Deo gracias

Previously posted earlier today on the Cambridge University Library Music Collections blog MusiCB3

“All fares please!”

Last Thursday, the staff of Westminster Music Library marked one hundred years of women in transport with a commemorative First World War-themed sing-along. In partnership with London Transport Museum and their Battle Bus project, we sang our way through a variety of songs from the Great War era, setting the scene for a fascinating insight into…

New York! New York!

Colin Coleman reflects on his first visit to a IAML conference. For the full article and a range of fascinating links, read the latest IAML UK/IRL newsletter, out at the end of October…. IAML and IMS’s joint conference for 2015, Music Research in the Digital Age, was set in the bright lights of one of the most…

Finding the right notes

Following on from my earlier post about ideas for introducing your library to readers – a thoughtful post from my colleague, Helen Snelling, who went to her very first IAML international conference in the summer. Although aimed more towards academic libraries; there’s plenty to think about whatever your readership. This was first posted on the…

Getting to know you

A few weeks ago I attended LibCamp; an Unconference for librarians at Cambridge University. What is an Unconference? Well think of the way many of the ASW’s quick-fire sessions worked, but then extend each session up to 45 mins, and you’ve got an idea of the way an Unconference works. Any attendee can suggest a suitable topic,…

Take the Grade One Challenge!

Are you a string player who longs to dabble in woodwind? A pianist who wants to try playing in an ensemble? Or a complete musical novice with time on your hands and neighbours to irritate? Here’s your chance. Working in partnership with the BBC’s Get Creative initiative, National charity Making Music is encouraging people to try learning…

Pinterest and Performance Sets

Earlier on this year I led a session at the IAML (UK & Irl) Annual Study Weekend about Pinterest. Pinterest is a ‘virtual discovery tool’ which you can use to collate ideas in the form of a virtual pin board. Popular with designers, wedding planners and arts & crafts enthusiasts, the site Pinterest.com requires registration to create…

BBC Music Day – a Westminster perspective

“Bless ‘em all! Bless ’em all! The long and the short and the tall!” So says the popular World War II song; and judging by the enthusiastic response, the long, short, tall, old and young were indeed feeling blessed by Westminster Music Library’s World War II sing-along. Our event was part of the BBC’s inaugural…

ASW 2015: Reports and information (2)

A recurring topic of conversation whenever you get librarians together is space…. No! Not that kind of space…. I’m talking about shelf room in libraries. We all want it, and we’re all running out of it. Two music collections are looking to permanently relocate:- The IAML library is currently part housed at Cambridge University Library with the archives…

ASW 2015: Music therapy

The last talk of ASW 2015 was given by Ben Saul, teaching professor in Music Therapy at the Guildhall School of Music, senior lecturer at the University of the West of England, Bath, and a clinician specialising in learning disabilities and elder care. Ben raised a series of provocative questions including “What is music?” and “What…

ASW 2015: Music Libraries Trust

The Music Libraries Trust was pleased to award ten full and part bursaries to enable winners to attend the recent IAML (UK & Irl) Annual Study Weekend held 10-12 April at Aston University, Birmingham. The aim of MLT is to support and fund the education and training of music librarians in the UK and Ireland….

ASW 2015: Reports and information (1)

Throughout the ASW we had “Reports and information” sessions. These were a great opportunity to see a snapshot of life in music libraries around the country. They ranged from more academic discussions to some really fun projects reaching out to the wider community. There were prizes; there were, if not tears, some very glum faces…

ASW 2015: Heavy genealogy

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…

ASW 2015: Around the world in 4,000 tapes

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…

ASW 2015: The Bigger, the Better – A Big Data History of Music

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…

ASW 2015: How the Royal College of Organists acquired a library

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,…

ASW 2015 : “New libraries: What we can learn”

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…

ASW 2015: Academic Music Librarians seminar

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…

ASW 2015; or, the joy of Birmingham

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…

Follow the Yellow Brick Road…

….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…

Westminster Music Library – our next big adventure

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…

Celebrating in Somerset

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…