This guide provides some useful starting places and strategies for doing research for this course. We're happy to help! Reach out to us about any aspect of your research, from developing a research question to finding, evaluating, and citing sources.
Karen Storz, Research & Instruction Librarian for American Studies
Carol Lubkowski, Music Librarian
Specialized encyclopedias, handbooks, companions, and other reference works can be good starting places for getting an overview of a topic, definitions of key terms, vocabulary for searching, and suggestions for further reading. The following databases allow you to search across multiple reference works at once.
Annotated bibliographies for a variety of subject areas.
Hundreds of full-text academic encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other sources for introductions to topics, definitions, or factual information. Includes subject-specific titles from art, literature, education, science, religion, history and more.
Search across full-text encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference books in a variety of subject areas.
Over 400 full-text academic encyclopedias, language dictionaries, books of quotations, and other sources. Includes subject-specific titles from art, classics, history, law, linguistics, literature, media studies, medicine, performing arts, philosophy, religion, science and technology, politics, and more.
A comprehensive dictionary and encyclopedia covering all areas and genres of music.
St. James Encyclopedia of Hip Hop Culture (e-book)
Critical Minded: New Approaches to Hip Hop Studies by 
The Hip Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African American Culture by 
Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World by 
