Music Research: A Handbook, 2nd ed. is in the Music Library

The Music Library recently acquired the second edition of Laurie J. Sampsel's Music Research: A Handbook.  It is in the Music Library reference collection at call no. MUR ML113 .S28 2013.  An annotated bibliography of the core music research literature, this volume updates the first edition from 2009.  This resource's companion website ties its content to the online world, and provides a means for currency.

New Resources for Music Research

If you are working on a research project, and are stuck, need some help, or just want to brush up on your research skills, the Music Library has two relatively new books in the reference collection for you! Laurie Sampsel's Music Research just arrived today, and we have had the seventh edition of Kate L. Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations for a few months now. See complete citations below:

• Sampsel, Laurie J. Music Research: A Handbook. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Call no. MUR ML113 .S28 2009.

This book is a very well annotated bibliography, divided into two parts: "Research Process and Research Tools," and "Writing, Style Manuals, and Citation." It has something for everyone, from advanced researchers to those new to academic music libraries. To get started, Sampsel's chapters on library catalogs (ch. 4), and periodical indexes (ch. 5), are excellent.

• Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers, 7th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007. Call no. MUR LB2369 .T8 2007.

This is a major overhaul of Turabian's style manual. Much has been added since the publication of the sixth edition in 1996. For starters, this new edition contains an entire section of material on the research process. Authors Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams contributed this section, using material from their text on the research process, The Craft of Research, 2d ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003). Also, the organization of the chapters on the way sources should be cited seems much more intuitive. The "notes-bibliography" and "parenthetical citations-reference list" styles are now addressed in separate chapters. And very importantly, there are many more examples of how electronic information should be cited!

I encourage anyone who is working on a music research project of any kind to consult Sampsel's book, and I also highly recommend Turabian's style manual, if you are not required to use another style (such as MLA or APA).