Allen Library Blog

Facebook Friends

2011-04-18T18:05:00.006-04:00

Help us get to 250 friends by the end of the semester!

Yes, the Allen Library does indeed have a Facebook account. Here we post helpful information about new materials we purchase, announcements regarding special events, and tips for research. The “Likes” found on our Facebook page direct you to other helpful research organizations as well. Get in touch with the Allen Library buzz, and check us out!

Can I listen to Naxos on my mobile device?

2011-04-18T18:00:00.003-04:00

YES

Naxos Music Library has free apps for iPhone, iPad, and iTouch at http://www.apple.com/itunes/ and for Android in the Android Market on your phone. Search "NML” or “Naxos Music Library.”
Download the app to your phone, then set up mobile access. To do this you will need to create a (free) personal account in Naxos Music Library:

1. First, get into Naxos Music Library through the Allen Library’s (or University Libraries’) web page (It will NOT work if you Google Naxos’s generic site).

2. Click on Playlist (in the toolbar under the search box), then click Sign Up (in the Student / Members Playlist bar).

3. On your mobile device, log into the NML or Naxos Music Library app using the personal account that you created. You can browse private and shared playlists or type a search.

Classical Music Library allows you to send track links to mobile devices. (Links are active for 48 hours.) You can also access your playlists. Here’s how to set up a selection on your mobile device:

1. In Classical Music Library, look for a cell phone icon ( "Send-to-Mobile") next to each title.

2. Click on the link to get a “shortlink” to send on your mobile device. (This enables playback.)

3. You can email or text message the link to your device, type it in, or scan it using a QR code (a special barcode readable by smart phone cameras).

4. When listening to audio on a mobile device, you will need a 3G data connection or better. Service is available for Apple iPhone or Mobile Device with Android OS. For more information, see http://clmu.alexanderstreet.com/help/view/using_your_mobile_device.

Need help? Allen Library staff are available to assist!

The 2010 Fall Book Sale

2010-11-15T20:42:00.010-05:00

Frequent Questions

2010-11-15T20:18:00.014-05:00

Can I renew my own library materials?

Yes, you are allowed to renew library materials one time.

4. If an item is overdue, you may renew it. You are, however, still responsible for fines accrued up until the point of renewal.

Should I tape torn materials myself?

NO!!! This will further damage library material.

Standard tape glue will corrode the pages of library items. Also, when you put tape on items, we can’t get it off again. The Allen Library uses specific adhesives and methods to restore damaged paper and bindings. Please bring torn or damaged library items to the circulation desk.

The Binding Blues - Do not tape pages into a score for the sake of an easier page turn. These pages are difficult to remove without damaging the original library item.

- You tore the pages of my library item just like you tore my heart

We Need Your Feedback!

2010-11-05T15:01:00.004-04:00

Want to provide feedback to the University of Hartford Libraries to let us know how we're doing? We're running a survey right now to give you that opportunity. We're looking for information on what we're doing right, what we're doing wrong, and what services you would like to see us offer. If you are a student or faculty member at the University of Hartford, please consider taking this 10-15 minute survey to help us in our quest to continue meeting your needs.

Students Survey
Faculty Survey

Your New Best Friend: Playlists

2010-10-27T17:21:00.000-04:00

So, you have a listening exam coming up and you want an easy way to make sure you study all your listening examples. What do you do?

One answer is to make a playlist. University Libraries provides access to three streaming audio databases: Naxos, Classical Music Library (CML henceforth), and DRAM. In both Naxos and CML, it is possible to make your own playlists and to see those of others. (In some cases, your instructor may have even already put together a playlist for your class.) In CML it is even possible to make playlists that include links to other sources outside of CML-- so you can put all your listening links in one place, even if they're not in the same database. You can even add links to other things, like webpages and scores in IMSLP.

Here's how it works:

1. Go to the Listen Online links on the Allen Library webpage.

2. Click on the database you want. We're going to use Classical Music Library, since you can put all the links in one place, but the process is similar for Naxos if you prefer to use that database.

3. On the CML webpage in the upper right hand corner there is a link to sign in. Click on the link to sign in. If you haven't created an account, there is a link there to create one.

4. Once you are logged in, there will be more links in the upper right hand corner. Click on the one that says "My Playlists".

5. Click on the blue link that says "Create playlist" on the right side of the page. From there you will get a page that asks you to give the playlist a name. In the box that says "annotation" you can put additional information about the playlist, or you can leave it blank. You can also choose who is allowed to see the list. Right now the option "just my class or group" is not working, but you can allow everyone who uses CML to see it, everyone at this institution, or you can keep it private by choosing "just me". If you are working with a study group, one person can create the playlist and everyone could use the same playlist, if you choose. After you've filled in the fields, click on the "Create" button.

6. At this point you can click on the link that says "Add items to Playlist" and begin adding items. To add an item from outside CML, paste the URL in the field that asks for the URL. If you are linking to a score on IMSLP, you will need to link to the page that the score link is on, not the score PDF. You can also link to items in Blackboard, on Naxos, DRAM, or from anywhere on the web.

7. To add an item from CML, simply search within CML and click on the blue circle with the white plus sign in it, and then choose the playlist you'd like to add it to, or at this point you can also choose to create a new playlist and then add the item to that playlist instead.

8. Once you have added items to the playlist, you can go back and edit or remove items, or change who can see your playlist. To use the playlist, simply select the playlist from the My Playlists tab (or institutional playlists if you want a playlist someone else has created and made public). Then you can click on Play all items, or click on the individual titles shown in blue to play individual tracks or access individual pages. That's it! When you're done using CML be sure to remember to log out so someone else can use it, we have a limitation on the number of people who can be using it at one time.

For more help creating playlists or any other assistance with library resources, feel free to drop in to see us, call or email us, or use the handy chat window on the homepage. Remember, we're here to help you make the most of what we have to offer, and we like to help!

Frequent Questions

2010-10-08T14:01:00.008-04:00

If the Allen Library does not have an item that I think should be in its collection, can I request that it be purchased?

Yes, the Allen Library welcomes suggestions for purchase from patrons. Please stop by the circulation desk and ask for an acquisition request form. An online version of the form can be found at: http://library.hartford.edu/services/suggtitle.asp. You are also encouraged to bring suggestions to Tracey Rudnick, Allen Library Head Librarian. We try to fill requests that fall within curricular objectives whenever possible. If the item you suggest is not immediately on hand, we can assist you in borrowing it from another library through interlibrary loan.

Can I receive notification that my library items are coming due?

Yes, you may set a variety of message and notification settings by logging into the online library catalog (http://hartford.waldo.kohalibrary.com/). The library catalog log in can be found at the top of the catalog homepage. Enter your 8-digit ID as the login. Enter your surname (with capitalized first letter) as the password if you are logging in for the first time.

Before making any notification changes, please make sure you have an email listed that you check regularly in the contact information box found under the tab “My Personal Details” found on the left side of the page.

Under the tab “My Messaging,” you may set an advanced notice for upcoming due items. Select the number of days prior to an item’s due date, on which you would like to receive a notification from the drop-down menu to the right of “Advance Notice.” Next, check the box in the “Email” column. Finally, click on “Submit Changes” to activate this notification change.

In Summary the four steps:

What We Did This Summer

2010-09-07T19:28:00.002-04:00

With the Fall semester underway, it's time to get the Allen Library blog back in gear. We took the summer off from blogging, holding onto all of our juicy information until everybody was back and ready to read it. Although it was fairly quiet in here this summer (except for when the summers-only music ed students were here), we were definitely not just sitting idly, waiting for the new semester to start. So here's just a tidbit of what we were up to this Summer:

We went live with the Hartt Composers Database, a discovery tool for learning about scores we own of works by Hartt faculty composers. It's aimed at chamber works and is easily searchable by instrumentation, so it is very useful if you're looking for something to play. More on this in a future post.
If you're an undergraduate student, you might remember taking HLM 020, the class that introduces you to the library and its resources. A good chunk of my summer was spent redesigning that from the ground up. My goal was to make it more user-friendly, more interactive, and, most importantly, more useful. We're halfway through the first assignment out of twelve, and it seems to be going smoothly, so it's been a success so far. Later in the year, I'll be working on working the new tutorials into the regular website.
We reached the one year anniversary of Koha, our library catalog. In honor of this, we (Allen and Mortensen Libraries together) completely redesigned the look of the catalog. What used to be plain and generic is now much more visually appealing and unique. You won't find any other library catalog that looks like this!
Both seminar rooms now have new whiteboards, both of which have music staves on them! They are much whiter than the old one, and we'll be working hard to keep them that way. We have a huge TV that is going in the large seminar room, so that will be going up sometime this semester. We also have a faster computer in the small seminar room now.
In the "good for them, bad for us" category, both Jenny Crum (Public Services Coordinator) and Andrew King (Cataloging Coordinator) decided to leave the Allen Library in order to pursue more performing and teaching. Although it will be difficult to find replacements, we are in the process of doing that right now. I'll let you know when we have some good news.

This is just the tip of the iceberg (sorry for the cliché), but it should give you an idea of what we were up to. Future posts will give some more detail on some of these, and we have some other good blog posts in mind that should be coming soon. I hope everybody had a great summer and I look forward to seeing everybody again in the library!

Graduation Time! What you need to know about graduating and the library

2010-05-05T10:54:00.003-04:00

Hello all! The sun is out, the flowers are blooming, finals are looming, it's that time of year.........graduation! But before you walk, receive your diploma, attend the requisite parties, and get on with the rest of your life, there are a few things you need to know about your library account in order for this process to go as smoothly as possible.

First, do you know if you have items that are checked out, overdue, or of you have fines? If not, you can find this information by logging into your account from our website. You can accomplish this by clicking on either 'My Account' or 'Go to Catalogue' and entering your ID Number as your login and your capitalized last name as your password (or whatever you've set it to if you've changed it). As long as you have given us a current e-mail address, you should also receive e-mails letting you know that you have library business to take care of. If you notice any problems, or things that don't look right, please come talk to us so we can resolve any issues!

Next, any fines you may have, or items you have checked out must be paid or returned on or before May 14th in order for you to receive your diploma. Please be aware that we are only open until 4:30pm on the 14th and will be closed the Saturday and Sunday of graduation weekend (the 15th and 16th), so you will need to take care of everything library related prior to this time.

Last, your library privileges don't end with graduation! All you will need is an alumni ID card, which you can obtain by a quick visit to the Office of Alumni Relations. With this card you will have many of the same borrowing privileges you had as a student. If you have any questions about how to obtain the alumni card, or about its associated benefits, you can call 888.UH.ALUMS or email alumni@hartford.edu.

Good luck on finals, and we wish you the very best in your post-University of Hartford adventures!

Things to Check Out--The "Is it Musical Theater or Musical Theatre?" edition

2010-03-26T17:35:00.009-04:00

Greetings!

This edition of Stuff to Check Out is mostly for the Musical Theater majors, but really for anyone who likes musicals.

We have some shiny new goodies for you. Our fearless leader, Tracey, has heard from the music theater faculty that we were missing a lot of material you need. To correct this, there has been a steady stream of compact discs, librettos and vocal scores for new (or newish) musicals flowing through the back room. We have Spamalot; Light in the Piazza; The Producers; Wicked; Legally Blonde; Jersey Boys; Spring Awakening; Thoroughly Modern Millie; In the Heights; Next to Normal; Avenue Q; Caroline, or Change; Hairspray; Billy Elliot; The Wedding Singer and The Wild Party. I'm probably missing some, but you get the idea.

Your best bet for finding musicals is to search the catalog for the item(s) you want. (If you need help, ask at the desk, that's why we're here.) The vocal scores (piano/vocal sheet music) for these will be housed in Closed Stacks because there has been a history here of theft and vandalism (i.e. people tearing out pages instead of checking out scores or photocopying portions they need). You'll still be able to check them out, but you'll need someone to retrieve them and check them out to you like we do for reserves and CDs. The libretti (texts/librettos/whatever you'd prefer to call them) are housed with the opera libretti in the ML50's. These you can browse by yourself. And the compact discs are behind the desk, as always.

So, come on in and see us. All the world may be a stage, but we're a music library, so that's pretty cool too.

Things to Check Out--The Music Ed. edition

2010-03-26T17:21:00.008-04:00

Hello once more from the back room.

Just a short post today, as I was not a music education major (I've never been good with kids) and thus do not have a lot to say on the subject. I do, however, want to highlight what I'm told are some pretty sweet books on Music Education that we've just made available to you.

We have just obtained several volumes in the Teaching Music Through Performance In... series. We have multiple volumes and some recordings for the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band set, as well as select volumes for Teaching Music Through Performance in Beginning Band, Teaching Music Through Performance in Choir and Teaching Music Through Performance in Jazz. So there we are, something for everyone, at least everyone who happens to be a Music Education major.

To find the books, you can type the phrase Teaching Music Through Performance into our catalog to see the whole series or go directly to the following areas:

Band: MT733 T43
Beginning Band:MT733 T433 (note the subtle difference in numbers)
Choir: MT875 T43
Jazz: MT733.7 T43 (again, note the subtle difference in numbers from the band and beginning band volumes)

Up next: Musical Theater majors, boy do we have some fun for you!

Allen Library's First Video Tutorial

2010-03-12T15:22:00.002-05:00

We are always looking for new ways to help you find information, and today marks our first foray into video tutorials. Instead of just writing down instructions and adding in some screenshots, these video tutorials (okay, there's only one right now) actually show you the whole process and explain what is happening. Make sure you have your speakers on so you can hear the explanation. The first video tutorial is a quick one-minute presentation on how to find books in our catalog. I'll probably be adding some more complex ones, but this one should be a good start. You can find it here: http://library.hartford.edu/allenlibrary/findbook_video.asp. Please let me know what you think about it and feel free to send some suggestions as to what tutorials you would like to see in the future!

Things to check out: The Henry Brant and fun with facsimiles edition.

2010-03-05T13:18:00.009-05:00

Greetings once again from the back room of the Allen Library.

This week's main obsession is the new (to us, at least) orchestration book by the late Henry Brant*. If you're unfamiliar with his work, do at least check out his orchestration of Ives' Concord Sonata.* It's worth a listen. One of Brant's strengths as a composer was definitely his command of orchestration, and it shows in this book, published posthumously in 2009. Brant had an interest in spatial groupings of instruments as well as standard orchestration. What makes this book unique is that instead of simply showing you ranges and fingerings like some orchestration books, it focuses on creating textures and combining timbres for effect. He also discusses the particular sonorities of specific instruments and what is unique about them, and how to use them to their best advantage. The focus is on combinations of instruments and how to make them work together in interesting ways.

There's an interesting chapter on the Piano as an orchestral instrument, which is something many composers seem unable to use to full effect. There are also multiple chapters on writing for different types of percussion instruments. But what stands out most is that this is a true guide for the orchestrator, discussing all aspects of the craft in methodical detail, including how to make orchestration decisions. You can check out more of Brant's work on DRAM *and Naxos* as well as in the library.

Another fun book that came in to the library this week was received as a gift from a kind patron. Heinrich Schutz to Henry Miller is technically an exhibition catalog for the 2001 exhibition of the Frederick R. Koch Collection, currently housed at Yale University, but we have classed it with the manuscript facsimiles, as it contains examples of many composers' manuscripts. In it you can see the remarkably elegant scores of Maurice Ravel and Jean Sibelius, the artfully crossed-out section of Faure's op. 37, the Nocturne in B-flat major, and, perhaps most surprisingly, a lovely pencil-sketched landscape by Mendelssohn from his tour of Scotland in 1847.

While most of these are only single page examples of the full item, they are interesting examples, and may spark an idea for further musicological research. More images from this collection can be found online at the Beinecke Rare Books Library website.

Well, that's all for now. The next installment of Things to Check Out will focus on some new music education resources we're excited about. More about that when they have all arrived.

*sorry, the Grove Music, Naxos and DRAM links will require you to login to use those resources unless you're on campus. If you're unfamiliar with how to use them, feel free to contact us for help!

The Small Seminar Room Becomes Useful

2010-02-26T15:18:00.005-05:00

Until recently, the Allen Library Small Seminar Room was just a room with a table. We've done quite a bit of work in there over the past few months, and I'm happy to report that it is much more useful now. There is now a very nice TV in this room that is connected to a computer, a DVD player (which can also play CDs), and a VCR. Instead of just being useful for sitting around a table and talking, the Small Seminar Room can now be used for most of your standard A/V needs. We even have a very easy to use wireless keyboard and mouse that you can check out from the circulation desk. This will make collaborative work much easier. As long as there is not a previously scheduled class or meeting taking place, anybody is free to use this room; you just need to check out the key from the circulation desk.

One small word of warning: The computer in the Small Seminar Room is not the best, so you may have difficulty using some programs or websites (Naxos Music Library doesn't seem to play well with this computer). We are working on upgrading to a faster computer, so I'm hoping that this won't be an issue for long. If you can think of anything else that would help improve the room, please let us know!

Scandinavian Music

2010-02-19T16:10:00.002-05:00

Greetings,

Periodically the Allen Memorial Library receives gifts containing scores, recordings, and/or music or dance related books. And oftentimes these gifts contain items we hadn't thought to order, but add something really great to the collection nonetheless. A case in point is a recent gift of CDs we received that include a lot of Scandinavian music. Included among them are three CDs from a series entitled "Musica Sveciae." Musica Sveciae is a recorded anthology, financed by a government grant, of Swedish music from ancient times to the beginning of the 20th Century.

Then Svenska Messan [The Swedish Mass]/Johan Helmich Roman (1694-1758)
MD2010 R75 S9

Roman was an important early figure in Swedish music, who served to innovate and reform Swedish church music.

Wilhelm Peterson-Berger (1867-1942)
MD3.1 P47

This disc includes the composer's Third Symphony, Romance for Violin and Orchestra in d minor, and the song cycle "Gullebarn's Lullabies."

Stenhammar Sanger [Songs]
MD1620 S82 S2

Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927) was a great admirer of both Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius, and looked to their music to develop his own Nordic style. The 30 songs on this disc encompass a wide variety of moods, and draw from the literary works of many contemporary Swedish writers, including Bo Bergman (1869-1967).

Also part of the gift is a disc of string quartets by the Swedish composer Hilding Rosenberg:

Hilding Rosenberg String Quartets 2,5, & 8.
MD452 R81 Q2

Rosenberg (1892-1985) was a prolific composer who wrote 14 string quartets, spread over the course of his long life. No. 5 is dedicated to Jean Sibelius.

And finally, we now have the Jean Sibelius Quartet performing string quartets written by contemporary Finnish composers:

MD452 R24 Q2

This disc features Einojuhani Rautavaara's (b. 1928) String Quartet no. 2, op. 12; Joonas Kokkonen's (1921-1996) String Quartet no. 1; and Jouni Kaipainen's (b. 1956) String Quartet no. 3, op. 25.

Please drop by and have a listen.

About the New Website

2010-01-28T16:44:00.001-05:00

As you have probably noticed, there have been many changes on our website. While we are hoping to eventually change the look of the site to match up more closely with the University’s new website design (which should be up soon), there are several exciting new changes that we are sure you will like. Here are just a few of them:

That five-tabbed search box in the center of our homepage is a very valuable tool for searching a variety of our resources in order to find library materials, research assistance, articles, databases, and course reserves. Many of your searching needs will be met with this one box, so plan on becoming very familiar with it.
We changed the navigation to focus on tasks rather than resources. This means, for example, that you don’t need to know about eJournals AtoZ in order to find full-text articles online. You just need to click on the Find Articles, Journals, etc. link and the next page will point you in the right direction (you can also use the Articles & Journals tab in the abovementioned search box).
Once you figure out which resources you need, you can access the most commonly used ones in our Top Tools section, found in the left-side navigation bar. You’ll also find a lot of the important performing arts resources (Naxos Music Library, Oxford Music Online, etc.) underneath the large search box.

It may seem like an odd time to roll out a new website and I know it is very sudden, but for reasons out of our control we had to go live a little sooner than expected. So expect to see some more improvements in the next few months as we consult with you, our users, to see how we can make it even better. We’ll try to keep everybody informed on what is happening and I encourage you to let us know what you think of the changes!

Online Librarian Chat: That New Box on the Homepage

2010-01-22T10:15:00.008-05:00

As you may have noticed, there is a new box on the Allen Library homepage. Look to the right of this text to see a picture of it (this one is just an image, so you have to go to the Allen homepage to actually use it). For those of you who were familiar with the box that used to be on our homepage, it still serves the same purpose. It allows you to chat with a library staff member online. You simply type a message in the bottom section of the box, press Enter on your keyboard, and wait for a reply. We didn't just change the look of the box, however; there are several new features that make this a huge improvement.

1) Multiple library staff members can receive your message at the same time, so it's much more likely that your question will be answered promptly.

2) Whoever answers your question can "transfer" the chat to another staff member if they decide that someone else is better suited to answer the question. This improves the chances of you receiving the best possible answer.

3) We can email the transcript of the chat to another staff member, so even if the best person to answer the question is not currently available, we can still send your question to them.

4) You can pop the chat out of your current browser window by clicking on the green arrow: This will allow you to continue navigating our website as we answer your question without worrying about losing the chat box.

You'll probably see this chat box appearing in other places on our website, and each one will be designed to send questions to those staff members who are best equipped to answer questions about the topic at hand. We expect this tool to be very valuable. I encourage you to try it out, even if it is to just say hi. Please let us know what you think about it!

New Releases

2010-01-15T09:35:00.010-05:00

Greetings from the backroom, once again. As you probably know, the backroom is where new items come to get all the trappings of the Allen Library and be released. But since you aren't waiting on the shelving carts for Jen or me to bring these new items out for your perusal, I thought you might like to know what some of them are.

I.X.1905 "Sonata" / Leoš Janáček (1854-1928) M23 J33 S1

This is a beautiful Bärenreiter Urtext edition published in 2005. It features a lengthy introduction to the piece with bibliography. The Sonata itself is a devastating work, based on the unjust murder of a university student in Brno. If you haven't heard it yet, listen to Ivan Moravec's interpretation available on Naxos.

On An Overgrown Path / Leoš Janáček (1854-1928) M25 J33 O5

This is also a Bärenreiter Urtext edition with a rich and dark purple cover. The lengthy preface contains much valuable information, and again there is suggested reading. On An Overgrown Path is in two series, with an additional set entitled "Paralipomena." The first series is a collection of short pieces with descriptive titles (e.g. Words fail!, Unutterable anguish, The barn owl has not flown away!), but the remaining compositions only have tempo indications as identifiers. Janáček's piano music is extraordinary. Piquant, nervous, innocent, delicate, quiet. Do check it out.

Piano Music of Africa and the African Diaspora vol. 4 M21 A378 V4
Piano Music of Africa and the African Diaspora vol. 5 M21 A378 V5
Senku / William Chapman Nyaho MD21 C436 S4
Asa / William Chapman Nyaho MD21 C436 A8

William H. Chapman Nyaho, from Ghana, is an active international performer, scholar, teacher, and clinician. He compiled and edited these two volumes of piano music, both of which are classified as "Advanced." Much of the music features large spans for the hands and innovative rhythmic figures. The composers come from a wide variety of places: Nigeria, Jamaica, England, Egypt, and the U.S., among others. You may listen to many of the compositions on the two CDs as well. As Maya Angelou wrote in a review of Senku, "This CD will provide moments of discovery so delicious, that the listeners will be made to laugh out loud and to compliment not just Dr. Chapman Nyaho, but themselves at their good fortune in finding these composers and this pianist."

Piano Concerto No. 2, op. 18 / Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943) M1011 R11 C2
Romanian Folk Dances / Béla Bartók (1881-1945) M25 B29 R6

These two are replacement copies. Fortunately we had the funds available to buy new copies of these well worn compositions. The Rachmaninov is a Schirmer edition (apologies, but actually it doesn't have any unwanted editorializations!), and the Bartók is a Masters Music Publications edition.

If you aren't a pianist, don't worry. New items for all instruments are coming in all the time. Jen will let you know about some more of them soon...

D-S-C-H: A Wikipedia Story

2010-01-08T12:03:00.000-05:00

Back in March 2009, I wrote about a post called Why I Love Wikipedia. In this post, I discussed how Wikipedia can be used as a research aid without breaking the cardinal rule of not directly citing Wikipedia. A great example of this came up recently. One of our patrons was wondering how he could find the correct terminology for a compositional technique. While he was partially wondering how one would do this in general (when you know what you're looking for but don't know what it's called), he was also wondering specifically about the technique of turning names (often the composer's own) into musical motifs. Two well known examples of this are B-A-C-H (B♭, A, C, B♮) and D-S-C-H (D, E♭, C, B♮ [for Shostakovich]). One solution might be to look in articles and books that discuss the work and see if they mention what this technique is called. Another solution, however, is to try out this newfangled Internet thing. So here's what I did:

1) First, I searched in Google for D-S-C-H.

2) The first results was the Wikipedia entry for the musical motif DSCH, so I clicked on that.

3) The second sentence of that Wikipedia entry refers to this theme as a "musical cryptogram." That sounded reasonable, so I clicked on that.

4) The entry for "musical cryptogram" seemed to describe what I was looking for, but I wanted a more authoritative source. A quick scroll to the bottom revealed a reference (all good Wikipedia articles list references!) for "Cryptography, Musical" in New Grove, 2nd ed.

5) Since we have access to New Grove through Oxford Music Online, I took a look at the "Cryptography, Musical" there and sure enough, that's exactly the term I was looking for. Also, the New Grove article had much more information than the Wikipedia article!

So, with very little effort, I was able to use Google and Wikipedia as research tools while still ending up with a highly authoritative source to answer the question. Consider this encouragement to do the same when you're doing your own research!

Allen Library Bids Adieu to 2009

2009-12-18T08:41:00.001-05:00

Now that the rest of the staff have had an opportunity to be heard on the blog (don't worry, you'll be hearing from them again), it's back to me for the last word of the year. Years from now, when I look back at 2009, I'll remember it as a year of excitement and hope...

[Cue hilarious/sentimental slide show, sappy music, and Wonder Years style voice over]

But seriously, a lot happened this year. In case you missed anything along the way, I just wanted to go through some of the things that 2009 brought with it for the Allen Library. These aren't really in any particular order, I just enjoy counting down (I also enjoy exclamation points, as you'll soon find out).

10. All of our public computers were updated to include Office 2007/2008. No more worrying about what to do with .docx files!

9. The University Libraries introduced a new format for our online subject guides, which are easier to read and offer more functionality. There are a lot of great Allen-related guides, so I hope everyone is taking advantage of them!

8. We held two very successful book/music sales, one in the Spring and one in the Fall. We're already starting to collect materials for next year!

7. The large seminar room was made more functional with the addition of a computer podium and a document camera. We're hoping to see some improvements to the small seminar room over winter break, so make sure to take a look when you're back in the Spring.

6. We received a very generous donation of books and score from Martha Hinrichsen that included (among many other things) a lot of 20th century works we didn't already have and a bunch of facsimiles of original manuscripts (Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Mozart's Don Giovanni, etc.). It will take awhile for all of this to be added to our collection, but we're very excited to have these new materials.

5. After years of only allowing books and scores out for three weeks at a time, we extended our general loan policy to four weeks. With the one renewal that is allowed, you can now keep books and scores out for eight weeks!

4. We started experimenting with more ways to keep in touch with you, our patrons, this year. The new Facebook page started in March and this blog started in February. We also introduced live reference chat (via Meebo) this year.

3. Koha. Our new library catalog. Love it or hate it, it has changed how we do a lot of things in the library. There are a lot of improvements on the horizon for this catalog, so stay tuned for more!

2. We brought on three new full-time staff members this year. Jenny started as Public Services Coordinator in January, Tracey started as Head in August, and Andrew received a promotion to full-time Cataloging Coordinator in November.

1. We got a new stapler!!! Okay, maybe this shouldn't be in the number one position, but have you tried it out yet? After years of rotating between staplers that each worked about 10% of the time, we finally have one that works every time, and with very little effort! Everyone who has used it has been very excited.

So that's a little bit of what happened in 2009 at the Allen Library. We have a lot of plans for 2010, so make sure you keep following the blog to stay up-to-date on everything that's going on. Enjoy the rest of the year, and we'll see you in 2010!

Help, I'm Lost!!!!

2009-12-11T14:55:00.006-05:00

How many times has this happened to you? You're diligently searching the library's catalogue trying to find that score you need for your lesson tomorrow, and you see the words, 'Item Lost.' What does this mean? Well, most simply: The item you want is not here. This does not necessarily mean that it is gone for good, or actually, physically lost (it probably isn't hiding under a chair or behind a shelf in the library). More likely than not, what you are looking for is just really, really overdue. That being said, if it's something your scholastic and musical future depends upon, come talk to us, and we can place a hold and recall on the item in question. Now, this isn't guaranteed to get the item back, but it has been known to work in the past.

Now, you might ask, what, exactly causes an item to become lost, and what do I do if I have something that has come to be considered lost?

First part first: Our system (the notorious Koha from blogs past) automatically marks items as 'Lost' when they are 45 days overdue. The patron in question may have actually lost or destroyed an item, or they may have forgotten to renew it. Whatever the reason, the item has now entered the wonderful world of 'Lost' which is full of all kinds of exciting and fun things (fines) for the patron to whom it is checked out.

As for the second question, if you find that you (gasp!) have an item that has ventured into 'Lost' territory, fear not, my dear! You will be fed to Sparkles The Troll and his pet unicorn, Fred, who are chained with dental floss outside the back doors of the library. Oh, and don't grovel, you will only make things worse for yourself. Sorry, nice knowing you.

Okay, perhaps not. The reality is far less interesting or grisly. Basically, you get.......Brand......New.......FEES!!! A Lost Item Replacement Fee and a Lost Item Processing Fee, to be exact. The replacement fee varies depending upon what the item in question is. Two of our more popular item types for example are books, which will cost you $38 (default, if we have the purchase price, you will be charged accordingly), and scores, which will run you $25 (also default). The processing fee is a fixed $15. And yes, if you would like to continue to check things out of the library, and/or receive your diploma, you will have to pay these fines.

Before you begin to wonder how many meals you will need to skip in order to pay off the library and prevent us from sending Sparkles and Fred after you, there is hope. Your best course of action would be to return the item that is now oh so overdue. At this point *BOTH* the replacement and processing fees will be forgiven, and you will be assessed a long overdue fee, which is much nicer on the wallet than its two older brothers.

Now, if, perchance, you HAVE actually lost something, you can either pay both the replacement and processing fees, or you can come talk to us about purchasing a replacement copy yourself (which gets the item back on the shelf in a more expeditious manner, and can often be less expensive).

Another instance an item can be marked as 'Lost' is when it is not overdue, but it has been damaged beyond repair by something other than normal wear......say your dog gives it a good chewing, drops it in a mud puddle, then buries it in the back yard (No! Bad Fluffy! No Biscuit!). You would then be responsible for the item's replacement (see previous paragraph).

I hope this helps you better understand the ins and outs of lost, and we will keep Sparkles and Fred securely tethered out back. For now. :)

Things to check out: premiere edition.

2009-12-04T15:14:00.008-05:00

One of the fun parts of my job is that I get to see every new item that comes into the library, whether it's a new acquisition, or a gift from someone's personal collection. I've also been here a while and have seen some neat things that people may not know are available to them. My blogs, therefore, will primarily highlight some of these interesting items. Sometimes there will be a theme, sometimes it will be a little of everything, but I hope it will inspire you to come use the resources here, because that's why they're here, after all.

Most of what I'm highlighting today is fairly new to the collection. Disclaimer: I have not read or viewed all of these-- these are not reviews, just pointing out some new things and why they may be interesting to you, the patrons of the Allen Memorial Library. Call numbers are in red, and clicking on them will take you to the item in the catalog.

1. Alex, Ross. The rest is noise. New York: Picador, 2007. Print. ML197 R82 R47 2007

This book we've had for a while, but we recently got a second copy because it has been very popular. Alex Ross, music critic for The New Yorker, writes about music and the 20th century.

2. Chapman Nyaho, William, perf. Asa. 2008. CD. MD21 C436 A8

Chapman Nyaho, William, perf. Senku. CD. (Coming Soon.)
Nyaho, William H. Chapman. Piano Music of Africa and the African Diaspora. New York: Oxford UP Inc, USA, 2008. Print. Volume 4: M21 A378 V4 Volume 5: M21 A373 V5

These all go together. William Chapman Nyaho has been compiling a series of scores by composers of African heritage, and has also recorded many of these works. We have two volumes in the series Piano Music of Africa and the African Diaspora, and the two compact discs contain much of the material in those two volumes. I've given the discs a listen and there's some interesting music here. If you want something different to play on a recital, check these out.

3. Cursive II . Perf. Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan. Opus Arte: Kultur. DVD. MO GV1783 L55 C2

Modern dance set to the music of John Cage.

4. Edgard Varese Composer, Sound Sculptor, Visionary. New York: Boydell, 2006. Print. [REF] ML410 V29
This is an astoundingly beautiful book. It has excellent scans of Varese's manuscripts, photographs, well-thought out layout, and interesting scholarly content. It's reference, so you can't take it out of the library, but the articles are relatively short.

5. Henderson, Clayton W. The Charles Ives Tunebook. New York: Indiana University Press, 2008. Print. [REF] ML134 I95 H64 2008

This is a new edition of an old favorite. It traces the tunes Ives used in various works and their sources. Great if you're researching Ives or just curious about what you're hearing when you're listening to a particular work.

6. Valerio, John. Post-Bop Jazz Piano - The Complete Guide with CD! Hal Leonard Keyboard Style Series (Hal Leonard Keyboard Style). New York: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2005. Print. MT239 V35 P6
Recommended by Prof. Peter Woodard, Chair of the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz and jazz pianist. Technique book with accompanying CD.

"Cataloging Review - Ask at Circulation Desk"

2009-11-25T17:35:00.005-05:00

Many of you have probably encountered an item in our catalog with a status of "Cataloging Review - Ask at Circulation Desk" before. What does it mean exactly? The short answer is that the particular item is unavailable at the moment and you cannot have it right now. But the long answer opens the door to the mysterious backroom and its happenings...

When a book (or a CD, DVD, LP, or any other library acquisition) arrives (as a gift or as an order that the library placed), it must go through a series of 5 steps before it will be available for you, voracious patron, to check out. First, we must obtain for it a good and suitable record that catalogers have created and edited so that it is eminently findable by patrons. (In rare cases no such record exists, so we must create one). Second, the item must be assigned a call number. Third, it must be given a barcode and an item record in the catalog. It is at this point that it will become visible to you with the "Cataloging Review - Ask at Circulation Desk" status. Fourth, the item must be processed. Adorned with stamps and numbers and tape and a few other accoutrements, it is almost ready for the public. Fifth, it must be reviewed and released. The review process is in place to make sure that it has been processed correctly and that all the information associated with the item is correct and adheres to strict cataloging guidelines.

The whole process then is rather lengthy, but... if you find something with this status and would really like the item sooner rather than later, feel free to request and fill out an "Expedite Item Form," available at the Circulation Desk. It will be passed on to the backroom, and we will bump up that item in line to get it out to you sooner. It includes a "Date Needed" section, and depending on the complexity of the item, we can have it for you between 1 and 5 days. (Most often, it tends to take only a day!)

Naxos Music Library on iPhone!

2009-11-20T16:47:00.008-05:00

Naxos Music Library (NML) playlists are now available through your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Info for everyone: Naxos Music Library is a library resource that lets you listen to more than 35,000 CDs online. U of H students, faculty, and staff can get into Naxos Music Library here and start listening. (Off-campus access requires login with a UH email login/password.) You can create playlists in NML or listen to instructors’ playlists. Download the new app (below) if you want to listen to those playlists on an iPhone or iPod Touch.

More info for iPhone and iPod Touch users: download the new NML App for free, search the iTunes App Store for "Naxos Music Library," or find download/installation instructions on Naxos’s blog. (Allen staff have not tested this yet. We will post more information as it becomes available.)

If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, we’d love to hear about your experience. Feel free to drop by and show us how it’s working for you! If you have questions, please contact us.

Enjoy!

Meet the Allen Staff!

2009-11-13T17:39:00.001-05:00

Starting next week, I won't be the only one writing blog posts. We now have five full-time staff members and we'll all be contributing on a regular basis. This being the case, I thought you might like to learn who we are. We'll start with our new Head...

Tracey Rudnick, Head
Tracey just started with us about three months ago. She was most recently the Music & Dramatic Arts Librarian (and music/drama library head) at the University of Connecticut. She was a percussionist, and did her undergrad at UC Davis and graduate degrees (Musicology, Library and Information Science) at UT Austin.

Jennifer Olson, Senior Cataloger
Jen has been here since June 2001, when she was a DMA Composition student at Hartt, taking a break from studies. She has since gone over to the dark side and is nearing completion of her Master of Science in Library Science degree at Simmons College, which she hopes to finish in May 2010. She occasionally emerges from the back room when the desk staff allow her to interact with patrons.

Jennifer Crum, Public Services Coordinator
Jenny started in her current position in January 2009, but also worked in the library as a graduate assistant from 2003-2006 while persuing her MM and GPD at Hartt. She also performs in the area as a freelance cellist and is an active private teacher.

Andrew King, Cataloging Coordinator
Andrew first worked at Allen in public services as the Access Services Coordinator from the fall of 2005 to the summer of 2007. After finishing his MM in Piano Performance he returned, this time working in the back room as a cataloger. A few weeks ago he was promoted to the full time
position of Cataloging Coordinator.

And as you've probably figured out by now if you've been reading this blog, I'm Sam Cook, Public Services Librarian. I started here in September 2007, but I was also a student employee at the circulation desk and in the back room from 2003-2004. Back then I was here at Hartt finishing up a BM in clarinet performance, and then I went to University at Albany, SUNY for a Master of Science in Information Science degree (fancy name for a library degree).

So that's our full-time staff. You'll be hearing from all of us in the upcoming weeks as we each provide our own perspective on what exciting things are going on in the Allen Library. I hope you enjoy the change and, as always, feel free to comment on anything we say!

Music and Book Sale: Now Half the Price!!

2009-11-11T10:02:00.003-05:00

Now that we're a couple of weeks into the Music and Book Sale here at Allen Library, we've decided to mark everything at 50% off. The new prices are:

Books (Hardcover) - $1
Books (Paperback, 200+ pages) - $1
Books (Paperback, 200- pages) - 50 cents
Scores (25+ pages) - $1
Scores (25- pages and mini scores) - 50 cents
LPs - 50 cents
CDs - $1
Art books - Half off the price on the blue sticker

These are ridiculously low prices, so feel free to drop in and buy lots of stuff!

Allen Library Fall 2009 Music and Book Sale

2009-10-26T13:43:00.005-04:00

Everybody's favorite time of the semester is finally here. Allen Library's Fall 2009 Music and Book Sale begins Wednesday, October 28, at 10:00 am. If you haven't experienced an Allen Library book sale before, you're in for a treat. Not only do we have a lot of scores, music books, art books, and sound recordings, but they're really cheap. Most books and scores are just $1 or $2, so you can purchase many items without spending too much. There's a lot of really good items in this sale that we would have kept if we didn't already have, so you'll want to be sure to take a look. The sale will probably run for at least two weeks, but you'll want to come early before all of the best stuff is gone. See you soon!

Why Subject Guides Are Even More Awesome Than Before

2009-09-28T13:18:00.004-04:00

Back in April (April 2, 2009 to be exact) I put up a post called Why Subject Guides Are Awesome. About a month after that, the rest of the University Libraries Web Committee and I started working on a new Subject Guides interface that would be easier to use than the old ones and could incorporate not only the Allen Library subject guides, but also Mortensen's print subject guides, web subject pages, and web reference tools. After about five months of design, web coding, and data entry, we finally went live with the new interface today (http://library.hartford.edu/allenlibrary/bigdatabase/guidelist.asp). In addition to an easier to read format, some of the benefits of the new guides are:

The ability to search for guides via keywords
Static URLs so you can bookmark your favorite guides
Guides divided into categories for easier browsing
Lists of guides related to the one you are currently viewing
Links from book titles to the library catalog records for those books
"Suggest a Topic" and "Suggest a Resource" forms for you to contribute ideas to the guides

We have several more improvements planned, but we wanted to make them accessible as soon as we could so that everybody could start taking advantage of them. So please take a look and let me know what you think! Feel free to leave suggestions for improvement in the comments.

Good News in the World of Accents

2009-08-21T13:50:00.003-04:00

I just have a quick update of the last post. Since I wrote about some of the major bugs in our new catalog, one of them has been fixed. It seems that accents are no longer an issue. So if you're searching for Bartók, you can now just type Bartok, just like in the old catalog. This should make searching a lot easier.

Using the New Catalog: Part 1

2009-08-19T14:20:00.003-04:00

As you might have noticed, it's been awhile since I updated the blog. We've been pretty busy here trying to figure out the new catalog and I haven't wanted to post on it until I had only wonderful news. Well, 1.5 months later, it's still not perfect, but there's some really cool features to tell you about and some bugs you need to know about. Since the bugs are more likely to affect how you use the catalog day to day, we'll start with those. And just so you know, we are trying to get all of the bugs fixed, so I'll let you know if/when that happens.

Accents
If you are searching for anything (composer, author, title, etc.) that has an accent in it, you have to be really careful. For example, this catalog considers Bartok and Bartók to be two different people. So if you want a better search, go into Advanced Search and put the two different versions into two different fields with an OR between them. NOTE: There's another bug that causes problems in Safari and Google Chrome, so if you get unexpected results using those browsers, just switch to a different one.

Refine Your Search
After performing a search, you'll see a "Refine Your Search" section on the left side of the screen. This looks really useful, but it is currently just grabbing results from the results page in front of you. So it's only based on 20 results at a time, even if there are hundreds of actual results. This makes it not quite as useful, although it is a good place to find names with proper accents to copy and then paste into a search (see Accents section above).

Printed Music Icon
If you're looking for a score, don't be confused by the icon that looks like a speaker with Type: Sound next to it. This is just another bug that needs to be fixed. For now, just look at the call number. Scores will start with M or MM (and sometimes MT for teaching material).

Display of Multiple Works
If you are looking at the details page for score or sound recording that has multiple works in it, you might not always be able to see what all of the works are right away. Again, we're working on fixing that, but in the meantime, you might need to look a little deeper for this information. The first place you can try is the Descriptions tab between Holdings and Comments (under the bibliographic information). If the information isn't there, try looking at the Card View (ISBD) tab, which is the fourth tab underneath the author's name.

So those are a few of the quirks to be aware of. There are some more, so if you see something odd or just aren't finding what you would expect to find, please come talk to me or another member of the Allen staff. We might have some ideas that could help. Within the next week or so I'll try to get another post up about some of the cool features of the new catalog. Stay tuned!

The New Library Catalog and You

2009-07-07T10:27:00.001-04:00

In one week, if all goes according to plan, University Libraries will jump over to a new (excuse the library terminology) Integrated Library System (or ILS). I know that sounds really boring, but it is actually quite exiting and will affect you. An ILS is basically a collection of databases that controls much of what we do in a library, including cataloging all of our items, keeping track of our patrons, circulating items to patrons, tracking what periodicals we have received, etc. The front end of the ILS is the library catalog. You know, that thing you use to find what we have in the library. This will be new as well.

The new catalog is the biggest difference for you and you’ll definitely want to spend some time getting to know it. The searching is radically different from our current catalog in that it will be much more forgiving if your search isn’t quite perfect. For example, you’ll no longer have to put AND between your terms. Like Google searching, it is assumed. Unfortunately, it is tricky to use OR, so come see me if you want to do that. It also will forgive some minor spelling mistakes and will look for any words that start with what you typed (this is called truncation, if you were curious). For example, typing symphon will find symphony, symphonies, symphonic, symphonie, etc. This is very useful in music, where these generic names are often slightly different than what you expect. There are a lot more changes in the catalog, and I’ll try to introduce them to you a little at a time.

The other big difference that you may notice is that we might be a little slower at circulation as we get used to the new system. Just be patient; we’ll figure it out as quickly as we can!

As always, feel free to ask any of the library staff if you have any questions or need any help. Enjoy!

Odds and Ends from the Allen Library

2009-06-10T15:42:00.004-04:00

I don't have any big topic to write about right now, so I'll just pass on some odds and ends, some of which will be larger blogs later on.

We're introducing a new library catalog in mid-late July. We're still working out some of the kinks, but there will be some exciting new features.

We're also developing a new website for all of University Libraries, which we're hoping will go live in September. Among the new features will be a catalog search from the homepage and easier access to subject guides.

It's not fully processed yet, but we have a second copy of The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross. It's been so popular that it has almost always been on course reserves. The second copy will remain in circulation.

Anyone interested in 4-week loan periods?

We haven't had pistachios here for quite some time. Very sad.

SuperSearch is going the way of the Dodo and will soon be gone. It just never worked as well as we all hoped.

In case you were one of the many asking about it within the last year, we now own the DVD of Doctor Atomic. SPOILER ALERT: Robert Oppenheimer was a ghost all along!

New database with music resources: Fine Arts and Music Collection (Gale)

I hope you enjoyed today's session of Odds and Ends from the Allen Library. Join us next time for The Allen Library vs. Mechagodzilla.

Allen Library Sheet Music Collection

2009-05-19T11:16:00.003-04:00

Did you know that we have some music that isn't in the catalog? It's true! We have a sheet music collection comprised mostly of songs within the Popular Music genre. While a lot of it is somewhat obscure these days, a good amount of it actually is popular. The collection ranges from songwriters of the early 20th century to rock music to musical theatre and a whole lot in between. While this music isn't found in the usual catalog, you can still search for it on our website at: http://library.hartford.edu/allenlibrary/sheetmusic.asp. It isn't the most advanced search engine ever, but it should do the trick. If you find anything you want to look at, they can all be found in a cabinet in our small seminar room. This collection doesn't leave the library, but you should be able to find plenty of uses for it in the library. As always, if you need help finding anything, the rest of the staff and I are more than glad to offer our assistance.

IMSLP: Free (and legal) Online Scores

2009-05-06T10:09:00.001-04:00

I want to introduce you to an amazing online resource called IMSLP (or the Petrucci Music Library, named after Ottaviano Petrucci, the first significant music publisher). IMSLP stands for the International Music Score Library Project and calls itself the “free public domain sheet music library.” Essentially, IMSLP is a collection of digitized scores that are in the public domain. The scores range from the medieval to the 20th century, although there is much more in the middle.

While there isn’t very much available after 1922 (nearly all scores printed before 1923 are in the public domain in the US), there is still a ridiculous amount of music available. As of this writing, IMSLP hosts 28,580 scores, which even includes some manuscripts (such as Bach’s St. Matthew Passion). Just like Wikipedia, this resource is quickly growing, as it had 26,000 scores just a few months ago. That is certainly much faster than we can purchase and process physical scores here at the library.

While there are many other websites that provide access to digitized scores and manuscripts (see our Scores Online page for more), IMSLP has quickly risen to the top of the list. Much like Wikipedia, it is user-generated (but moderated, in this case), allowing for the growth that only a community of dedicated scanners, uploaders, and editors could provide. So, if you can’t find a piece in the library, you aren’t out of luck yet. Give IMSLP a try!

NOTE: Although IMSLP is based in Canada and thus follows Canadian copyright law, they do an excellent job of blocking US and EU users from content that is not in the public domain in those areas. However, if you plan to use works found on IMSLP for performance purposes, it is still your responsibility to be absolutely certain that they are legal copies. If you have any questions, feel free to consult me.

That New Box on the Website

2009-04-30T11:21:00.004-04:00

Some of you might be wondering what that new box on the website is. Well, just as it appears to be, it is an instant messaging box. Unlike most instant messaging tools, however, you don't need to install any extra software and you don't need to log in to use it. When I am at my desk, all messages sent through this tool (called Meebo, by the way) go directly to me. When I am not at my desk, the messages go to one of my co-workers. If none of us are available, Meebo will show us as offline, so you never have to worry about somebody outside of the Allen Library trying to answer your Allen Library related questions. So, what can you use this for? Anything you want. Just ask a question and we'll do our best to answer it. You can still ask questions via email, phone, or in person, but this is another way that we can help get you the answers you need.

Allen Library is on Facebook

2009-04-20T08:37:00.000-04:00

I’m going to do a little cross-promotion here and let all of you blog readers know that the Allen Library is also on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/West-Hartford-CT/Allen-Memorial-Library/64186236429?ref=mf). For those of you currently scoffing at the idea of a library on Facebook (“Libraries should just store books!”), let me tell you that this is the best way to keep up-to-date on the small things happening at Allen. For example, while I had a blog entry on the start of the book sale, I did a Facebook update when the sale went half off. If you become a “fan” of the Allen Library on Facebook, you will receive all of these little updates.

Another reason to join the page is so that you can get your voice heard as a member of the Allen community. Not only can you post comments on the main page, but you can join in discussions. Currently, I have a discussion open simply asking what we can do better. Although we always strive to anticipate your needs, it is always advantageous to get direct feedback so that we can constantly improve our services. So join in the fun and become a fan!

Food for Fines

2009-04-10T13:27:00.002-04:00

To celebrate National Library Week (I bet you didn't know it existed), Allen and Mortensen Libraries will be holding a Food for Fines week, starting Monday (4/13) and ending Sunday (4/19). This will be an opportunity for you to cut back on how much you owe us while helping the community at the same time. For every non-perishable item you bring in (such as canned goods), we will forgive $2.00 in fines. These fines could be old ones or new ones generated from returning an overdue item. We will, of course, also accept donations from those of you with no fines on your account. All of the food we receive will be donated to local food pantries. The only fines that won't be forgiven are those already billed to the bursar or those for Lost Items that have not been returned. So, if you want to do some good while lowering your fines at the same time, drop by sometime next week and bring in some food (non-perishable, of course)!

The Wonderful World of Course Reserves

2009-04-07T14:01:00.001-04:00

Nothing big today, just a little note on course reserves. If you’ve ever taken a class that used reserves, you are probably familiar with the binder at the circulation desk that has all of the course reserve lists. But did you know that it is also online? It is available at: http://library.hartford.edu/allenlibrary/libraryreserves.asp. This online version is essentially identical to the binder, except that you can access it from anywhere (well, not anywhere; you need an internet connection). With this online version, you can see what is available for your class even before you come to the library. Also, if you click on the call number, you will see that item’s record in the catalog, giving you further information about the item in addition to its current availability. We are hoping to eventually turn this into a one-stop-shop list for reserves, so that it would also include links to electronic reserves such as Naxos recordings and digitized articles/scores. We haven’t done this yet, but it may happen this summer. Stay tuned!

Why Subject Guides Are Awesome

2009-04-02T15:55:00.003-04:00

You know those times when you’re not looking for a specific item, but just have a vague idea and want to know where to browse? While the rest of the public services staff and I are more than glad to point you in the right direction, you might not realize that we’ve already done most of the work for you. Over the years, we’ve put together many subject guides that can help you in a number of ways, including giving you general call numbers. If you want to take a look, they are here:

Music
Dance
Theatre

Let’s say I want to browse the clarinet sonata section. I would simply access the woodwind music subject guide, look in the call number section for clarinet and piano, and find out that they are in M248-M252. I could use the dance subject guide to discover that dance biographies are GV1785. Although the classification system we use is highly organized, it can be confusing for browsing purposes, as the sections are very specific. The call number sections of the subject guides can really help make it easier.

But wait, there’s more! Most of the subject guides will also provide you a list of recommended books, periodicals, and websites on a given topic. While this may not help with research in a highly specialized area, it will help give you an idea of what is available in your general field of study. These lists are by no means comprehensive, so be sure not to rely solely on what we list; they are primarily there to get you started. The subject guides also list subject headings for searching the catalog, but that’s really a different blog posting altogether (that’s really a different blog posting).

These subject guides are accessible through our homepage, up in the quicklinks where it says Music – Dance – Theatre. If you would like to see more subject guides, we would be glad to make them. Just suggest a topic. I believe we should have two more coming out soon: orchestral music and performance injuries. Enjoy the guides!

Why I Love Wikipedia

2009-03-26T10:57:00.002-04:00

When last we met, I discussed the behemoth that is Google. Risking academic scorn (at least from those who stopped reading halfway through), I pointed out why Google is a superior product. Today, I do the same with Wikipedia. You will not often hear a librarian sing the praises of Wikipedia, so be sure to mark this day in your calendar.

As I am writing, the English portion of Wikipedia includes 2,808,575 articles. By comparison, Grove Music Online is comprised of the equivalent of 36 printed encyclopedia volumes and has fewer than 100,000 articles. Although this is very rough estimate, this means that Wikipedia could be the equivalent of over 1,000 printed volumes. The scope of the content is also exceptional. Here are five articles I found using the “Random Article” feature:

• Jacques Rougeau (semi-retired French-Canadian professional wrestler)
• Sechelt/Porpoise Bay Water Aerodrome (a former airport)
• Pont-de-Metz (a commune in France)
• Grey Teal (a duck)
• Ultimate Human (Marvel comics series)

With a scope like this, you are able to find information on practically anything (a slight exaggeration, of course) without having to search very far. Also, since most Wikipedia articles can be updated by anyone, they are constantly being expanded and improved.

And now, the moment you’ve been waiting for: The Caveat. Wikipedia is an amazing resource, but only when used properly. I would never use it as the final word on something that really matters, such as a research paper. A general rule of thumb for research is that if you don’t know the source, you can’t trust it. While one of Wikipedia’s strengths is that anybody can change it, this also means you don’t know who changed it.

So, what can we use it for? It is excellent for questions that just don’t matter that much, such as if I’m wondering who wrote the theme song to The Office. I’ll probably find the correct answer, but if I don’t, it really isn’t that important. The other primary use for Wikipedia, perhaps more relevant for an academic setting, is as a research aid. A well written article includes references that point out where the information came from, thus pointing the reader to more authoritative sources. Even if there are no references, it could give you some ideas that could aim you in the right direction. Again, Wikipedia is not a one stop shop for research, but it is a valuable tool when used properly.

Why We Love Google

2009-03-23T17:51:00.002-04:00

We all know how frustrating the library catalog can be, a fact I will not deny. A quick comparison to a Google search leads many to believe that our catalog is far inferior to Google. I will now break the Librarian Code of Ethics by saying that this is true… sort of. Google (which I use to represent most web search engines) excels at figuring out what we are looking for, whereas the catalog provides us with the tools to dig down and find exactly what we are looking for.

The creators of Google understand exactly how people search and what they are searching for. They have made searching incredibly intuitive to the point that Google almost seems intelligent. Our library catalog clearly lacks intelligence, as evident by everybody’s favorite error message: “The system could not interpret your search statement.” It doesn’t make any suggestions on how to fix your search, it doesn’t automatically try different spellings, and it doesn’t make any assumptions about what you are trying to find. From this perspective, it is indeed inferior to Google.

And now, before they take away my library license (no, there is no such thing; it is actually a degree), let me explain why this isn’t really the case. Library catalogs are generally lacking in this area because they serve a very different purpose. We need to give you the ability to find books on very specific topics, a score in a particular format by particular editor, recordings in a variety of formats, and the list goes on. By meticulously cataloging all the data we have on each item in our library and by allowing you to construct a precise search indicating what you need, we provide you with the tools to hone in on, with pinpoint accuracy, exactly what you are looking for. If you’ve ever browsed through page upon page of Google results looking for the answer to an obscure question, you know that this isn’t always possible in Google, and this is where Google is inferior to the library catalog.

I admit that it is not easy to construct these precise searches in the catalog, but that’s why we are here to help. If at anytime you would like help figuring out how to improve your searching, please feel free to talk to me or anyone else behind the desk. Fully understanding how the catalog works is not a simple task, but the more you learn about it, the more you will be able to take full advantage of all of the great resources you have at your disposal here at the library.

15 Things You Might Not Know About Allen Library (In No Particular Order)

2009-03-12T12:07:00.002-04:00

1) We have a sheet music collection that mostly consists of individual popular songs. It is located in the small seminar room and can be searched online.

2) Our namesake, Mildred P. Allen, was the Secretary of State of Connecticut from 1955 to 1959. Her picture is in the large seminar room, behind the projection screen.

3) Our current periodicals are out in the open and can be browsed. While you can’t take them out of the library, I encourage you to read them here in the library. We have something for everybody!

4) It can be hard to find certain types of items in our catalog, so if you are having trouble, you should ask for help.

5) We have several one-octave midi keyboards that you can check out for in-library use.

6) One of the services we offer is providing you with subject guides. These guides will provide you with call numbers, useful books, subject headings for the catalog, and more in the areas of music, dance, and theatre.

7) We aren’t just a music library, we are a music and dance library. Our dance materials are in the GV section outside of the seminar rooms.

8) We really like pistachios.

9) You can access your course reserve lists online.

10) You can renew materials (once) online through the My Account feature in the catalog.

11) We use the Library of Congress Classification system for our call numbers. We even use this system for our CDs, which even the Library of Congress doesn’t do.

12) The monkey on Jenny’s computer is named Mojo and, despite what she insists, it is really an ape.

13) We have a large collection of orchestral parts on CD-ROM. Ask for them at the desk!

14) For music education students and faculty: The “Big Purple Book” is now the “Big Red Book.”

15) If you are using chamber music for a chamber class, you can take it out for the entire semester.

Allen Library Has Yet Another Book Sale

2009-03-06T15:09:00.003-05:00

The day you have all been waiting for is finally just around the corner. On Monday, March 9, at 10:00am, we will start the Spring 2009 Allen Library Book Sale. For those of you who have yet to experience the joy of the Book Sale, this is the time of the semester when we clean house and get rid of hundreds of items that we have duplicates of or just don't need. The name "Book Sale" is a bit of a misnomer, as it includes books (including art books again), scores, CDs, VHS tapes, and even three laserdiscs. Most items will be $2 or less, so this is an excellent opportunity for you to build your personal collections. While the sale usually lasts for several weeks, the best items go fast, so make sure you get here as early as possible. See you next week!

The Allen Library Enters the Blogosphere

2009-02-27T12:39:00.002-05:00

The time has come for the Allen Library to enter the brave new world of blogging (yes, I know it's not really new anymore). As your Public Services Librarian, I constantly have news I want to share with you, suggestions of new resources I want to give to you, and questions I want to ask of you. We have tried in the past to achieve this through Facebook, with little success. Although our Facebook page will remain active, and I encourage everybody to join, I hope to use this blog to enhance our ability to provide you with news and suggestions and to gain valuable feedback from you when we have questions. I hope to post on here a couple times a week, so be sure to take a look now and then to see what's going on in Allen Library.