument collections, folk music. Also includes bibliographies, discographies, lists of compositions, and cross-references to other articles.

• Oxford Reference - Performing Arts This subject page provides access to 15 titles (encyclopedias, companions and dictionaries) to music, theatre, and dance.

• Sage International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture - The SAGE Encyclopedia of Music and Culture presents key concepts in the study of music in its cultural context and provides an introduction to the discipline of ethnomusicology, its methods, concerns, and its contributions to knowledge and understanding of the world’s musical cultures, styles, and practices.

Apply Filters using Library Search

Things to remember when using Library Search:

1. Sign in to save searches, items, and to request materials.

2. Use the pin icon to save books and articles. 

3. Use the filters on the right. You will use Availability, Resource Type, and Date filters most often.

4. Some items won't be available. You can request unavailable items using interlibrary loan.

5. When viewing an item record, scroll down to the Get It or Full Text section to get the item.

You can search in a way to combine or omit different terms by telling the search engine exactly what you want…this can help you save some time (and frustration!)

• Use quotation marks to keep phrases together - "throat singing"

• Use  AND to combine search terms - "throat singing" AND Canada

• Use OR to connect two or more similar terms - (throat singing OR katajjaq OR overtone)

• Use wild cards to substitute a letter or suffix with a symbol - Canad* (Canada, Canadian, Canadians)

Search Music Journals

CAML Review (Canadian Association of Music Libraries) 

The Canadian Music Educator

Intersections (Canadian University Music Society)

Opera Canada

Words & Music

Search Google Scholar

Google Scholar is another great way to find peer-reviewed/scholarly material. Google scholar has a nifty citation chaining function.  The Cited by function will forward you to indexed scholarly material that has cited an article that you may be interested in.  The Related Articles link will direct you to similar articles that may have the same metadata or keywords. 

The Advanced Search is found by clicking the menu icon (top left).
Besides providing links to articles in MRU databases, Google Scholar links to online repositories that contain articles the author has been allowed to upload.  Academia.edu and ResearchGate are among the repositories searched by Google Scholar.

By clicking on the Settings icon, you can select library links to show library access for up to 5 libraries (type in Mount Royal and click on save).  If you are logged into MRU library, links should automatically populate if you are running a Google search in another window. 

Where to find recordings

Last.fm Community generated music website that offers limited biographic information and track streaming direct from YouTube.

Spotify Music streaming service. Create a free account (or connect with Facebook) or sign up for a premium paid account for additional features to stream and create customized playlists. (Account is required.)

YouTube  User generated video sharing website that allows users to view, share, rate, comment, upload videos. 

SoundCloud You can stream for free or create an account (through user ID or Facebook) to take advantage of their sharing. 

Deezer User account is required (can login through Facebook account). Allows you to stream entire songs, gives you suggestions based on your interests. 

YouTube Music You can stream songs, radio stations (based on genre, mood, etc), and customize playlists. Subscription available for added features. Without a subscription ads are served between songs.

Apple Music Subscription based music, podcast, and video streaming service. Without a user account you can stream a sample portion of a track, but to hear the whole track you have to subscribe.

Example of  citing a source with a time stamp in APA

Referencing a certain part of a song is very similar to quoting from a text.  You need to include a pinpoint, in APA this is normally a paragraph or a page number within the text of your writing.  When you are quoting text from recording (audio or visual) we use a timestamp.  Using the example below, a few key elements are important, particularly if we are citing from Youtube. Here, the "author" is the person or entity that uploaded the video file.  The screen name should be spelled and capitalized exactly as it appears, even if it does not observe standard spelling or capitalization rules.  If I wanted to quote an excerpt from this song from 00:02:12- 00:02:31 it would look like this: 

Author, A. A. [Screen name]. (year, month day). Title of video [Video]. Source/Site.  https://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

Reference List

NFB. (2018, January, 28). Canada Vignettes: Logdriver's Waltz (Sing Along Version). [Video].  YouTube. https://youtu.be/Srp7k-9oCkw?si=GHL4ucJiJPKY9ImY 

In-Text

(NFB, 2018, 00:02:12- 00:02:31)

Source from Spotify or another Subscription source(note, artist is the artist on this site and you also include album information and label info):

Reference List

Dilla, J. (2017). Motor city 1 [Song]. On Motor city. Nature Sounds Entertainment.

In-Text

(Dilla, 2017, 0:55)

More Citation Info and Guides!!

• Cite Sources: Learn the correct way to cite sources by using these guides, tutorials, and videos.
• Referencing Webinars: APA & MLA. Referencing Webinars are 75 minutes long.  Registration is required.
• Online Appointments: Personalized online 30-minute appointments with a Learning Strategist.
   

  Take the APA Referencing Tutorial on D2L!

  This self-paced 90-minute tutorial covers the same content as our live workshop—why citation is important along with the basics of in-text citations and reference entries in APA Style. Students who complete the tutorial will gain access to a form they can fill out and submit as proof of completion.

  Access the tutorial on D2L: Using Google Chrome as your web browser, log in to D2L (learn.mru.ca) with your @mtroyal.ca account. Click the “Discover” tab, then type “APA” in the search bar. Click on the “APA Referencing Tutorial” link and then the “Enroll in Course” button. If you have any questions about the tutorial, contact sls@mtroyal.ca.

Where to find Musical Scores

• Contemporary Music Score Collection

  The Contemporary Music Score Collection is published by the UCLA Music Library. The collection includes the digital, open access scores from the Contemporary Score Edition series, the first open access edition of new music published by a library, and scores from the Kaleidoscope 2020 Call for Scores, an open access collaboration with the UCLA Music Library.

• IMSLP / Petrucci Music Library

  A community-built library of public domain sheet music. Extensive collection of original scores scanned to PDF.

• New York Philharmonic Digital Archives

  Find study scores and other performance resources.

• Canadian Music Centre

  Canadian sheet music available for loan, purchase or rent, plus streaming audio.

Look in our Collection!

You can apply the "Resource Type" filter to limit your search for audio recordings or musical scores/sheet music.

Library and Archives Canada - Virtual Gramophone 

Library and Archives Canada Music, Films, Video and Sound Recordings

Historical Anthology of Canadian Music

Soundstreams

CBC Music

Canadian Music Centre