If a topic is new to you and you don't know much about it, the first step is to gather some background information and familiarize yourself with the key ideas and background of the topic. The library has many sources for helping you learn about a new topic. Books are often great resources for learning more about a new topic, so searching OneSearch is a good place to start.
Use this form to search OneSearch. You can choose whether to search keywords, or look for a specific title, author, or subject term. You can also narrow down to the type of item you're looking for.
The library also subscribes to many reference sources online. Reference sources are books and databases that contain basic, factual information about a topic. Think of wikipedia, but created by scholars and published by academic publishers, so you can be certain that the information in them is credible. Reference sources might be very broad or very specific. Here are a few places you may want to start your search.
Offers fully-indexed, cross-searchable dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press, including Oxford Companions Series. Covers a wide range of fields and includes illustrations, maps, timelines, biographies, and links to authoritative websites.
Formerly Grove Music Online, it offers full text of the 29-volume print edition with the added benefit of sophisticated search capabilities, one-click cross-referencing, and an ever increasing network of web-links to musical sites around the world.