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MU 1000: Music and Its Makers: Begin Your Research

This libguide was created in August/September 2024 to serve as a research guide for the new WPI course MU1000, in support of the research projects assigned by the professor(s).

Research Strategies

Keywords & Subject Headings: 

When looking for resources in the Gordon Library catalog, a good initial strategy to guide your search is using subject headings as your keywords.

Subject headings are preferred, standardized terms developed by subject area experts, whereas 'keywords' are generally based upon natural or subjective language.

WPI uses Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). Keyword searches look at most (if not all) of the words in a catalog record, but subject searches only look for words in the subject heading fields. Subject searches are more precise, creating specific results. Consider some of the approaches recommended by librarians in the following video--

Developing keywords for research

Run Time: 2:44

Key Student Learning Competencies:

  • What are Keywords? (0:22)
  • Sample--Generating Keywords (0:38)
  • Effectively Using Keywords (0:53)
  • Using a Thesaurus (1:34)
  • Refining Search Results (1:48)
  • Evaluating a Library Record (2:10)

Try using some of the listed subject terms links/ keywords to find resources supported by--and accessible through--the Gordon Library.

Tips on Keyword searching:
  1. Identify your topic’s key concepts. Do some background research in online encyclopedias. These are not sources that you will cite in your paper but they can provide useful information to help you identify concepts and keywords related to your research topic.
  2. Brainstorm synonyms for your keywords: Search for synonyms for your keywords and concepts to increase the number of relevant search results.
  3. In database search results, look at the article titles and abstracts in your search results to find additional keywords to search for.
  4. Read! The more you read about your topic, the more you'll pick up on the jargon used in that field, which will help you to refine your searches and find relevant sources faster.

Check out some of the following tutorials related to the research process.

Library Searching in 60 Seconds

Run Time: 1:03

Key Student Learning Competencies:

  • Gordon Library Homepage (0:15)
  • Search Overview (0:30)
  • Filters (0:45)

Locating relevant databases for research

Run Time: 2:27

Key Student Learning Competencies:

  • Understanding Relevance in Relation to Research Needs (0:21)
  • Understanding Databases (0:46)
  • Locating Databases (1:04)
  • Search Databases A-Z (1:04)
  • Search Databases by Subject (1:33)
  • Search Databases by Type of Resource (2:09)

Finding full-text videos

Run Time: 2:55

Key Student Learning Competencies:

  • Why Search for Full-Text Articles? (0:30)
  • Sample Full-Text Search via SCOPUS (0:52)
  • Sample Search w/ Strategies (1:18)
  • Search Tips (1:27- 2:06)
  • Filters (2:10)

Peer Review Overview 

Run Time: 2:52

Key Student Learning Competencies:

  • What is Peer-Review? (0:10)
  • The Impact of Peer-Review Processes (0:50)
  • The Peer-Review Process (1:39)
  • Locating Peer-Reviewed Articles via the Gordon Library (2:25)

 

The following tutorials will help students identify valid, legitimate, and scholarly rigorous information for your research.

TRAAP

Run Time: 3:17

Key Student Learning Competencies:

  • What is TRAAP? (0:05)
  • Timeliness (0:26)
  • Relevance (1:03)
  • Authority (1:46)
  • Accuracy (2:15)
  • Purpose (2:40)

SIFT

Run Time: 1:52

Key Student Learning Competencies:

  • What is SIFT? (0:12)
  • Step 1: STOP (0:19)
  • Step 2: Investigate (0:41)
  • Step 3: Find (1:05)
  • Step 4: Trace (1:36)

Finding Information Sources

Type of Information Source

Where To Search

Reference - encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks

Google, WPI Library Search, Handbook database

Academic journal articles, scholarly monographs (aka books)

Google Scholar, WPI Library Search, Subject-specific databases

Government and non-governmental organization (NGO) reports

Google using  "site:.gov" or "site:.org" or "association" or "organization"

Newspapers, magazines, websites

Google News, WPI Library Search, Newspaper database

Trade literature, market reports

Business databases

Top 10 Search Tips

  1. Ask a librarian: Searching and researching is what we do. Let us work with you to make your searching more productive.
  2. Use search filters on the search results page. Some of the most common filters are:
    1. Date
    2. Source Format – book, journal, video
    3. Source Type – Academic Journals, Magazines, Newspapers
    4. Subject – Keywords and phrases found prominently in your search results. Add these as additional search terms.
  3. Identify your topic’s key concepts and their synonyms: Add synonyms for your keywords and concepts to increase the number of relevant search results.
  4. Use the FullTextFinder icon on the search results page. If you only have the summary/abstract of an article, click on the FullTextFinder to search all 200+ library databases for the full-text.
  5. Use Interlibrary Loan (ILL). Submit an ILL request to get full-text journal articles, books and book chapters.
  6. Check bibliographies for additional relevant sources.
  7. Check “cited by” links on search results page.
  8. Check “related articles” links on search results page.
  9. Use Google search features to focus on one website type (e.g. .edu, .gov, .org, .au).
    1. Examples:
      1. Community garden site:.gov
      2. Fauna site:.nz
  10. Use "Ask Us!" to ask questions - get help from a librarian!