The Music and Performing Arts Library has two great new online resources, the University of Illinois Historic US Sheet Music Collection and the School of Music Concert and Recital Programs Database.

The Historic US Sheet Music Collection is tool that searches for and gives you information about the historic US sheet music MPAL currently holds in our Special Collections. The Concert and Recital Programs Database provides information about performances in the School of Music over the years, as well as gives you a way to search for specific recitals or concerts. Each of these tools describes items in our collections but does not provide digital reproductions of the sheet music or the concert programs.

To access these online tools, simply go to MPAL’s home page and under “MPAL” in the left hand column, click on “Collections”. It will take you to a list of our music, theater, and dance collections. From here you will be able to access the:

University of Illinois Historic US Sheet Music Collection

and the

School of Music Concert and Recital Programs Database

Once you follow one of these links, you will see a screen like this:

In yellow circle, you can see there are different facets you can search by such as author, contributor, or subject term. In this case, contributor means composer.

In the red circle, you can see the collection we are searching. Both collections have a similar layout so it is important to look at the collection to make sure you are searching the correct one.

Also, on the left hand side, below the collection name, there are different facets to help narrow a search, such as format and publication year. Make sure to try those out when searching!

An example entry from the Historic Sheet Music Collection. The entry provides the composer (contributor) along with telling you the format, call number and location. On the right hand side under “tools” you have the option to send yourself this information for easy reference later. To see any of these items, bring the call number to MPAL’s service desk and let them know the item is in the Historic Sheet Music Collection upstairs in Special Collections.

Below is an entry for the Concert and Recital Programs Database. Under “contributor” you can see the composer, along with the performers in the program. Publication date will tell you when the performance took place. Look under “concert program” to see which volume and page the program is in. To see any of the programs in person, come to MPAL and look in our reference collection, where all of the bound programs are arranged by year at call number ML42.U7I3 C66. Lastly, in notes, you can see if the performance was recorded, which is this case it shows it was.

To find more information about School of Music Recordings, see (Pre-1992) or (Post-1992).

If you are not on campus and would like to request a scan of either items in our historic sheet music collection or in the School of Music concert programs collection, please send us an email at mpal@library.illinois.edu .

If you run into any problems or have questions feel free to Ask Us!

To print out an individual record for an item with the full description from WorldCat, follow these steps. Click on the pictures below to enlarge them.

1. To the right of the title of the individual record you want to print, click on the Sharing and Permalink drop down menu (see image below with orange circle).

2. In the Sharing/Permalink drop down menu, click on Record link (see orange arrow):

This will open a window with a link for the individual record.

3. Paste this URL link into a new browser tab or window. This will open the detailed WorldCat record for that item.

4. Click on the “Description” section of the detailed record (so the detailed information is showing):

5. Finally, once you have the full description displaying, press Ctrl “P” and this will  print the detailed record with the pertinent info: title, author, edition, publisher, ISBN, OCLC Number, etc.

The Music and Performing Arts Library has a large collection of historic American sheet music, including some digitized Civil War materials and digitized World War I materials. While we do not have all of it digitized, you can search all of our historic sheet music holdings from the collections’ web page.

The Library of Congress has a Civil War Sheet Music Collection and a World War I Sheet Music Collection.

A helpful text on conducting research about music and war is this title:

Music and war : a research and information guide by Ben Arnold, 1993.
Music & Performing Arts Reference [non-circulating]
Call Number: ML128.W2 A76

We have many materials relating to Civil War songs in our collections.

For more information about World War I songs, see also:

World War I sheet music : 9,670 patriotic songs published in the United States, 1914-1920, with more than 600 covers illustrated
by Parker, Bernard S., 2007.
Music & Performing Arts Reference [non-circulating]
Call Number: ML128.W2 P37

World War I songs : a history and dictionary of popular American patriotic tunes, with over 300 complete lyrics by Frederick G. Vogel,1995.
Music & Performing Arts Reference [non-circulating]
Call Number: ML3561.W3 V63

We have many other books, music scores, and recordings in our collections related to music and war. Check them out!

We’re currently working on a redesign for our library website and we want your feedback! Even though we really want to give the website a visual facelift, we also want it to function and serve the needs of our users (aka you!). Please consider the following questions when looking at our two new mockups:

• What do you usually use the Music and Performing Arts Library website for? Can you still do this on the mockup?

• Could you find your way to article resources in your subject area?

• Is there anything you can’t find your way to in either design?

• Which mockup do you prefer? Why?

Click the links below to view the two options. (Keep in mind they’re just images created in Paint, so any font/color/alignment issues won’t actually exist in the real thing.)

Version 1

Version 2

Please feel free to shoot us an email at mpal@library.illinois.edu with your feedback! We appreciate you taking the time to do this.

Have you ever found an item in the catalog only to realize you don’t know where the item is in the library or what those call numbers mean? Minrva can help!

Minrva is a locally developed mobile tool for libraries that helps students stay organized and find what they are looking for, all on the go! Originally designed for the Undergraduate Library at UIUC, the Minrva app has expanded to include the Music & Performing Arts Library. By selecting the Music & Performing Arts Library, students can use the Wayfinder module to locate specific items within the library on a map.

Minrva also provides the following useful functions:

• Search the entire UIUC catalog
• Search all I-Share libraries
• Check your account for checked out materials, requests, blocks, and fines
• Check for course reserves
• Search online journals for articles
• Cite sources using the new citation module

Download Minrva for Android here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=edu.illinois.ugl.minrva&hl=en
or scan the QR Code below with your phone:

In order to use the Wayfinder tool…

1. Start at the home screen and select University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign >> Music & Perf. Arts as your location

2. Go back to the home screen by selecting the house icon in the upper left corner
3. Select Catalog Search to look for items
4. Go back to the home screen and select Wayfinder

5. Use Wayfinder to locate the items you have searched for on the map

Here, the location of Guide to Chamber Music is shown on the map with the red dot in the upper right. Wayfinder will also keep a list of items that you have searched for using Minrva under Book Sel.. on the bottom right. All searched for items that are listed in the Recent Search History can then be located on the map using Wayfinder.

   
*** There is a Minrva app available for Apple products but it has not yet been updated with MPAL capabilities. Stay tuned! ***

Did you know that the Music & Performing Arts Library now has iPads available to check out? (Starting 1/21/14) Well, we do!

Starting Spring semester 2014, MPAL will circulate 5 iPads that are pre-loaded with apps. These are available for check out by all i-card holders for one week. All you need to do is go to the MPAL circulation desk with your i-card ready, ask for an iPad, and fill out the form. Yes, it’s that easy to have an iPad! Feel free to take it to class, use it in the practice room, or play with it at home! Some of the apps that are on the iPads include:

• Beatwave
• Compass 2g
• Dropbox
• Google Drive
• Groove Maker
• InsTuner
• Metronome+
• NPR Music
• Pandora
• Pocket Salsa
• Shakespeare
• VEVO
• Plus many more, and more to come!

These iPads do have several restrictions put on them for security reasons (both yours and the library’s), so there are a few things you can and can’t do. For more information about this, some helpful tips for using the iPads, additional policies, and a complete list of pre-loaded apps, check out the MPAL Loanable iPads LibGuide.

We’d like your feedback about how useful the iPad was and whether any of the current settings made the iPad less useful for you. You can fill out the brief feedback form that is included in the case, or, you can send an email to us and share your thoughts.