Music Therapy: The Search for Resources

This LibGuide is designed to help you navigate and discover print and electronic resources at the James. E. Tobin Library.

The Library has numerous electronic databases that provide full text access to articles in magazines, newspapers, trade publications and scholarly journals. Where to start will depend on the research you are doing and the type of information you need to find.

Please review the How do I? and Off Campus Solutions guides for further information about accessing materials off-campus.

You might want to gather general information about your topic by using a general reference source, like an encyclopedia or dictionary.

These materials will give you ideas on focusing your searches.  You should compile a list of broad terms, narrow terms, related terms, synonyms, key ideas, key theorists, and key thinkers.

You might use terms that describe a disability, or a population, such as

            Children with Disabilities (youth, or adolescent or teenaged) (infant or toddler)

            Music Therapy and Aged (or elderly)

            Physiological Aspects and Music

            Psychological Aspects and Music

            Music therapy or therapists or art therapy or therapists

            Expressive therapies

            Experiential approaches

Because books are organized so that they are near items that about similar subjects on the shelves, browsing can be a good way to find what you need. Look for the following call numbers on the shelves:

• ML 3919-ML 3920 = Music therapy
• ML 3830-ML 3838 = Psychology of music

How to Find Music in the Library

1.  To find music, go to the library's homepage, and in the main search bar, type in as much as you know about the music. For example, you can include the composer, title, key, opus number, publisher, and/or performer information. Hit enter.

2. Use the filters on the left to refine your search. You can specify under "Resource Type" that you want scores, audio, or videos. You can also specify under "Availability" if you want to limit to resources that are available online or in the library.

Tips:

• Try using the English plural of a generic title, such as symphonies or sonatas, instead of the singular version of the term. 
• Check the full record for scores for publisher, date, score type, and other relevant information to make sure it is the type of score you want. For example, a study score won't work for you if you need a conductor's score!
• Some composers have different spellings for their names. Alternate spellings usually work, but if you don't get the result that you wanted, try a different spelling (e.g. Tchaikovsky, Tschaikowsky, Tchaikofsky, etc.).