A not-very-well kept secret--we've got the Sibelius music software on two machines in the Music Library. They are on the end near the card catalogs--look for the notices on them that say "this machine has Sibelius." You can use the large scale printer to print larger manuscripts.
Want to have access to your files online and be able to see them from any computer? Want to share your data with others (working on a group project)?
GoogleDocs might be the solution for you. GoogleDocs allows you to create documents, spreadsheets, or presentations. You can also upload files from Microsoft Word, Excel, or Powerpoint. You can then organize your documents, and if you wish, share them with other individuals.
Going on a road trip this summer? Planning to spend long hours at your computer working? Want to be able to listen to classical music radio wherever you are?
List of classical radio stations and links for streaming radio stations:
http://www.classical.net/music/links/radio.php
You can go beyond classical music and also listen for free to the following online music resources (the Library pays for them) from your computer:
African American Song
Classical Music Library
Smithsonian Global Sound
Perhaps you haven't started writing those term papers yet, or perhaps you are knee-deep in your thesis or dissertation. In either case, if you need a quick reminder about how to cite things in your paper, see the online version of the Chicago Manual of Style.
More help is available under the "How do I manage my research" section of the new Research Guides page of the MPAL website.
Online laptop registration tool now available
CITES has a new online tool to help protect laptops on campus. The Computer Registration Tool will allow anyone with a NetID to register their computer with CITES Security. Registering will help CITES Security recover the computer if it is ever lost or stolen. Registration is quick and easy.
Want to know what new music, dance, or theatre materials we have in the Music and Performing Arts Library? Use the "New Titles @ the University Library" tool. You can narrow by library and/or subject and by date received. There is also an RSS feature that will let you subscribe to receive updates when new items are received.
{From the folks at Alexander Street Press}
The new release of Classical Music Library includes new features and updates in addition to a new interface. Users can now browse all classical works by album and find associated recordings using the new Album Browse feature.
There is also updated playlist functionality, which makes it easier to create rich playlists. Individual items in a playlist can now be annotated, and links to any item, whether available in our collection or elsewhere on the Web, can easily be added. Enhance your playlist of audio tracks with reference passages, scores, external Web links, and text from a variety of sources. And sharing playlists has never been easier. Gone are the days of requesting Course Folder privileges for music professors. Now users can decide whether or not to share a personal playlist with other users at their institution, or with anyone who subscribes to Classical Music Library.
Based on user feedback, we've also improved our Advanced Search. It is now possible to limit search results to recordings where the complete work is available. And as always, we are continually working to license more content for Classical Music Library.
All other functionality and content has been migrated from the old interface, including all user accounts, playlists, and course folders. Please note that your course folders will now appear as playlists shared within your institution, and you have the option of sharing them with all Classical Music Library subscribers.
Oberlin College Libraries and Sing Out! brings us this invaluable resource. "An index to traditional folk songs of the world with an emphasis on English-language songs. Each entry includes the song title, first line of chorus, first line of verse, and full bibliographic information on the source. The index contains over 42,700 entries, and, to date, indexes over 2,225 anthologies."
Once you find the anthology that has the song you want, search our online library catalog for the song to see if we have it.
OK, while many of you seem shy about commenting on the blog, you have told me that you'd be interested in a Twitter stream from the Music and Performing Arts Library--so here it is: twitter.com/mpalillinois Click on "Follow" under the MPAL Illinois logo so you don't miss any of our Tweets.
We've activated the "Discover" buttons in the Oxford Music Online tool. So, when you look at a bibliography you can click on the blue "Discover" button to see if there is online access to the article. If not, it will provide you with a link to our catalog, which you can then search to see if we have print access.
Here's what it looks like (from the Steve Reich entry):
and when you click on the Discover button for K.R. Schwarz: ‘Steve Reich: Music as a Gradual Process’, PNM, xix (1980–81), 373–92; xx (1981–2), 225–86 you get:
If you are only reading our blog through an RSS feed reader like Google reader you might be missing the links from our Twitter feed that appear on the righthand side of our blog page. We don't always post the same information on the blog and on Twitter, so check both to make sure you're not missing anything cool!
MPAL subscribes to Classical Music Library, Jazz Music Library, and Smithsonian Global Sounds from Alexander Street Press. They have made improvements to Music Online, the cross-search platform (http://music.alexanderstreet.com) (and also to the native interfaces of each individual music collection).
Highlights of the improvements include:
* PLAY, DOWNLOAD, and ADD TO PLAYLIST icons are now filled-in blue by default. This change came from customer feedback that the gray icons were confusing and difficult to see.
* SEARCH RESULT RELEVANCY has been re-worked and improved, and relevancy is now back as the default search sort.
* SEARCH RESULTS return at the parent (album) level, with relevant child (track) results underneath.
* SEARCH TERMS ARE HIGHLIGHTED and relevant metadata is returned with search results to help understand your result.
* REFINE YOUR SEARCH USING FACETS on the right hand side of the page (as opposed to the top of the page).
* SEARCH STRING is displayed at the top of the search results page with the option to remove any field (trashcan icon) to broaden your original search.
From ASP:
We now have "Send-to-Mobile" functionality in Music Online, including all of the individual streaming music collections and some items in Opera in Video. This functionality will follow in all of our streaming video collections later this year.
What this means is that you can now send an audio track, video track, album, or playlist from our streaming collections to your mobile device to listen to later. The item that you send stays on your device for 48 hours.
Go to any of our streaming music databases and look for a cell phone icon ("Send-to-Mobile") next to each track, album, or playlist. Wherever you see that icon you can click it and obtain a “shortlink” to send and enable playback on your mobile device.
We provide several methods to send this link:
* We can send a text message to your mobile.
* We can email the link to your email address, which you can pick up on your mobile.
* You can enter the link URL manually into your mobile's web browser.
* On supported devices you can scan a QR-Code directly from your computer screen. You will need to download a QR-Code reader application to do so.
At this time, this functionality is supported on:
* Apple iPhone on 3G network or better
* Mobile Device with Android OS
Shortlinks cannot be accessed outside of your institution network after 48 hours but will still be usable within it.
For more information please visit the Help page at http://muco.alexanderstreet.com/help/view/using_your_mobile_device
You might have noticed that the library's online catalog has a new look.
You can now search both the U of I Library Catalog and the IShare Catalog with a user interface called VuFind. You can still search the local U of I Catalog through either the VuFind interface or the Classic interface. However, the IShare Catalog has been completely replaced with VuFind.
Here are a few things you should know to make VuFind easier to use.
1. In the basic search screen, "AND" is assumed, so if you want to combine multiple concepts, just type them all in the field. If you want to use NOT or OR, you have to use the Advanced Search screen and use the dropdowns.
If you have a phrase you want to keep together, use quotation marks, e.g., "folk singing".
2. If you want to search for various forms of a word, use * as the truncation symbol, e.g., symphon* will find symphony and symphonies.
3. To limit by item format, you must use the advanced search feature.
You can still use the word "digital" in your search to help limit to CDs or DVDs, although this is not perfect.
4. On the results screen you will have more options to limit your search. Use the "topics" like you would use LC Subject Headings to determine what an item is about.
5. To see the full contents of an item, you must look at either the "More details" tab, or if there is one, the "Table of Contents" tab.
5. In order to place a request for an item through IShare, you must create a user account in VuFind. Click on the "Login" link at the top right of the screen and then click on "Create a new account."
Placing a request through IShare...you must repeat your search for the item and select "All IShare Libraries" from the drop-down next to the search box. Once you find the item you want, click on the "Request this item" link at the bottom of the location information for a particular library.
6. Features currently unavailable in VuFind:
* Course reserves searching
* Call number searching
* Ability to limit items by library
* Direct export of records to Refworks
**Note: If you are in the old catalog and you click the link to "Find copies in other iShare libraries" it will take you to the LOCAL catalog in VUFind. You then need to select "All iShare Libraries" from the dropdown and repeat the search.
MPAL has two new video resources available: Dance in Video and Opera in Video.
Performances and documentaries, searchable and browseable by artist, genre, and material type.
Performances, interviews, and documentaries searchable and browseable
These new resources join Theatre in Video in our list of research resources available to U of I patrons.
MPAL now has an online subscription to the Garland Encyclopedia of World Music.
The text and the audio for this resource are now available in one place. You can search or browse.
The advanced search gives you more options, including the ability to look at a list of terms that might appear in a particular search field.
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."
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 your RefWorks 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).
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).
Are you looking for a specific article from a dance, music, or theatre journal? Do you just need any article from a specific dance, music, or theatre journal?
Here's one way to use the Music Easy Search tool on our home page to do that.
First, type the name of the journal in the search box. You can be precise and use quotation marks around it to keep those words together if you want.
Then, check the top of the results screen to see if Easy Search has suggested a match:
Once you click on the link, you'll get a list of choices. Check carefully to see which article tool has the dates you need.
The other way to approach this search is to use the new Online Journals and Databases tool linked from our site. This is recommended if you are looking for a journal that is not in dance, music, or theatre.
More information about how to do that is available at this blog post.
Here are a few things you should know now that the Library's printing system, LibPrint, has been replaced by PaperCut (we didn't get to pick the name).
1. Make sure to choose "MPAL B&W" from the print dialog box as it's not yet set as the default. This will send the job to either of MPAL's printers.
2. When prompted, log in with your NetID and password--this will send the charge to your Bursar's account.*
3. When printing PDFs please click "print" and then click "advanced". After that select the option "Print as an Image."
*If you don't have a NetID, you'll need to chose the UGL printer option in step one. This sends your print job to the Undergraduate Library and you will need to go there to pick it up and pay for it.
If you want to print in color, chose one of the color options such as UGL Color. This sends your print job to the Undergraduate Library and you will need to go there to pick it up and pay for it.
We will be getting double-sided printing at some point this year, but don't yet have that option.
Please let us know if you have any questions or problems about the new printing system--we can't fix what we don't know about!
Do you know that IDEALS is more than just a place for students to deposit their theses and dissertations? "IDEALS is the digital repository for research and scholarship - including published and unpublished papers, datasets, video and audio - produced at the University of Illinois. All faculty, staff, and graduate students can deposit into IDEALS."
Depositing your articles, chapters, presentations, research materials in IDEALS has several benefits. Here are a few:
1) A central location to find your scholarly output. RILM and Music Index are very useful, of course, but they don't include unpublished things and neither covers every scholarly publication.
2) Makes your materials more visible to scholars and others. Items in IDEALS can be found via a simple Google search.
3) IDEALS provides permanent links to your materials that you can then use in your CV or dossier.
For more information about how to get started with IDEALS, see the IDEALS Wiki.
For more information about finding and depositing theses and dissertations, see our earlier blog entry on IDEALS.
Here is more information about the related issues of author's rights and open access.
If you have questions, don't hesitate to contact Kirstin or John.
