Heavy Metal is not a topic that I imagine comes up with any great regularity in the field of music librarianship (some may even argue that it is not even, in fact, “music” but that is perhaps a discussion for another time), but it was the focus of an enlightening presentation given by Dr Andy…
It’s an inarguable fact that digital technologies have had a huge effect on library provision in general. The arts have perhaps been slightly slower than the sciences to explore and exploit digital potential, but the panel session on ‘The Impact of Digital Technologies on Music Provision in Libraries’ presented ample proof that music librarians have…
Jane Fanshawe got the ASW off to a thrilling and foot-tapping start with a talk on the life and work of her husband, David – ethnomusicologist, composer, and champion of world music. Now housed in a converted stable-block among the Malvern Hills, Jane has an enormous collection of reel-to-reel tapes recorded by David on his…
Karen McAulay gets in touch with her Inner Geek… It is strange to think that only a decade ago, hardly anyone would have heard of big data. For something so large, it’s relatively easy to get your head around the concept. Big data is where you assemble such an enormous quantity of digital data that…
You’ve heard the corny old joke about organists, I imagine? What’s the difference between an organist and a terrorist? You can’t reason with an organist. (Music librarians may not fully understand the joke, organists will protest, but there are clergy who will smile wrily. I’m an organist, or I wouldn’t dare say it!) Andrew McCrea,…
The ASW included a visit to the magnificent Library of Birmingham. It was truly a stunning space, but offered many stark lessons to be learnt about building new libraries, particularly functionality vs. design and the importance of consulting users and librarians throughout the process. Two presentations the following day offered a welcome positive perspective on…
IAML (UK & Irl) Academic Music Librarians Seminar, held 10 April 2015 at Aston University, Birmingham The afternoon seminar featured four presentations around the topic of supporting students with disabilities (with the exception of one paper on blogging). The three talks on disabilities were hugely enlightening. Almut Boehme (National Library of Scotland) gave a concise overview of…
I’ve just returned from the IAML Annual Study Weekend in Birmingham. Over the next couple of weeks there’ll be lots of posts on here about it. So, if you were unfortunate enough to not make this year’s ASW, you’ll be able to catch up on all the events. If you’re “missing it already”, there’ll be…
….or in my case the A14. On Friday, in common with many of you, after dropping the dog off at his own canine conference, I’ll be setting off to IAML UK’s Annual Study Weekend in Birmingham. It will be the first time I’ll be attending the whole conference rather than just being a “day-tripper”; and…
As the dust finally settled on our Arts Council funded project “Behind the Lines” (a year long programme of music workshops featuring the music and composers of the First World War) I was pondering during the depths of winter 2014 over what we in Westminster Music Library could do next…. Some might argue that being…
Last Saturday 7th February 2015 saw Somerset Performing Arts Library celebrate National Music Libraries Day. With a full day’s programme it was our best yet. We started the day with our ever popular “Sing for fun” workshop, run by local jazz singer/pianist/composer/teacher Julie Dunn (www.juliedunn.co.uk). The library rang to a great sound as they learnt…
IAML (UK & Irl) celebrated both institutional and individual Excellence in its recent Excellence Awards ceremony held at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge on Saturday April 12th 2014. The Excellence Awards are presented every two years and acknowledge activity in music libraries which demonstrates sustained good work and good practice with the potential to be adopted…
Many probably know that the Royal College of Music Library has a huge collection of writings on string instruments from the 16th century onwards, collected and donated by Edward Heron-Allen. It includes 28 bound volumes of Miscellanea on strings, players, instruments etc., containing press cuttings, articles, catalogues, and countless other ephemera from an extraordinary range…