Credits
This guide was created by Lindy Smith in Spring 2009, and substantially reworked by MPAL GA Amanda Crego-Emley in Summer 2022.
Getting Started
Welcome to the Music & Performing Arts Library (MPAL) World Music guide!
World music and ethnomusicology can be difficult to research as they encompass a wide variety of topics and, unlike historical musicology, don't have a widely accepted central canon of well-known works. Studying world music has the added challenge of navigating language, geography, and cultural differences. This guide is here to help you sort through the resources available through the Library.
Use the tabs to the left to navigate the guide and don't hesitate to reach out to a librarian if you need extra help!
Resources on Campus
This guide collects a sampling of reference information, books, recordings, and journals for the study of world music, but it only scratches the surface of the resources available to you at UIUC. Because world music is an interdisciplinary field, you may want to look beyond MPAL in the course of your research.
Libraries & Institutions on Campus
We are linking several other campus libraries and resources below that you should keep in mind in the course of your research!
- The Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library (SSHEL)Located in the Main Library, SSHEL houses education and anthropology resources
- International and Area Studies Library (IAS)Located in the Main Library, IAS includes collection materials for African Studies; East Asian Studies; European Union Studies; Global Studies; Latin American and Caribbean Studies; Middle East and North African Studies; Russian East European, and Eurasian Studies; and South Asian Studies. To browse the resources and research recommendations for a specific collection, expand the "Collections" tab on the IAS website.
- Robert E. Brown Center for World Music at the University of IllinoisThe Robert E. Brown Center for World Music, a unit of the University of Illinois School of Music, is a nonprofit organization promoting understanding and appreciation of the world's performing arts, primarily through active study of their performance.
Related Library Guides
In addition, we wanted to link several other related library guides from MPAL and other campus libraries that may be of use in your research.
- Indigenous Musics of North AmericaThis guide serves as a starting point for research on Indigenous musics.
- Resources in AnthropologyA page from SSHEL collecting suggested reference sources, article databases, library guides, and other campus resources for the study of Anthropology.
- Bibliography of Africa - MusicThis guide presents a selection of resources that will help you find books, articles, recordings, and other materials focusing on African music.
- Ukrainian MusicThis guide highlights resources for the study of Ukrainian music.
- Carnatic MusicThis is a guide to finding background information, books, and recordings on Carnatic music.