This tutorial is designed to help you in the process of writing a research paper for a music course. The "Exploring Your Subject" page will help you identify a topic and the best sources of information for investigating it. The "Joining the Conversation" page will focus on how to engage with the materials you find, including tracing the conversations experts are having, and identifying important questions.
The first resource to know about at the library is librarians. UWM has reference staff, research librarians, and a Music & Performing Arts librarian available to help at any stage of your research process.
In 2020, the Libraries permanently closed the service desk in the Music area of the library. You can now get help and check out items at the main desk on the first floor, or at Media & Reserve Services on the Lower Level.
The old service desk area is now a new Contemplative Space! Take a moment to meditate/reflect/pray/stretch, or whatever you need! E295, formerly an office space, is now a reservable group study room, so you can work together with easy access to scores and music reference materials.
In the summer of 2021, the UWM Libraries added a service called LibKey, that makes access to the PDF or full versions of articles quicker and easier. You'll notice a "download article" link under a lot of search results in Search@UW, instead of just the "Online Access" link that takes you through multiple clicks to the full article. LibKey also includes a browser extension that will help you tell if UWM has access to articles you find elsewhere on the web, and a journal browsing platform.
The UW System libraries now have access to Classical Scores Library, an online database of scores. The scores can be added to "playlists," annotated, and embedded in Canvas sites!
In Fall 2021, the Media & Reserves Services equipment collection added circulating portable turntables and 25-key MIDI controllers. Students can check out this equipment, plus headphones, microphones, and portable recorders, for personal or academic use.
