by
Loring A. Prest
What follows is the document I presented to the professor. It includes a preliminary Introduction that sets the context of the finding aid, and then the Finding Aid as it would be presented to patrons.
Introduction (for the professor)
This finding aid is limited in its intended subject material, users,
and location. These three limitations are connected. The subject
material is "rock music." This style of music, also known as "rock
'n' roll," covers a variety of music. Trying to precisely define what
is--and is not--rock music undoubtedly will lead to disagreements
among admirers of the style as to where the boundaries lie. In
general, however, the center of the style is fairly easy to locate.
The resources listed in this finding aid provide sufficiently broad
coverage so as to obviate the need for precise distinctions.
Rock music has been around for several decades now. When I was
attending rock concerts twenty years ago, the age range of the
audience was fairly narrow. Today, the range of devotees includes the
"old-timers" who still listen, as well as new, younger fans. At a
recent Pink Floyd concert, I noticed people in their fifties sitting
next to high school students. Although the fans of rock music span a
couple of generations, it is usually the younger crowd that is more
interested in following their favorite bands. This finding aid might
appeal to any rock music fan, but the highest concentration of them
would be undergraduate college students. As a result, they are
targeted as the primary users of it.
Since these students most often use the Undergraduate Library, the
materials selected were limited to this location. People using the
Undergraduate Library do not like to go to other libraries.
Naturally, the Music Library would have many additional resources, but
this finding aid is intended for use in the Undergraduate Library.
This location limitation did not exclude the use of the CCSO Computer
Site in the Undergraduate Library. Those willing to use the World
Wide Web can locate resources that will answer many of the common
questions regarding rock music posed by college students. Various Web
pages will be included in this finding aid, since they are the best
resource for some of these informational needs.
What follows is a text version of an Undergraduate Library finding
aid. The actual aid would have a graphical header, and other artistic
embellishments.
Yes, you can find Rock Music in the
Undergraduate Library-- If you are looking for history, lyrics, or information on
your favorite rock group, this guide will help you quickly
find the right resources. For your convenience, all of the listed
resources are located here in the Undergraduate Library. Most of the
historical and background materials can be found in books located in
the Reference Collection on the Upper Level. For really current
information, or for finding lyrics, the World Wide Web is your best
choice. You can access the Web by using the computers in the CCSO
site also on the Upper Level in the Undergraduate Library.
If you would like to find even more information, the Music Library
would be an excellent place to visit. The Music Library is located in
the Music Building, near the corner of Goodwin and Nevada Streets.
History and Background: General, including Rock
Rock music used to be poorly treated in mainstream music reference
books. Nowadays, however, rock music receives the attention it
deserves in general resources. The Undergraduate Library has a couple
of general music resources that provide well-researched articles on a
variety of musical styles--including rock music. You can find
interesting articles about the history of rock music, styles of rock
music, and even articles about individual rock groups and artists.
For general music questions, try one of these sources.
History and Background: Specifically Rock
If you want to get right to rock music itself, check out these
books. Most are really good for looking up your favorite groups,
finding out when they released what albums, and for finding other rock
music information. Many are well illustrated. They are all
entertaining.
Discography
A discography is a selective or complete list of
recordings, typically of one composer or performer. Depending on the
amount of detail, a discography may include an analysis, history, or
classification of these recordings. Some discographies will simply
list albums and singles; others will actually rate them (admittedly,
this is subjective!). Keep in mind that writing and publishing a book
takes time. These books are usually current up until about a year
before the publication date.
For a comprehensive guide, see All Music
Guide, it covers 23,000 albums from 6,000 artist in 22
music categories. The Rolling Stone Album
Guide is great for rock and provides ratings.
Alternative rock music has several discographies of its own. Although
limited to artists that made the charts in the '70s,
Edwards' discography provides full listings of their
releases--including before and after the '70s.
Addresses
Want to contact your favorite band? Don't know their address? For
well-known and established groups, try one of the following print
resources. For more obscure or newer groups, the Web would be the
best place to search.
Technology and Philosophy
If you want to do more than just listen mindlessly to rock music,
you might want to look into the technological and philosophical ideas
behind it. Jones is both a former graduate student at UIUC and a
record producer and engineer. His book includes technological and
sociological discussion. For those seeking to understand the meaning
of rock music, Harris' book is really interesting.
Heavy Metal
Headbangers may feel like they don't get any respect. Well they do
get at least one ultimate heavy metal resource!
HeadBangers is a very exhaustive listing of
groups that is quite well indexed. Find groups by name, individuals,
country, state, or style.
Searching Our Catalog and Indexes: Suggested Tips
The Catalog will help you find
books about rock music. In order to find
articles in magazines and journals, you need to use
one of our indexes. We have both print and on-line
indexes in the Undergraduate Library.
Bibliographies
If you want to do some serious research, these bibliographies will
point you to plenty of resources. Leyser arranges by artist, but
provides subject and title indexes. The Guinness
Encyclopedia was listed above, but volume 4 contains
helpful bibliographies.
For the newest releases, or for finding lyrics, in particular,
searching on the World Wide Web is a great resource. You can access
the Web by going to the CCSO Computer Site on the Upper Level of the
Undergraduate Library. If you need help using the computers, ask the
CCSO Attendant to help you. Once you get into Netscape, you will be
amazed at the amount of material on the Web.
The Web is great for finding information about particular artists
and groups, lyrics, and new items like concerts and festivals. The
Web sites listed below will direct you to just some of the many
sources of information, so feel free to explore the Web on your own.
For ease of browsing, Yahoo! is hard to beat. Once
you are there, it's easy to find LOTS of material! (Note: The term
"URL," used below, is an address that the computer uses to connect you
to a Web site. Type it in the "Location" box in Netscape and press
enter.)
Yahoo!
To get to Yahoo!, type in this URL:
http://www.yahoo.com/
Lyrics
Videos
Miscellaneous
ROCK MUSIC IN THE UNDERGRADUATE LIBRARY
Rock Music information that is!
FINDING ROCK IN THE BOOKS
Q.781.6609 N638r -- Undergraduate Reference Collection
Q.781.7730321 N42 -- Undergraduate Reference Collection
784.54003 R651 -- Undergraduate Reference Collection
Q.781.6609 St76 -- Undergraduate Reference Collection
Q.781.66603 UL8 1993 -- Undergraduate Reference Collection
Q.784.54 IL6 1992 -- Undergraduate Reference Collection
Q.781.6609 N638r -- Undergraduate Reference Collection
016.78166026 Sp46 -- Undergraduate Reference Collection
016.780266 AL51 1994 -- Undergraduate Reference Collection
784.54 R651 1992 -- Undergraduate Reference Collection
016.781660904 Ed93r -- Undergraduate Reference Collection
016.78164 T758 1991 -- Undergraduate Reference Collection
The World Wide Web is a great place to find listings of all the
recordings by particular groups. There are several Web sites that
list not only albums, but songs on the albums, and the lyrics of the
songs. Finding album reviews is a little more difficult, however.
For information on older releases, using one of the previous books
might be faster.
791.025 C33 1995/96 -- Undergraduate Closed Reference
Collection (Reference Desk)
920.02 C33 1994 -- Undergraduate Closed Reference
Collection (Reference Desk)
784.54 J256r 1992 cop.2 -- Undergraduate Stacks
782.42166 H242p -- Undergraduate Stacks
Q.781.66 H134h -- Undergraduate Reference Collection
The on-line catalog (on the computer) will help you find other
books in the University Library about rock music.
For the broadest results, do a "subject" search using "rock music."
This will produce an exhaustive list of more narrow subjects that you
can select to search. You can also use these narrower subject terms:
"Christian rock music;" "Heavy metal (music);" "Punk rock music;" or
"Rock groups."
Print -- Periodicals Area, Index Table 14
Non-mainstream publications. Look under "Rock music" or "Rock musicians."
Print -- Periodicals Area, Index Table 13
On-line -- Reference Desk computers; one of the "Wilson Indexes"
Scholarly journals, but more limited coverage.
Print -- Periodicals Area, Index Table 13
Major music publications. Look up artists by name.
Print -- Periodicals Area, Index Table 6
On-line -- Reference Desk computers; one of the "Wilson Indexes"
General magazines, providing good coverage. Look under "Rock
concerts," "Rock music," "Rock musicians," and the artist's name.
Print -- Q.781.66 R651 -- Undergraduate Reference
Collection
An exhaustive index to The Rolling Stone
for the years covered, although now getting out of date.
Q.781.6609 N638r -- Undergraduate Reference Collection
016.78166 L597r -- Undergraduate Reference Collection
FINDING ROCK ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB
This will lead you to a list of categories that you can search. Some
of your options will include:
An alphabetical access to information about performers and groups.
Can also browse artists by their genre (style of music).
For info on top songs through the years and other chart related stuff.
Get the latest on benefits, concerts, conferences, and festivals
So what are they saying about a particular CD? Come here and see!
Usenets are discussion groups on the Internet. Use this site to find
out if there is one discussing your favorite group. These can be
great places to find obscure information. To go directly to an index
of Usenet groups, use this URL
URL: http://archive.uwp.edu/pub/music/lyrics/
You will find the lyrics you are looking for here!
URL: http://www.users.cts.com/crash/v/vidcom/
Alphabetized index. Topical lists: progressive rock, rock, oldies.
Can't get to Cleveland? Visit the Hall of Fame on the Web!
Get the latest info about Champaign-Urbana's non-stop rock station.
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This page is: http://workforce.cup.edu/findaid.html
Created by Loring Prest (prest@cup.edu)
1-13-97. Last revised: 1-20-97.