One of the very interesting ‘subdomains’ in the Knowledge Base is called INSIDE THE MUSICIAN. Over forty Australian musicians have written articles giving their perceptions of their own musical worlds – worlds ranging from orchestral conductor to shakuhachi player to jazz band leader to… These authors are immersed in musical life and music-making and individually and collectively give us a view of music and its situation in Australia.

    Other contributors to the site write from different experiences, often up close and personal, or alternatively more distanced and objective, bringing academic discipline to observations and analysis.

    The Music in Australia Knowledge Base has room for credible contributions of many types. Readers will seek different types of knowledge and can assess how well each article meets their needs.

    Some readers may also become contributors. We welcome that.

    AUSTRALIAN DATA

    Total area: 7,740,000 sq kms

    Climate: arid to semi-arid, temperate in south and east, tropical in north

    Government: parliamentary democracy. Governments at national level, six states, two national ‘territories’; local councils

    Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II, represented in Australia by a Governor-General

    Population: 25.2 million (2019)

    Ethnicity: vigorous immigration program – 29% of the population was born overseas. 1% population increase per year, multi-ethnic including Australian Indigenous, then primarily British and European, Asian

    GDP (2017): US$1.248 trillion

    GDP per capita (Purchasing Power Parity): US$50,400

    (From the CIA World Factbook. Note that financial data are from 2017 and would have been translated from the Australian dollar and its exchange rate at the time. The rate has been volatile)

    TYPES OF ARTICLE

    Subject matter categories

    There are over 60 subject matter categories covering the entirety of the music sector. We call them ‘domains’ – or sub-domains or sub-sub-domains. Under TO NAVIGATE on the menu bar, you will find a map of all of these domains. There’s a lot of detail, but hey, you chose music as your area of interest. You could have chosen something simpler, like car manufacture or nuclear medicine.

    For example there are articles about music education in various contexts, articles about the situation in Australia for various musical genres, articles about the record industry, computer-generated music, about relevant government funding, or about Australia’s international agreements and trade in music. 

    The articles are all about the situation of music. So for instance, there could be articles giving an overview of the situation of music pedagogy in schools but probably not an article giving details of the practice of a particular type of pedagogy.

    Whatever area of music you would like to write about, you will almost certainly find a ‘subdomain’ in which it fits.

    Matrix Filters

    There is another, much simpler categorisation of articles, working in a cross-matrix with all those domains. The four types of article are these:

    Mapping Articles

    ‘Map’ or describe an area of activity, give the facts. 

    Issues Articles

    These describe matters of contention or dispute within a subdomain. Their main function is to show alternative views and actions.

    Statistics Articles

    The statistics of phenomena in any of the domain levels.

    Research Articles

    Reports of formal research.

    These four categories can be applied as ‘filters’.

    Say a reader clicked on the subsubdomain, ‘School Music Education’. The titles of all the articles fitting that description would be shown. 

    Apply the filter Mapping Articles, and only those articles which are mapping articles will show. They could include information about the provision of music education in primary schools and secondary schools, what is mandatory and what is elective, the music education of teachers, the provision of musical instruments and so on.

    Apply the filter Issues Articles. These might, for instance, point to the discordance between the expectations of teachers, their ability to meet them, maybe suggested solutions. This category includes SWOT analyses. 

    Apply the filter Statistics Articles. How many primary schools provide classroom instruction in music? How many primary school students received such instruction? What percentage is that of the whole? How do the data compare for government, Catholic and independent schools?

    Apply the filter Research Articles. These are reports of formal research projects, for instance the research that produced the statistical data, research into the effectiveness of various teaching scenarios, research into the funding of school music education.

    So you could write an issues paper about the issues confronting an area of musical activity of special interest to you.

    OTHER TYPES OF CONTRIBUTION

    You could have an impact in some other ways.

    • Comment on an article. You could offer criticism or suggestions about an existing article in Music in Australia
    • Propose a modification of the Knowledge Base structure so as to better include some area of knowledge.
    • Identify an area of knowledge that is now missing and should be added.
    • Suggest an article or a source of articles or information for inclusion.

    WHAT TO DO

    For any of these contributions, contact the editor, Richard Letts, by email at letts@musictrust.com.au or by phone at 0400 925 333.

    A warm welcome and discussion will ensue.