What kind of examples are included on this page?
As you scroll, you'll find footnote and bibliography entry templates and examples of citations for real sources for the following types of encyclopedia and dictionary entries:
- Digital entries from Oxford Music Online/Grove Music Online
- Print entries from The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
- Digital entries from The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online
- Print entries from The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music
Some notes about citing encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other tertiary sources
Encyclopedias, dictionaries, and reference sources are called tertiary sources. Based on the information from primary sources (scores, recordings, letters, etc.) and secondary sources (journal articles, books on individual topics), these types of reference sources provide indisputable background information - for example, that Bach was born in 1685 and died in 1750. Tertiary sources index, synthesize, or summarize information, and are intended for a broad audience who are unfamiliar with the topic.
Exploring tertiary sources like encyclopedias and dictionaries will give you a feel for your topic and their bibliographies can lead you to other useful sources, but most of the time you shouldn't cite them in your research papers. If they include information you can't find anywhere else, however, you may need to - and in those cases, follow the formatting examples below.
Each encyclopedia and dictionary will have its own quirks, but most should align with one of the examples below. If you have questions or need help with formatting a footnote or bibliography entry for an encyclopedia or dictionary, contact Jessica Abbazio, Music Librarian, at jabbazio@umn.edu.
Oxford Music Online/The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
Digital Grove/Oxford Music Online Entries
Footnotes:
Bibliography entries:
Print Grove Entries
Footnotes:
Bibliography entries:
The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music
Notes:
- The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online is not truly an online database - this digital resource is simply a scanned version of the print version of the Garland. This means that citations for the digital and print versions are very similar.
- This resource isn't set up like most encyclopedias and dictionaries, which are alphabetical by topic. The Garland is divided by volumes with correspond with different regions of the world, and they read more like a textbook with in-depth articles about various musical traditions, instruments, and figures. Each volume of the Garland is numbered and has a different editor, so check the information in the search results for that person’s name to include in your citation (along with the name of the entry's author).
Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online Entries
Footnotes:
Bibliography entries:
Print Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Entries
Footnotes:
Bibliography entries: