Music & Musicians

This and other research guides are on the ACC Library web page under
Research Guides & Tutorials: http://library.sunyacc.edu

Adirondack Community College, 640 Bay Road, Queensbury, NY 12804
(518) 743-2260

Books | Reference books | Articles | Web sites

At any point in your research, please consult a reference librarian. Librarians are available whenever the library is open at (518) 743-2200 ext. 2462. Library hours are listed on the ACC Library's home page: http://library.sunyacc.edu.

Finding Books:

To find books or multimedia items, search the ACC book catalog (ACC Library web page > Finding Books > Catalog):

• Reference books, on the library’s main floor, don’t leave the library, so are always available.
• Circulating books, on the upper level of the library, may be checked out for four weeks.
• Videos, DVDs and music CDs may be borrowed by faculty. Students may use equipment near the video/DVD shelves.

Search tip: Start with a keyword search. When you find an interesting book, look for the subject headings in the book's online description. Click on any that refine your search best. We recommend visiting the ACC Library's Research Guides & Tutorials page, which offers a narrated tutorial on searching the online catalog and two tutorials called "Research Steps," offering important search strategies. Here are some subject headings to consider using:

To find a circulating book about your musician, simply enter the name into the search box on the Catalog search page (ACC Library > Finding Books > Catalog).

If you do not find an entire book just on your musician, enter the genre of music in which your musician composed or participated: Rock Music, Jazz, Rap Music, etc. Most of the books that will be useful to you will be in the ML section on the second floor of the Library. Once you have discovered a book that might be useful and retrieved it from the shelf, use the index at the back of the book to look up the name of your musician.  

Reference Books:

Reference books, on the main floor, can help you select a research topic. They also offer quick background information and overviews on subjects.

Use these reference books first for an overview of the life of the musician you're researching.

Gale Virtual Reference Library:

You can search thousands of full-text chapters from more than 250 reference books published by Gale Cengage Learning. The ACC Library owns many of these books in printed format also. The Document Title search will search for your term in the chapter titles, giving you full-text chapters from the reference books. The content is the exactly the same as the original printed books. Thisis a subscription database, available from off-campus to ACC students, faculty and staff. Find this database with these links: ACC Library Web page > Finding Books > Reference > Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Among the reference books it searches are Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Popular Musicians Since 1990 (2004).

Finding Articles:

Journal articles offer current and specific information and research. Search for journal articles by subject through any of the ACC Library's dozens of article databases. Many but not all offer full-text links to articles. (If needed, ask a reference librarian about finding an article though another database, print sources or interlibrary loan if it's not full-text.).

Article databases are subscription-only products. ACC students and faculty may search these from home by following screen directions. To get your ACC student username and password, see Lookup Account and Password on the Student Portal page. For a full list of journals ACC Library receives, see the online Periodicals at ACC list or check the card file at the Circulation Desk.

From the ACC Library Web page, go to Finding Articles. Then, choose either:

• General Databases to find articles on a current, popular or multidisciplinary topic and need a mix of newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals; or
• Subject Databases to find specialized articles on one subject only, such as business, science, literature, nursing, etc.

Among the General Databases are:
● EBSCO's Academic Search Premier: Over 8000 journals; about half are full-text.
● JSTOR: full-text; 117 journals covering the arts, sciences and social sciences.
● New York Times: Current (1980-present) and historical editions (1851-2003).
● WilsonSelectPlus: Completely full-text; 1+ million articles from 1400 journals.
● New York State Newspapers: includes New York Times full-text.
● Opposing Viewpoints, CQ Researcher, more.

On the first floor, some of our print periodicals include Down Beat, Instrumentalist, Journal of Popular Culture, New York Times, People Weekly and Rolling Stone.  Many other publications will have articles about your musician. Our print items are supplemented by thousands of articles in our electronic databases.

You can also look at music industry magazine Web sites, such as:

Web sites:

Here are some recommended Web sites. Of the billions of Web sites in the world, these are more appropriate for college-level research.

Search Engine Tip:

Search Google (or your favorite search engine) for the name of your artist. Look for result in this preference: the official site of the artist, a site that offers lyrics and/or actual music, or a ".edu" site (from a college faculty member, not a student!).  To search just .edu sites, enter site:.edu after your artist's name in the search box.                                                                     

For more information:

Consult a reference librarian at any point in your research. You may also want to see other online ACC Library research guides.