Starting Your Research
This page contains all of the essentials for beginning your research at the UK Libraries. The sections below detail where to locate resources, how to search InfoKat and browse subject headings related to your topic, and provide basic help for searching library databases.
For a more detailed guide on how to search for musical works (i.e., scores and recordings), visit the "Search Tips for Music" guide.
Locating Music Resources
Here is where you will find music resources at the Lucille Caudill Little Fine Arts & Design Library:
- First Floor:
- Request Music CDs, DVDs, and course reserves at the Circulation Desk.
- The Reference section contains music encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other print resources. This collection is non-circulating.
- Home to the John Jacob Niles Center for American Music, which contains several subcollections (all non-circulating).
- Second Floor: Home to the main collection, with books, music scores, biographies, music criticism, and music education resources. There are also bound periodicals (non-circulating).
For questions on accessing or using these library resources, inquire at the Circulation Desk or contact Maria Souliotis, Music & Performing Arts Librarian.
Quick Tips for Searching InfoKat
What can you find in InfoKat Discovery?
InfoKat Discovery is the portal to accessing resources owned by the University of Kentucky Libraries in a variety of formats:
- Books
- Journals
- Theses & Dissertations
- CDs
- DVDs
- eBooks
- eJournals
- Journal articles
How do I navigate searching in InfoKat?
There are many search strategies you can use to retrieve results in InfoKat. Read on for more details and examples:
Simple Search
- This is the default search box in InfoKat and it will allow you to search by keyword.
- Will search all the words you have entered, but not necessarily in the same order.
- Within Keyword Searching, you can use quotation marks to search for specific phrases.
- EX: "Javanese gamelan"
Advanced Search
This search form is available by clicking on the "Advanced Search" button to the right of the default simple search box. It offers several features:
"Search for:"
This is a series of radio buttons running along the top of the Advanced Search form. The default setting is "Everything," which will include the library's physical and electronic resources. If you want to search only for physical items that are in the UK Library Catalog, select the "Library Catalog" button. You can also limit to items held in Course Reserves, Local Collections, or WorldCat.
Author/Creator Search
- Available as a drop-down option within the InfoKat Advanced Search form.
- Use this feature to search by creator/author, as well as for a particular composer, performer, or ensemble.
- Can search by first and last name, or by last name, first name
- EX: Florence Price
- EX: Price, Florence
- Search terms do not need to be capitalized to retrieve results
- EX: ravi shankar
Title Search
- Available as a drop-down option within the InfoKat Advanced Search form.
- Enter as much of the title as you can.
- If the title begins with an article (e.g., "A," "An," or "The"), omit this from your search string.
- This applies to non-English articles in different languages, as well.
- For musical titles, search for the title in its original language for the best results.
- Check a musical reference work, such as Oxford Music Online, if you are unsure about the correct title.
Subject Search
- Available as a drop-down option within the InfoKat Advanced Search form.
- This will search the terms listed as subjects within item records.
- Searching for a person's name as a subject can help to locate biographies and books about their work.
- Searching for the subject headings from a known item can retrieve more items on the same subject.
Search Limits
- Available on the right-hand side of the Advanced Search form, or as additional options on the results list (under "Refine my results")
- Can filter results by material type, language, date, and more.
Truncation
- Whether you are using Simple or Advanced Search, you can use this strategy to search for various forms of a word simultaneously.
- Use an asterisk (*) to substitute for specific characters.
- EX: cultur* will retrieve results for culture, cultures, and cultural.
How do I know which resources are available?
If the book title you have searched is available on line, you will see an "Online access" (or "Full text available") link in the results list. Click on the link to go to the book.
The same applies to journal titles that are available online.
Clicking on the title of a book or journal will take you to its bibliographic record.
For journals, scroll down to the "View Online" section of the bibliographic record to see which years and volumes are available online.
Browsing Subjects in Music Therapy
Use InfoKat Subject Browse to explore subject headings. This feature is available by clicking the "Browse" button at the top of the InfoKat Discovery search form, or by clicking the link below.
Type in a term (either from the list below, or one of your own), and you'll retrieve a listing of that term with additional subdivisions.
Sample search
Browse Music Therapy and you'll retrieve:
- Music Therapy -- Case studies
- Music Therapy -- Periodicals
- Music therapy for children
and other headings.
Use the arrows in the bottom-right corner of the screen to navigate to different pages of results.
Sample subject headings
- Alternative medicine
- Brain physiology
- Dementia
- Disabilities
- Grief
- Mental health
- Mental illness
- Music -- Physiological aspects
- Music -- Psychological aspects
- Music therapists
- Musical perception
- People with disabilities
- Psychotherapy and music
- Quality of life
- Thanatology
- Therapeutics
Database Help
Feeling lost in a particular database? Most databases have "Help" sections that are easy to access through their Home pages or toolbars at the top of the screen. The Help section will explain how to navigate the database and how to enter and combine terms in its search interface to retrieve results. Look in the Help section to learn how the database handles various search techniques, such as:
- Boolean Operators (i.e., AND, OR, and NOT)
- Truncation (a strategy for searching various forms of a word simultaneously)
- Wild Cards (symbols used in search terms to represent one or more other characters)
- Phrases (grouping words so that they may be searched in a specific order)
- Nesting (grouping multiple search concepts together into a single search)
- Proximity (strategy for searching for two or more words that appear within a certain number of words from each other)
If you are still stumped with database searching after reviewing the Help section, you are welcome to ask a librarian for assistance!
Librarian
160 Patterson Dr
Lexington, KY 40506