Develop skills of scholarly inquiry, information literacy, and writing that will (1) save time and make graduate coursework easier, (2) facilitate current awareness of developments in the music professions, (3) lay a foundation for your own professional development, (4) and enable lifelong personal learning.

Learn to think critically (make value judgments) about music and evaluate the purpose of your career in music. Add intellectual and spiritual depth to your musical activities.

Gain a broad understanding of methodologies and publication types commonly applied in music research.

Become familiar with reference sources, public services, and actual holdings useful for music research and performance in the Harold B. Lee Library, in other significant music libraries throughout the world, and online.

Learn the uses and comparative merits of basic and advanced reference sources related to music. Gain the ability to determine the best reference source for a given research need. Learn how to critique reference sources.

Become proficient in basic and advanced aspects of bibliographic citation, using principles of the Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition) and other writing conventions common to scholarly music publications.

Develop basic skills necessary to locate and evaluate critically musical manuscripts and various types of editions of scores.