Countdown to Christmas – Day 4

A few weeks ago I was trying to sort out the blogging rota. As the MusiCB3 bloggers headed off for their Christmas breaks I was left with the Yuletide blog that will take us into the New Year. I thought I knew exactly what I was going to blog about – something festive, perhaps traditional Christmas…

Countdown to Christmas – Day 3

Christmas with the Under-5’s at Westminster Music Library With thanks to Ruth Walters and the staff of Westminster Music Library (especially Santa!)

Countdown to Christmas – Day 2

If you don’t use a library that often you might think that they are quiet, studious places. They are most of the time, but there’s always room for some Christmas festivities, such as this performance of an old Spanish carol by the Manchester Community Choir at Manchester Central Library…. For a performance in a really…

Countdown to Christmas – Day 1

Christmas at the Royal Academy of Music. “Here’s one I made earlier”. Rebecca Nye created this natty Christmas tree from a used Vistaflex roll and green paper tape.

Royal Birthday Celebrations in Dublin and London

Mounting a library exhibition is an act of faith. You aim to draw attention to some aspect of the library’s collections, and hope that it will interest those who come to see it. But there’s usually no way of gauging the impact of the display other than the number of visitors coming through the doors…

BBC Ten Pieces Secondary – inspiring a generation

“It’s Monday morning, and you’re faced with 30 sceptical 13-year-olds.” So begins Helen Wallace’s article on Ten Pieces II in this month’s BBC Music magazine, describing a scene assuredly all-too-familiar to many a secondary school music teacher. Music – and, in particular, classical music – is indeed subject to scepticism, disdain and even ridicule by…

Bodleian’s entire maps and music collection now searchable online

The Bodleian Libraries’ outstanding collection of 1.3 million maps and half a million printed music scores can now be discovered by searching SOLO, the Libraries’ online catalogue. The Libraries’ maps and music collections are among the largest and most important of their kind in the UK but, until now, records for the majority of their…

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…