I've prepared a report on Music materials acquired by the library in 2008-09. The report is in Microsoft Excel format: Music_08-09.xls.
Please note that the file contains several separate worksheets: a list of books, scores and audiovisual materials acquired, an accounting of funds allocated and expended, and lists of journal subscriptions and monographic standing orders that were paid in 2008-09.
I've prepared a report on Music materials acquired by the library in 2007-08. The report is in Microsoft Excel format.
If you have questions or concerns, please contact me at 8-8890 or lincics@wou.edu
Please note that the file contains several separate worksheets: a list of books and audiovisual materials acquired in 2007-08, a list of MLA Basic Music Library sound recordings that were cataloged in 2007-08, an accounting of funds allocated and expended, and lists of journal subscriptions and monographic standing orders that were paid in 2007-08.
Maybe I'm way behind the times, but just yesterday I discovered a really cool online music service called Last.fm
Based in London, UK, Last.fm markets itself as a music social networking site. You can sign up for a free account (optional to listen to music, but necessary to take advantage of many site features), and then listen to complete music tracks from several major labels for free. You can develop customized playlists and "radio" stations, tag tracks with your own keywords, and find other people to discuss music with. If you sign up for an account and download their special (free) software, the service will learn what types of music you like and recommend similar tracks. It does this based on what you listen to at the Last.fm site and, if you allow it, also what you listen to through other music software (such as iTunes or Windows Media Player) or on your iPod.
Unlike similar services, such as Pandora, you get more control over the music that you hear, and you get links to album and artist information, as well as links to purchase MP3 downloads from retailers such as Amazon.com. This makes the service really nice, like iTunes combined with a customizable online radio station.
Are there other services like this out there?
The library's subscription to the NAXOS Music Library database will cease effective Dec. 31, 2007. Our subscription to Classical Music Library will continue indefinitely.
I've prepared a report on Music materials purchased by the library in 2006-07. The report is in Microsoft Excel format.
If you have questions or concerns, please let me know by calling 8-8890 or emailing lincics@wou.edu
Please note that the file contains several separate worksheets: a list of books, scores and audiovisual materials, an accounting of funds allocated and expended, and lists of journal subscriptions and monographic standing orders that were paid in 2006-07.
The Naxos service provides access to a good core collection of Western Art (classical) music, with some Jazz and World music content as well. The content it provides is a good supplement to the collection of sound recordings we're currently able to offer on CD. As our CD collection grows, we'll want to re-evaluate Naxos.
Naxos allows professors and librarians to define playlists that could be used for reserve listening, and access can be provided to off campus locations using the library's proxy server.
This Naxos service does not allow users to download tracks to MP3 players or burn to CD. It supports listening via live a web connection only.
Click here to read published reviews of the Naxos Music Library via Academic Search Premier.
This database has a lot going on technically, and this makes it kind of fragile. Its reliance on pop-up windows is problematic. Browsers on many computers that patrons use are set to block pop-ups, and many users aren't familiar with how to alter pop-up blocker settings. The streaming media player is based on Windows Media Player 9. If users don't have this version installed on their computer, the browser will usually prompt them to install missing software components, but this can be a complicated process. I haven't tested to see if the streaming media player will even work on a Mac.
This database depends on the user having a pretty fast Internet connection. For use on campus, connectivity and sound quality is good. I don't have access to a dial-up connection, so I can't test that. I suspect this database would be difficult to use over a modem connection, however.
Today, I was having a lot of trouble with unexplained browser errors. Some error kept happening in IE 7.0 that would shut down the browser as music was playing. Also, after I set up a playlist, it had some difficulties getting tracks to play; I kept getting "tracks unplayable" errors. I could play the tracks when I accessed them directly, rather than via the playlist.
I'm still seeking feedback on the Naxos Music Library. If you have difficulty accessing the site using this link, please contact me for a User Name and Password. Our trial period ends November 30, 2006.
Recent Web browser updates may make this site a bit tricky to access, and I don't want technical glitches to prevent you from giving it a whirl, so here are some tips:
1. When you click on a track to listen to it, Naxos will launch a "pop-up" window, so if nothing happens when you click on a link to a piece of music, you may need to re-set your browser to allow pop-up windows (for this site only or temporarily for all sites). If you have the Google toolbar installed in your browser, sometimes you have to disable the pop-up blocker on that as well.
2. The Naxos streaming audio player requires certain components from Windows Media Player 9 to be installed on your computer. If your computer is lacking something that's required, most browsers will prompt to you install the missing components automatically.
Those are the two most common problems I've seen. If you've seen others, and especially if they are preventing you from trying out this database, please let me know via e-mail or phone: (503) 838-8890.
Keyword search: BALALAIKA
Music Index: 34 articles, published between 1976 and 2001. 24 in English.
IIMP: 18 articles, published between 1900 and 2006. 16 in English.
Keyword phrase search: "Frank Zappa"
Music Index: 169 articles, published between 1976 and 2006. 130 in English.
IIMP: 166 articles, published between 1971 and 2006. 143 in English.
Subject term search: Viola
Note: subject terms selected via index listing
Music Index: 420 articles, published between 1976 and 2006. 381 in English.
IIMP: 89 articles, published between 1996 and 2006. 73 in English. Note: only articles published since 1996 have subject terms assigned in IIMP.
Author term: Delay, Dorothy
Note: relevant author terms selected from index listing
Music Index: 3 articles, published between 1989 and 2001. All in English.
IIMP: 7 articles, published between 1989 and 2001. All in English.
Music Index
Titles indexed: more than 775
Dates covered: 1976 to present
Total number of records in database: more than 1 million
Includes abstracts: No
Updated: Quarterly
Supports linking to external full-text (e.g. JSTOR): Yes
Offers full-text version: No
2007 cost: $2,076
International Index to Music Periodicals (IIMP)
Titles indexed: 433
Dates covered: includes nearly 200,000 records for articles published between 1874 and 1995. 300,000+ additional records for articles published since 1996. Complete indexing for 30 "key" titles, including Journal of the American Musicological Society and Notes
Total number of records in database: more than 500,000
Includes abstracts: Yes (for every citation since 1996)
Updated: Monthly
Supports linking to external full-text (e.g. JSTOR): Yes
Offers full-text version: Yes
2007 cost: $1750 (Index only) $3260 (Full-text version)
I analyzed IIMP with Full-text to determine the extent to which the full-text content in this database overlaps with our existing serials holdings.
Summary:
54.3% of the titles are unique, meaning that we do not currently have full-text access to the content in any format (electronic, print, or microformat). 16.5% of the titles duplicate content in our existing collection of electronic, print and/or microformat periodicals.
Download this Excel file for a more detailed, title-by-title breakdown of the unique and overlapping full-text content.
Our subscription to the Music Index database is coming up for renewal soon. There is a relatively new database called International Index to Music Periodicals (IIMP) that covers similar territory. I have requested a trial of IIMP that will run for the month of November. To access the trial, contact me at lincics@wou.edu to obtain the password and then go to: http://trials.proquest.com/ptc?userid=2048170
We're currently running a free trial of a new database that offers streaming music files: the Naxos Music Library. See http://WOU.NaxosMusicLibrary.com for complete details. Our free trial ends on Nov. 30, 2006.
Please try it out and send me your feedback. If this looks like something you'd want us to add to the collection, I'll need positive comments from you.
Please contact me if you have questions or concerns.
Thanks,
Shirley
I've prepared a report on 2005-06 library acquisitions to support music programs. Click here to
Download report (Excel format).
If you have questions or concerns, please let me know by calling 8-8890 or emailing lincics@wou.edu
Please note that the file contains several separate worksheets: a list of books, scores and AV materials (video and sound recordings) acquired in 2005-06, an accounting of funds allocated and expended for music purchases in 2005-06, and lists of journal and monographic series subscriptions that were paid in 2005-06. I have also included a list containing all sound recordings cataloged in WOLF as of September 18, 2006 for your information.
