Research Impact! Could This Be It?

We've just got a new book, literally bursting with potential to change the way we do things:-

The Research Impact Handbook

Knowing that research impact is all-important, and that the next "REF" (research evaluation, in British higher education) is sure to ask about it it, this book seemed like a good idea!  It comes from an organisation called Fast Track Impact; and it's all about making sure your research communicates to the right people, in ways to make them sit up and notice the relevance and sheer usefulness of your research.  

You can look up Mark Reed on YouTube - here's a taster:-

"Who will benefit from your research and who will block it? How to identify stakeholders"

Dance in Glasgow, Dance in London

Put on your Dancing Shoes!

Regular visitors to this blog will know that we share details of relevant courses for which we've been sent flyers.

Today is no exception.  Whilst our local performing artists have plenty of opportunities through RCS Lifelong Learning - whatever age they are - our mail today included details of summer dances both for young people and for adults, at The Place, just near the British Library in London.

So - if you're in Scotland, visit RCS Lifelong Learning, but if you're in the south-east of England, you might like to explore ThePlace.org.uk/summer.  (Below, you'll find a video that The Place made last summer.)



Lifetime Achievement Award for Trombonist John Kenny

The Whittaker Library subscribes to the British Trombone Society journal, The Trombonist.  We were delighted to see a weel-kent face on the cover of the Spring 2017 issue - John Kenny, one of our trombone teachers, has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Trombone Association.
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Many of our colleagues will recall the excitement of John's experiments with the carnyx - an ancient war-trumpet; registered readers of the Whittaker Library can hear what it sounded like by following these library catalogue entries!  Or just visit the YouTube clip below ...

Music Student? Might Music Librarianship Beckon? Meet IAML

http://iaml-uk-irl.org/

Two of our performing arts librarians, Karen and Catherine usually attend the Annual Study Weekend for music librarians in the UK and Ireland - it's organised by the national branch of IAML (the International Association of Music Libraries). This year it took place in Exeter.  (Next year, it's Edinburgh, which will be a lot easier for us to get to!)


Naturally, we picked up a few of the new leaflets about the association's activities.  We'll leave them at the issue desk for anyone interested.  And if they disappear fast, don't worry - you can look at the website, too!

http://iaml-uk-irl.org/

Playwrights' Studio Scotland Mentoring Programme

A mentoring programme for emerging young artists sounds like a really good idea - could it be for you? 

Playwrights' Studio Scotland website: http://www.playwrightsstudio.co.uk/

The organisation describes itself as, 'the nation's only arts organisation exclusively dedicated to the long-term support, development and promotion of Scotland's playwrights', aiming to connect them with audiences and organisations for the enrichment of  Scottish audiences.

Find out about the Playwrights' Studio Scotland scheme on their website.  They introduce it like this:-

"Every year, Playwrights' Studio, Scotland selects at least six aspiring or emerging playwrights for a six month programme of mentoring, by established playwrights, to support the development of new plays. This is an opportunity to improve playwriting skills and gain valuable insight into the playwriting process and profession."  Read more - click here.

Tron 100 Club - Applications for 2017

Encouraging Emerging Theatre Professionals

This is something for actors, writers and directors.  To quote from the Tron website, "Tron 100 is an artistic membership dedicated to developing and supporting artists in the areas of theatre, film, television and radio."
 
The website goes on to explain that, "Every month for a year, Tron 100 members will be able to attend a curated week of events, workshops, discussions and creative opportunities in the Tron Theatre building, with the aim of developing and enhancing artistic relationships."
 
Does this sound like something you'd be interested in?  Visit their website for full details!  Click here.
 

• http://www.tron.co.uk/creative/creative/tron-100-club/

Emerging Scottish Playwright Jennifer Adam

http://www.jenniferadamwriter.com/

We came across Jennifer Adam's website today, and thought you might be interested to read about an emerging Scottish playwright with a row of successes to her name.
 
Here's her brief bio, quoted from the website:-

"Jennifer is an emerging Scottish Playwright and Theatre Maker from Kinross and currently living in Edinburgh.
Her plays have been performed across Edinburgh, Glasgow, West Lothian, Ayrshire, Falkirk and Stirling.
Jennifer is currently attached to the Tron Theatre in Glasgow as part of their year long artistic initiative, The Tron 100 Club. She is also one of the founding members of the Tandem Writing Collective and is one of the Playwrights' Studio Scotland's Mentored Playwrights for 2017."

Visit Jennifer's website - click here.
Twitter: @RubiedMoon

Discuss Scottish Music Research with Musica Scotica

Did you miss Musica Scotica 2017?

You missed a great event! But you can still talk about Scottish music with fellow researchers, whether you study ancient or avant-garde music.

MUSICA SCOTICA GETS A JISCMAIL DISCUSSION LIST

JiscMail offers the facility to set up discussion lists about education or research interests on a particular topic, carried out by email. Correspondents generally have some connection with higher education, but this is not compulsory. There's now a list for sharing information about education or research interests in Scottish music, and the groupname is MusicaScotica.

• What is JiscMail? Visit http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/about/whatisjiscmail.html 
• How  do I subscribe? You'll find instructions at the FAQ for Subscribers page: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/subscribers/faq.html  Basically, you either visit the JiscMail homepage and choose MusicaScotica from there, or send an email to listserv@jiscmail.ac.uk with the following command in the subject line, substituting your own name:-  SUBSCRIBE MUSICA SCOTICA YOURFIRSTNAME YOURLASTNAME
• Can I use institutional access? Certainly. If you're in a British HE institution, you can use institutional access (Shibboleth), as you would with most electronic resources.
• You'll find Netiquette suggestions towards the bottom of the FAQ page. (Basically, keep it relevant, be polite, and remember this is a public list for sharing information about education or research interests in Scottish music.) 

Libraries, Digital Collections, Real Musical Instruments, REALLY Happy Singers

In the past couple of weeks, we've come across several interesting news alerts, that might interest our readers.  Here are three of them!

The Horniman Library and Museum

The Horniman Library is, not surprisingly, linked with the Horniman Museum - which contains a collection of historical musical instruments.  They are in London.  The Horniman's Library is now available on Copac, and that means more places to find books if we don't have them in our own collections!
 
If you're a musician, you might like to know more about the musical instrument collection too, so let's share the 'blurb' that we received in our email:-

"The Horniman Library collection contains books from the 16th century through to the present day, and covers a wide spectrum of subject areas related to the remit of the Horniman Museum, with a focus on natural history, anthropology and musical instruments. The collection, which originated with Frederick Horniman’s own book collection, has been added to by subsequent directors, curators and librarians and now amounts to some 30,000 volumes. The development of the library collections has been closely linked to object acquisition and curatorial practice in the museum and there is thus a strong connection between the book and object collections.

"You can read more on the Copac blog here: http://blog.copac.jisc.ac.uk/2017/04/19/horniman-library-catalogue-loaded/.

 

"Or, to browse the Horniman Library’s records, select the Main Search tab at http://copac.jisc.ac.uk and choose ‘Horniman Library’ from the list of libraries." 

RNCM Archives shared the next news item with us:-

New project brings major folk song collection to UK 

There's an article in the online M-Magazine which tells you more about the news.  Here's a taster:-

"The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library Digital Archive has launched a new project to incorporate a pivotal early 20th century collection of British songs into its folk music database.The digitised collection of James Madison Carpenter (pictured above), which has previously only been accessible by visiting the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, will become free to access online for the first time ..." Read the whole article here

The Neuroscience of Singing 

Okay, every so often, more research appears which proves what everyone here knows to be true - singing is good for you!  But this research is particularly authoritative, so we'd like to share it with anyone who sings or teaches or conducts singers!  It's by Cassandra Sheppard and was published on a website called Uplift Connect on Sunday 11th December 2016.  
Singing Together Brings Heartbeats Into Harmony
 

Poignant Pipe Tunes: Ceol Chaluim, Now in RCS Library

Ceòl Chaluim - The Pipe tunes of Calum Campbell of Benbecula - Edited by Niall Caimbeul and Catriona Garbutt

 Tragically killed by a hurricane in the Hebrides in 2005, a lasting memorial to piper Calum Campbell can be found in his collection of pipe tunes, published by Acair Books.

We offer a traditional music degree here at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and have a number of pipers amongst our students.  Clearly, we needed to have a copy of this book.  It has just been added to stock.

Smile! It's Your Music History Essay

A couple of weeks ago, the Whittaker Library shared some helpful tips for our first and second year music students here at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.  We know you've all been assigned essays, and we're keen to ensure that students are equipped to get the most out of our e-resources - at a time where you need lots of information but may not actually be on campus.  We thought we'd share these postings again, so they're easy to find when you need them.

• For our 1st Year Music students - here's a blogpost just for you -Whittaker Library Helps Dispel 1st Year Music History Essay Anxiety
• For our 2nd Year Music students - here's yours! Craft a Great Music History Essay - Delight Your Tutors!
• 3rd Year Music students - technically, you're on your own, demonstrating your maturity and self-sufficiency.  Give it a go!  But please do come and see us or drop us an email if you need any help sourcing or accessing information. 

Musica Scotica is ONE WEEK away. Saturday 22nd April 2017, Tolbooth, Stirling

Have you booked to attend the friendliest small conference in Scotland?  Musica Scotica is next weekend - a one-day conference with a short concert at the end. It's not too late to book your place!

Musica Scotica Conference

Saturday 22 April 2017

Venue:
The Tolbooth
Jail Wynd
Stirling, FK8 1DE
Scotland, UK

Twitter: @MusicaScotica

Angels aren't the Only Ones with Harps! New Book ...

In Good Hands, by S. Eydmann

New Book! Will Appeal to Traditional Musicians

There's a new authoritative history of The Clarsach Society, In Good Hands, authored by esteemed historian Stuart Eydmann.  It was launched at the Edinburgh International Harp Festival (31st March – 5th April 2017); it goes without saying that we'll get a copy for the Whittaker Library at the earliest opportunity! 

Here's the press release link (click here).

Finding Choral and Orchestral Sets in Other UK Libraries

If you ever look for orchestral sets in other libraries, then you need to know that IAML's Encore choral and orchestral sets website is now in a new version!  Music librarians saw a demo at last weekend's UK and Ireland annual study weekend .  Take a look ....

Here's the announcement from Malcolm Jones, who masterminds the whole Encore choral and orchestral sets website:-

The new version of Encore was released tonight!

It will run in parallel with the existing Encore for 6 months or so.

Users of the new system are urged to approach it for the first time at least via the branch  website:

http://iaml-uk-irl.org/encore-21

<http://iaml-uk-irl.org/>

and to read the notes there.