Research Guides: Researching Music & Musicians: Find Your Sources

Great Online Sources for Background Research

Get off to a good start by doing background research to identify the “who, what, when, why, where” information on your topic. If you are having trouble focusing your topic, background research is a great way to see how other researchers and writers are approaching the subject.

Some useful background databases for musical research include:

Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new window
This database includes: Grove Music Online, The Oxford Dictionary of Music, and The Oxford Companion to Music in addition to other Oxford music reference sources. You'll find thousands of articles written by music scholars on a wide variety of music, musicians, and instruments.
Gale In Context: Biography This link opens in a new window
This is a great database to use when you need to find information about a person.This Gale database includes more than 500,000 individuals from throughout history and from around the world.
Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
Use this database for preliminary reading as you start your research. You'll learn about your topic by reading authoritative topic overviews on a wide variety of subjects.

Find Online Books through the MJC Library

While in remote learning mode, there is no access to the MJC print collection. However, the MJC Library provides access to over 30,000 eBooks via the eBook Collection: EBSOCOhost.

eBook Collection: EBSCOhost This link opens in a new window
Use this database to search our collection of thousands of eBooks the MJC Library owns through EBSCOhost.

Article Databases for Music Research

Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new window
This database includes: Grove Music Online, The Oxford Dictionary of Music, and The Oxford Companion to Music in addition to other Oxford music reference sources. You'll find thousands of articles written by music scholars on a wide variety of music, musicians, and instruments.
Gale In Context: Biography This link opens in a new window
This is a great database to use when you need to find information about a person.This Gale database includes more than 500,000 individuals from throughout history and from around the world.
Gale Databases This link opens in a new window
Search over 35 databases simultaneously that cover almost any topic you need to research at MJC. Gale databases include articles previously published in journals, magazines, newspapers, books, and other media outlets.
EBSCOhost Databases This link opens in a new window
Search 22 databases simultaneously that cover almost any topic you need to research at MJC. EBSCO databases include articles previously published in journals, magazines, newspapers, books, and other media outlets.

Need Books from Other Libraries?

What if MJC Doesn't Have What I Need?

If you need materials (books, articles, recordings, videos, etc.) that you cannot find in the MJC Library catalog, use the request forms below to request what you need using our interlibrary loan service.

Books & Media Request Form
Use this form to request books, videos, music, etc. that you could not find at MJC.
Article Request Form
Use this form to request copies of articles that you could not find in the library catalog or one of our Article Databases.