Blues Music: Home
About
The purpose of this LibGuide, which was made possible through a grant from the Martin Guitar Charitable Foundation, is to introduce all those interested in blues music to relevant resources available through the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Libraries. Materials included in this guide primarily come from the Southern Folklife Collection and Music Library, as well as from the North Carolina Collection and the Undergraduate Library. It is important to note that this LibGuide is not an exhaustive overview of blues music, nor does it contain every blues-related resource from the UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries. Rather, it is meant to serve as an introduction to the genre, giving researchers a foundation on which to conduct their research. This guide was created by graduate student assistant Hannah Whitaker.
Organization
This guide is organized into four distinct tabs:
1. Blues History
Blues music is an overwhelmingly vast genre with a complex, rich history. In this section, archival material and library resources that pertain to the history of the genre are included.
2. Delta Blues
Delta blues is one of the earliest subgenres of blues music. Archival collections and other resources from the library catalog related specifically to this style of blues is provided in this tab.
3. Piedmont Blues
Archival collections and materials from the library catalog pertaining to piedmont blues can be found in this tab.
4. Other Online Resources
While the UNC Library holdings related to blues music are extensive, this tab contains some online resources that researchers may find useful.
5. Registering and Requesting Materials
Instructions on how to find materials relating to blues music within the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries.
Finding Aids
A finding aid is one way that archivists make the materials in the archive searchable and findable. They are organized by collection, or in other words, who collected the materials or what organization the materials are from. In the Southern Folklife Collection, a collection under a single name may have hundreds or thousands of different types of materials. All of these items are grouped together because of the way that they were collected by a single person or an organization. Use “search archival collections” to search only the finding aids instead of searching the entire catalog.
Navigating the finding aid
Finding aids have multiple sections and can be overwhelming to look at. At the top of the page, the collection abstract gives a general overview of what is in the collection. Scrolling through the finding aid will provide more detailed information. The menu on the left side of the screen provides links to navigate through the finding aid. Some finding aids may be more detailed than others. If you are looking for a particular item, you can use “ctrl and F” (or “command and F on macs) to search for individual names, song titles, etc.
Organization of a finding aid
Information for users provides information on copyright, use and citations.
Subject headings link back to subject searches in the library catalog. These do not link to resources within the finding aid, however, it can help find related resources within the library.
Related collections links to other related finding aids.
Biographical info provides biographical information about the person or the organization.
Scope and content gives a more detailed overview of what is in the collection.
Contents list can be varied in detail depending on which collection it is for. Some of the items listed are digitized, others are not. The items listed that are not digitized may be requested here. Use “ctrl and F” (or “command and F" on macs) to search for specific items within the finding aid. (E.g. “Piedmont blues”, “Son House”).
Spotify Playlist
Subject Guide
