MUS 228: Historical Musicology: Hints for OneSearch

Subject headings are terms, chosen from a pre-existing list, that describe what an item contains or is about.  They can be searched by selecting "in subject" from the third dropdown under the search box.  Subject headings are often made up of several components.  For research on music history, the following information may be helpful:

FOR MUSIC AT A SPECIFIC TIME IN HISTORY, ENTER THE WORD MUSIC PLUS THE TIME PERIOD 

• Before 1400, use 500-1400 to designate the time period; after 1400, use centuries (ex: Music 16th century for the years 1501-1600)

FOR MUSIC AT A SPECIFIC PLACE, ENTER THE WORD MUSIC PLUS THE NAME OF THE COUNTRY 

• To specify a city, enter the name of the country followed by the name of the city (ex: Music Italy Venice)
   
• To focus on Christian religious music, enter CHURCH MUSIC rather than just MUSIC
   
• Places and time periods can be combined for greater specificity (ex: Music France Paris 500-1400 or Music Germany 19th century)
   
• The phrase HISTORY AND CRITICISM is often added to the subject heading to indicate studies about a particular kind of music, rather than scores or recordings containing that music

Keyword searches (using the "anywhere in the record" option in the drop-down box) can be useful if you're looking for books about a particular topic but you don't know the correct subject heading.  For example, if you want books on music and the Counter Reformation, you could just enter Music Counter Reformation and then examine your list of results.  Some will not be relevant, but for the ones that are, just click on their subject headings to see additional resources.