MU455 - Vocal Pedagogy: Finding Articles

Accessing Article Databases
RILM & Music Index
Academic Search Premier
ERIC
JSTOR
Browse Specific Journals

To access any of the article databases discussed on this page:

1)  Sign in to myMillikin

2)  Click on "Library Databases" (under the Academics menu)

3)  Click on the subject "Music"

4)  On the next screen, click on the title of the database you wish to search

RILM Search Tips

• Because RILM is international in coverage, you will likely retrieve non-English results:
  • you may need to limit your results to those written in English. Use the limit, towards the bottom of the screen below the search boxes, labeled Language of Item to select the desired language.

• • while the abstract or even the title may be in English, the actual article may not be. Click on the title of the article you are interested in, and look at the Language field to confirm the article is in a language you can read before proceeding.

• RILM covers not only articles, but
  • dissertations and master's theses: these are difficult to obtain since usually only one or two copies exists worldwide. Ignore these results unless you have the patience, time, and money needed to request them through interlibrary loan. Even then, you may not be successful in obtaining them.

• • books and book chapters: you will have to search the title of the book to see whether Staley Library, or another I-Share library owns it.

Music Index Search Tips

• Content is mostly English, but you may obtain results for articles in other languages. This is indicated at the end of the article title, in parentheses.

Academic Search Complete Search Tips

• To limit your search to scholarly/peer-reviewed articles, check the box next to "Scholarly (Peer-Reviewed) Journals," on the left side of the screen.

• To preview a description of the article (abstract), hover your mouse of the symbol of the magnifying glass.

ERIC Search Tips

• The ERIC database includes references not only to published material (books and articles), but also to unpublished reports, lesson plans, studies, etc. These unpublished materials are termed "ERIC Documents." If you wish to limit to published materials, such as academic journal articles, check the desired boxes under "Source Types" (to the left of the search results).

• ERIC also allows you to limit results based on the educational level you are researching. Locate the "Educational Level" limit box below the search boxes on the main search screen and click on the level you wish to focus on. (Ctrl + click will allow you to select multiple options.)

• ERIC allows you to limit results based on the intended audience for the publication. Locate the "Intended Audience" limit box below the search boxes on the main search screen and click on the audience you want to focus on. (Ctrl + click will allow you to select multiple options.)

JSTOR Search Tips

• If you want to limit your results to articles (eliminate books reviews and other, miscellaneous content), check the "Articles" Item Type box, below the search boxes.

• If you are researching a person or a named technique/method of singing pedagogy try searching the name or term in quotations marks to focus your results and eliminate results with similar, but not exactly the same, search terms (for example "Alexander technique" to get fewer unwanted articles about or by people with the name Alexander).

• If you would like to eliminate non-English search results, use the Language limit below the search boxes. Select "English" from the drop down menu.

• You can select a subject area from the list below the search boxes. This will limit your search to the JSTOR journals in that subject area.

• To view the article, click on the article's title in the search results, then click on "View PDF." Click on "Accept JSTOR's Terms and Conditions and proceed to PDF."

*Caution- JSTOR pdf files are extremely high quality scans, which means they can take quite awhile to print.