Make sure to visit the North American British Music Studies Association (NABMSA) exhibit in the MPAL. The exhibit’s scores, books, and sound recordings showcase the work of many British composers. This display coincides with the NABMSA conference which is taking place at the University of Illinois from July 26-28.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
MPAL Easy Search
Are you just beginning research for a project? If so, the Easy Search tool on the MPAL homepage may help you find many of the resources you need to get started. Easy Search searches the UIUC library catalog, I-Share, dictionaries and encyclopedias, and other databases to find reference entries, books, scores, recordings, journal articles, and newspaper articles.
Easy Search is especially helpful for helping you decide which of the many tools it links to to focus on as you continue your search past the first phase.
To use this tool, type in the Keyword, Author, or Title of the material you are looking for. After clicking “search” you will be directed to a page with links to your results.
The first section on the results page lists matches for the item in the UIUC library catalog and also in I-Share libraries. Often the results are further limited by Scores, Recording, and Film/Video. The results also include if your search was found in eBooks (including Google and Hathi Trust) or on IDEALS – the UIUC dissertation depository.
The Easy Search also covers journals including RILM, IIMP, JSTOR, and IIPA. By clicking on the Article Matches, you will be directed to a list of the articles that contain the words you searched for.
Finally, this tool searches through newspapers including the Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and the London Times. This can be very helpful if you are looking for concert reviews.
New Online Journals and Databases Tool
Recently, you may have noticed some changes in the way you can search for journals and databases on the library website.
The Online Research Resources (ORR) database (the yellow and blue pages!) has been replaced by the new Online Journals and Databases (SFX) database (http://openurl.library.uiuc.edu/sfxlcl3/az).
There are a number of key differences between these sites. While ORR allowed you to easily browse all music databases, the new SFX requires you know the title of the database before you search. If you are unsure of the exact title of the resource you are looking for, the search engine provides suggestions, which can be helpful.
For now, please try to avoid browsing SFX by subject. These listings are not precise and may give you search results that include links that are irrelevant to music, theater, or dance.
If you cannot find what you are looking for in SFX, you can also try searching:
• The “Databases by Subject” guide: http://www.library.illinois.edu/catalog/vufind/dbsubject.html
• The “Music Easy Search” module on our home page: http://www.library.illinois.edu/mux/
• The Library’s Online Catalog for database and journal titles and information
A user guide to Online Journals and Databases is available at http://www.library.illinois.edu/learn/find/onlinejnd.html.
If you have questions, please contact me at dougan@illinois.edu (tel. 244-4072).
New interface for ProQuest databases
Do you use IIMP or IIPA or ProQuest Dissertations? If so, be prepared for a new look. It simplifies searching and expands the resources available.
IIMP contains both full-text and abstracts to articles from 1874 to the present while IIPA contains results from 1998 onward. Both resources are extremely helpful tools in music, dance, and theater research. ProQuest Dissertations includes dissertations and theses from the late 19th Century to present, many available in full text.
The banner at the top of the page offers a lot of features.
Your Searches and Items
You can choose which ProQuest databases you want to search by clicking the “Database” link in the top left corner.
The Recent Searches link lists all recent searches, which you can review or even combine just by clicking. Selected Items keeps track of the items you flagged while searching. My Research allows you to create and access a free account, enabling you to organize, manage, and save articles. You can also link yourRefWorks account to your IIMP or IIPA account.
Translation
You can use the “Languages” link at the top right-hand corner of the page to translate the interface to a different language. After choosing an article, you can translate the text of most articles to another language.
Searching Tips
You can limit search results by:
Document Type
Reference Work
Document Feature, and/or
Language.
Be careful when limiting by Document Type (article, book, review, etc) because this will not necessarily give you the most results. The “Reference Work” limit choices provides easy access to a glossary, brief opera synopses, music fundamental terms, and a pronunciation guide.
All search results have icons that correspond with source type (scholarly journal, trade journal, newspaper). If you are unsure of what the icon represents, you can either mouse over it or look to the right side column under Source Type. The choices in the right column also help you narrow your results to a particular type of item.
Another way to limit your results uses the graphic at the bottom of the right hand column on the results page, which allows you to choose articles within a specific date range. This bar graph also shows when most of the articles on a subject were published.
Search Subject Areas
A new feature allows you to select specific subject areas to search in. The column on the right-hand side of the search screen lists areas which link to relevant databases.
This feature is not necessarily the best way to search for articles. Many of the databases included under The Arts have little to do with music; therefore searching IIMP and/or IIPA directly will yield the best results.
But, this feature does allow you to access Dissertations & Theses, which links to both ProQuest Dissertations and CIC (Big 12 School) Dissertations databases. It also allows you to access the News and Newspapers area which gives access to titles like The New York Times (historic and current issues).
International Students Library Workshop
International Students Library Workshop
March 14th at 2:30 in the Seminar Room in MPAL
This workshop is meant to provide some tips and resources for international students (or other students!) who need a little extra help doing college-level research in the perhaps unfamiliar Music and Performing Arts Library. The session will be informal, so feel free to come with specific questions or concerns you might have from your own research experiences in the library. We’ll also be able to try some example searches, so if you have a laptop you want to bring to follow along and try yourself, go ahead and bring it along.
If you can’t make it to the workshop but you could still use some tips on mastering the library, you can get additional information and resources from the following guide, created specifically for this workshop: http://uiuc.libguides.com/MPALInternationalStudents
Hope to see you there!
More new collections at NYPL Music Division
The following special collections have recently been processed for the Music Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and are open for research. For more information please contact the Music Division at musicdiv@nypl.org. One collection, the League of Composers/ISCM records, which was originally processed in early 2011, has been re-processed to include more historical material on Claire R. Reis and the histories of the League and the ISCM prior to their merger.
Abstracts and links to finding aids follow:
Ethel Burns papers
http://bit.ly/yKJC3F
Abstract:
The Ethel Burns papers document the music, arts and children’s programs Burns produced and directed at radio/television station WNYE and television station WCBS in New York City. The files include scripts, correspondence, production information, press releases, reviews and photographs.
Among other programs, the collection contains information on the series American Musical Theatre and Dial M For Music.
Composers’ Forum, Inc. records
http://bit.ly/wPrn5C
Abstract:
The records of the Composers’ Forum document the history of the organization from 1935 to 2002. They hold correspondence, concert programs, press releases, clippings, grant applications and other development files, board meeting minutes and correspondence, photographs, membership files, concert production files, concert discussion transcripts, historical essays and scrapbooks.
Eugene Weintraub papers
http://bit.ly/yQBNuC
Abstract:
The papers of the music publisher Eugene Weintraub consist of correspondence between Weintraub and his clients, and a biographical file about Weintraub, including essays by the publishers. Much of the correspondence is from the composer George Antheil.
John Cage Unbound – A Living Archive: Call for participation
A letter from
Jonathan Hiam
Curator, American Music Collection and
The Rodgers and Hammerstein
Archives of Recorded Sound
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
The John Cage Centennial is upon us. To celebrate Cage’s legacy, The New York Public Library will soon launch John Cage Unbound – A Living Archive, an online multimedia resource devoted to the life and work of America’s most influential composer. In partnership with the John Cage Trust and C.F. Peters, John Cage Unbound will feature select digital images of Cage’s music manuscripts, correspondence, programs, photographs, and ephemera drawn from the vast holdings of NYPL’s Music Division. The centerpiece of the project, however, will be a rich video archive of John Cage interpretation with a special emphasis on the preparation and performance of Cage’s work.
This is where you come in. NYPL hopes that you, your colleagues, students, and peers will contribute to the archive by uploading your own videos (which can be quite informal and short) of Cage performances to the site. The videos will be integrated into the archive for public access with the intent to document the variety of interpretive practices Cage’s work inspires and indeed demands.
For those of you who are leading or participating in coursework this Spring that may include John Cage, contributing to John Cage Unbound would be an ideal project. Any works by Cage are welcome and the staff of the NYPL Music Division are ready to offer you guidance if you need it, be it technical, logistical, or simply suggestions as to what works might be appropriate for you.
We do hope, however, that your videos will favor the process of creating the work over the performance. We believe such documentation will offer the public the greatest insight into the challenges and rewards that come with performing Cage’s music.
As you can see in the So Percussion sample video attached, the musicians’
narration provides this insight into their interpretation. The second video–a performance of 4’33” at the US-Mexico border–demonstrates how “simple” a video recording might be.
If you are interested in participating, please contact me at jonathanhiam@nypl.org
Jonathan Hiam
Curator, American Music Collection and
The Rodgers and Hammerstein
Archives of Recorded Sound
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
New York, NY 10023-7498
p (212) 870-1677
f (212) 870-1794
New collections at NYPL Music Division
Abstract:
The Leon Kirchner papers document the career of the composer, conductor and pianist from the 1950s to the early 2000s. They include scores and sketches, correspondence with important musical figures, writings, programs, clippings, photographs and posters.
Abstract:
The papers of Thomas E. Barker (1954-1988), an American composer, contain his scores, composition catalogs, correspondence, biographical and performance listing files, and files documenting Zaccho, Inc., his publishing company.
Partifi: make parts from a score
Partifi.org is a “free and automated tool for creating parts from music scores.” This tool was created by those who seek to support and encourage the study and performance of early music who found that instrumental parts were often not readily available. Not only can you upload your own score PDF, you can import public domain scores from IMSLP or browse the “publicly accessible library of user-contributed parts”.
If you upload scores and create parts from your own PDFs, please be aware that you should only do this for works for which you hold the copyright. If it is possible to purchase the parts you need, do not use Partifi to create new ones. Also, don’t forget to check the Library to see if we have parts you can check out either in print or to download from Library Music Source.
How it works
You can search Partifi to see if the parts you need are already there.
If it’s not, you can upload your own PDF or one from IMSLP.
Once you’ve done that, “Partifi attempts to automatically identify the position of each line. For optimal results, you may need to add, delete, or reposition the generated segments.”
The next step is to “Preview the parts for accuracy. At this stage, you can combine two or more parts into a single one (e.g., “violin I” and “violin II”), and add additional page breaks to avoid awkward page turns.”
The final step is sharing. “To distribute the partified score, simply share its download link. Be sure to respect the copyright laws of your country. To later edit the parts, add the score to your “favorites” or bookmark the score’s admin page. If we determine a score to be in the public domain, we may add the score parts to the Partifi library as a service to the music community.”
Two new online resource trials
For the next month you can test out the online versions of
Richard Taruskin’s The Oxford History of Western Music
You can do a keyword search or browse by volume
> Music from the Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century
> Music in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
> Music in the Nineteenth Century
> Music in the Early Twentieth Century
> Music in the Late Twentieth Century
and the
Online Music Anthology from A-R Editions
“A-R Editions’ Online Music Anthology is extensive collection of examples designed expressly for music history courses.” It contains over 425 pieces from “antiquity through the romantic era, with extensive contents for the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque”with content drawn from A-R’s Recent Researches series.
If you have comments or feedback about these resources, let us know mpal@library.illinois.edu