Wednesday, October 21, 2009

What we're working on Wednesday!

I hope this will be the first of many "What we're working on" Wednesdays.

Today has been a very busy day! I made some webpage changes and created new pages for a new special collection. After lunch a group of us got ready to present to MUSC 100 (music seminar). There are about 250 undergraduate music majors who attend this class. I think they enjoyed our presentation.

I also worked on updating our blog, facebook, and flickr accounts.
The afternoon was spent reorganizing the hundreds of cassette tapes in the Claude Casey Collection.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

New from Naxos

Did you know that Naxos (yes, the same one of Naxos Music Library) has a YouTube channel filled with lots of great videos?




From the Naxos Newsletter:
NEW ON NAXOS.COM
----------------
"ADAMS, J.: Nixon in China (Orth, Kanyova, Hammons, Heller, Opera Colorado Chorus, Colorado Symphony, Alsop)"
(8.669022-24)
here

"DOWLAND, J.: Lute Music (Complete) (North)"
(8.504016)
here

"YSAYE, E.: String Trio, `Le Chimay` / Sonata for 2 Violins / Cello Sonata (Kraggerud, Monsen, Tomter, Ree)"
(8.570977)

LATEST PODCAST EPISODE
----------------------
Episode for October 6th: Voila Viola! – David Aaron Carpenter Plays Elgar & Schnittke Concertos

Episode for October 13th: ‘In the Name of the Lord’ - Haydn’s Masses

Episode for October 20th: Versatile Violist – The Music of Quincy Porter

* Released every Tuesday.
Sometimes due to conflicts we may have to reschedule shows, please subscribe to our Podcast feed to stay up to date.

SOCIAL NETWORKS
---------------
We are now setup on different social networks to bring you exciting details of our catalogue in a timely manner. Come join us.

Fan us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Add us on MySpace

Friday, October 2, 2009

New websites

Working at the Music Library, you tend to build up a personal knowledge base of sources that you like to turn to when you get a specific reference question.

For some reason, I've found that lately we've had a lot of string players requesting scores + parts to things that are already checked out or aren't in print. When this happens, I turn to IMSLP, although now it's called "IMSLP / Petrucci Music Library."


http://www.musipedia.org/ is a searchable database of musical tunes, melodies, and themes. You can play, whistle, or tap your entries! Try it out!

Information Literacy Month!

President Barack Obama just announced that this month is "National Information Literacy Awareness Month."

New Grove

What is information literacy?
"Information Literacy is defined as the ability to know when there is a need for information, to be able to identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively use that information for the issue or problem at hand." -From the National Forum on Information Literacy

The Music Librarians are information literacy specialists. We can help you find materials for all types of music research!

Did you know?
*The Music Library has three full-time librarians, one full-time staff, and usually around 13 student employees.
*We are trained to look for books, sound recordings, scores, and other types of materials in libraries all around the world!
*You can contact us to schedule a research assistance session with a librarian for yourself or a small group?
*You can even ask your professor to schedule a session for the entire class!
*Not sure where things are in the library? Request a library tour! We can adjust the tour to fit any major, instrument, or research area.
*Want to request an item for the Music Library to purchase? Got a suggestion you'd like to make about the library? Our suggestion box is a straight line of contact with our head librarian.

We're always interested in hearing your suggestions- we want you to use and enjoy the Music Library. Please let us know if we can assist you in any way!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Need some easy money?

The Columbia Examiner, an online publication, is looking for instrumentalists to write about events in the Columbia area. You write as you can, and are paid based on the number of page views and comments you get.

They are currently looking for a violin examiner, a cello examiner, a flute examiner, a drumming examiner, and so very many more. To see the full list, click here.

To see examples of Columbia Examiner articles, click here.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Flat Stanley visted us!

Flat Stanley reads German
For those of you unfamiliar, Flat Stanley is a children's book.
"Stanley Lambchop...is given a bulletin board.... He hangs it on the wall over his bed, but during the night the board falls from the wall, flattening Stanley in his sleep. He survives and makes the best of his altered state, and soon he is entering locked rooms by sliding under the door, and playing with his younger brother by being used as a kite. Stanley even helps catch some art museum thieves by posing as a painting on the wall. But one special advantage is that Flat Stanley can now visit his friends by being mailed in an envelope." from wikipedia


Flat Stanley was sent to us by librarian Ashlie Conway's friend Luke who attends Kingston Elementary school in Kingston, TN. Ashlie gets to keep Flat Stanley for a week, show him around Columbia, then mail him back to Luke's classroom Tennessee. For Luke, this exercise will aid with reading by having him read the story. It'll also tie in art by having him make a paper "Flat Stanley." It'll also aid in reading, writing, and geography by reading Stanley's travel journal. But for the employees of the Music Library, having Flat Stanley around for a day was lots of fun!

Flat Stanley really liked the musical instruments we have in the Music Library.
Flat Stanley on the harp   Flat Stanley on the piano
(We normally don't let just anyone play on the instruments, but since Stanley is a VIP, we made an exception.)

Ashlie then took Stanley upstairs to see all the books and scores.
Flat Stanley in the scores
They pulled a book from the Educational Resource Center and read it.
Flat Stanley reading

Flat Stanley didn't know much about how people listened to music before radio and CDs were invented. Ashlie showed Stanley the Music Library's collection of 78 rpm recordings. She then explained how 78s later became LP or vinyl records. They even played one!
Flat Stanley learns about audio   Flat Stanley on the LP turntable


But the best thing Stanley did at the USC Music Library was find himself in the PASCAL online catalog:
Flat Stanley in the online catalog

Friday, September 18, 2009

How do you participate in social media?

Lots USC students that I know are on facebook. I see more and more turning to twitter. Myspace is still around, but seems to be an outgoing trend.

Which types of social media do you participate in? How do you feel about various University services participating in the social media realms? We want to hear from you-
leave your thoughts in the comments section!

While we're on the topic of social media, did you know that Columbia has it's own Social Media Club? The Social Media Club of Columbia meets once a month to provide ways to connect, educate, and build your personal and professional brands using social media. Visit their website at smccolumbia.com.