Music
Whether you're a new student starting your first assignment, further on in your studies, or starting a research project, this page will help you find and use the best information for your subject. You will also find resources to help develop your academic, study and digital skills.
If you can’t find what you need here, please contact your Academic Support Team: library-SAM@salford.ac.uk
Key resources for music students
Books & Journals
The first place you should look is your reading list – you will find a link to this in your Blackboard modules. It lists all the core texts for your subject as recommended by your lecturers. All our other books and journals can be found in Library Search
Databases
- Box of Broadcasts - a huge collection of TV and radio programmes broadcast in the UK. It’s a great resource for documentaries on all aspects of music, as well as recordings of performances, reviews and critical opinion.
- Performing Arts Periodicals database - articles on all aspects of performance, including music.
- JSTOR – full text of academic books and journal articles - very good for music topics.
- Rock’s Backpages – gives full text access to classic rock and pop magazine articles going back to the 1960s.
- Cambridge Companions – an excellent collection of books providing authoritative introductions to a variety of topics. The music collection includes about 80 titles.
- Arts & Humanities Full Text - provides journal articles on lots of cultural topics including music, theatre, and film.
- Business Source Premier – general full text journal article resources, very good for articles on the Music business.
- IEEE Xplore – electronics database, useful for full text articles on music technology.
- Google Scholar – always worth checking for academic books and journals. To get the most from it, make sure you’ve added Library Access to your browser.
Useful Links
There is wealth of information on the internet, just remember to evaluate what you find carefully. These are just a starting point.
- AllMusic - the latest news and views, covering a wide range of music genres
- Sound & Music – a charity supporting those making new music in the UK, especially young people. The website contains some useful information and resources.
- ITMA and The Full English provide access to all kinds of material relating to folk and traditional music in Ireland and England.
- British Library Sounds –some classical, jazz, world and traditional music, within a huge archive of sound recordings of all kinds.
Newspapers
These are a great source for reviews and comment on music performances, recordings, and the music industry more generally.
Sources to try include Gale OneFile News and Newsstream. Check our Newspapers web page to see which papers we have access to.
LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning offers thousands of professionally produced online courses covering technical, creative and professional skills and including music production, recording, composition, learning to play particular instruments and much more.
Always use our institutional login to log in – you will need your University email address and password.
The first time you log in, you will be taken through a setup process to discover courses tailored to your interests.
Find out more in our video: Using LinkedIn Learning at Salford.
Browse your Reading Lists
Your tutors select books, articles, videos and other resources for your reading lists and the Library buys them so you don't have to.
Find the lists for your modules in Blackboard, or in Library Search.
Referencing
APA 7th (Harvard) style is the main referencing style in use at the University. We've compiled an easy to follow list of guidebooks and examples to help you get to grips with complexities of referencing.
Newspapers
Newspapers are a valuable source of information. They provide insight into what interests and concerns people both now and in the past.
The Library provides some excellent newspaper sources that allow you to search simply and easily across many newspapers at once.
Dissertations and Theses
During the course of your studies, you may find that you need to search for dissertations or theses.
You can use Library Search to help you find them and there are a number of different ways to search, depending on what you want to find.
New Music Students
Book a one to one
If you’ve tried our eLearning and classroom sessions and need more help, you can request a one to one appointment for information finding, academic and writing or digital skills. Select your chosen time slot and book on through Advantage.
Book on a workshop
We offer a wide range of face-to-face skills training. If you need to improve your IT skills, learn how to find information for your assignments or improve your study skills this is a great place to start.
All workshops are bookable through Advantage by clicking on the workshop title. Where a session has no remaining spaces you can add yourself to the waiting list.
Getting Started with your Assignment [online]
Starts: 2 Nov 2021, 12:00 pmFinishes: 2 Nov 2021, 1:00 pmRemaining places: 20Got an assignment and don't know where to start? Come and learn about types of assignment, managing your time and planning and structuring your work.Avoiding plagiarism in your work [online]
Starts: 3 Nov 2021, 4:00 pmFinishes: 3 Nov 2021, 5:00 pmRemaining places: 18This workshop will help you understand what plagiarism is and how to avoid it in your work. Please note: This workshop is online.Writing Cafe [Online]
Starts: 5 Nov 2021, 11:00 amFinishes: 5 Nov 2021, 12:00 pmRemaining places: 50The Writing Café is primarily a self-guided study space for students to work on assignments. It is based on the premise that good writing takes practice and reflection. This workshop will be delivered online.
Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Exam session [Online]
Starts: 2 Nov 2021, 5:00 pmFinishes: 2 Nov 2021, 6:00 pmVenue: MOS Exam - Certiport exam providerRemaining places: 8This is an online EXAM SESSION for Microsoft Office Specialist certification. When booking you MUST have registered on the MOS programme AND scored 70% plus in GMetrix's 'Testing' mode in your chosen application. Bookings not meeting this criteria will be cancelled. Bookings open 12 October.Digital Notemaking [online]
Starts: 17 Nov 2021, 12:00 pmFinishes: 17 Nov 2021, 1:00 pmRemaining places: 40This course will teach you how to:
-Organise your work with OneDrive and OneNote
-Improve your critical analysis using matrix tables in Excel or Word
-Use speech to text for easier paraphrasing and writing
-Make reading easier with Office Lens and Immersive ReaderMicrosoft Office Specialist (MOS) Exam session [Online]
Starts: 17 Nov 2021, 5:00 pmFinishes: 17 Nov 2021, 6:00 pmVenue: MOS Exam - Certiport exam providerRemaining places: 10This is an online EXAM SESSION for Microsoft Office Specialist certification. When booking you MUST have registered on the MOS programme AND scored 70% plus in GMetrix's 'Testing' mode in your chosen application. Bookings not meeting this criteria will be cancelled. Bookings open 27 October.
An introduction to EndNote 20 [online]
Starts: 4 Nov 2021, 2:00 pmFinishes: 4 Nov 2021, 3:30 pmRemaining places: 34EndNote is referencing software which can be used to manage your information sources and create citations and reference lists automatically and correctly. It is particularly useful for students working on large projects such as dissertations and theses.
Please note: This workshop is online.Using Library Search for assessments [online]
Starts: 22 Nov 2021, 12:00 pmFinishes: 22 Nov 2021, 1:00 pmRemaining places: 44This workshop is a live demo of how Library Search works and showcases what it can do to help you find information. This webinar will show you how to find and use Library Search, and will include tips on making the most of all of its features, saving you time! This workshop is online.Using Library Search for assessments [online]
Starts: 6 Dec 2021, 5:00 pmFinishes: 6 Dec 2021, 6:00 pmRemaining places: 47This workshop is a live demo of how Library Search works and showcases what it can do to help you find information. This webinar will show you how to find and use Library Search, and will include tips on making the most of all of its features, saving you time! This workshop is online.