This guide was created by Lindy Smith in Spring 2009, and substantially reworked by MPAL GA Amanda Crego-Emley in Summer 2022.
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!
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.
We are linking several other campus libraries and resources below that you should keep in mind in the course of your research!
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.
