COM LIT R1B: Literary & Philosophical Representations of Music

Choosing the "right" resource means choosing a database that finds you the kind of materials you need.

Encyclopedias: Brief background information on your topic.

Books & articles: You're likely to need the UCB Library catalog (OskiCat) and an article database for your assignment. Which one you use, depends on what you already know and the kind of materials sought.

• If you already have a citation for an item or you want to find books on your topic, you can start with the catalog
• If you want to isolate articles or essays on a topic, you'll need to use an "article" database
• Details (including locating results)

OskiCat lists the UCB libraries' collections, their location, and if they are available.

• books, journals, films, etc.
• sample catalog record
• available via catalogs tab of the library website
  

• available via the electronic resources link on the library website
• 
• view for specific subject or view general (interdisciplinary) category
• database descriptions (subject, type of materials, dates of publication, if full text available)
• Recommended = central resource, typically helpful for many researchers
• sidebar menu (links to other types of resources in selected subject)
  
  Remember: Off-campus access requires Proxy Server or VPN setup

Encyclopedias are often a good place to begin when you don't know much about a topic. They provide basic background information, the knowledge of which helps when searching for other materials: identify people, events, issues, etc. Entries may also have an associated bibliography that identifies other materials related to a topic.

Online Access...see electronic resources section above

• link by Subject > use left sidebar menu to to encyclopedias (recommeded)
• link by Type > Encyclopedias and almanacs (all of them)

Print Encyclopedias... use OskiCat