Deadlines? Library Help is at Hand ...

Kodaly Musicianship Assignment?

A little bird told us there's a written assignment coming up, and a practical exam shortly after that.  Here are some quick suggestions from the Whittaker library! Please don’t hesitate to contact us if we can offer any other help.

• Kodaly books (we have plenty in stock, including an e-book!) 
• Kodaly printed music (lots of that in the library, too.)
• Kodaly choral material - you'll need to ask at the desk 
• Books about Kodaly 

You might like to spread your wings a bit and try our e-journals

• Remember – when asked to login, please choose Institutional Access 
• When searching, tick the box “only items I have access to”, to avoid retrieving things that we don’t subscribe to.

Group Presentations and Solitary Composers?

Remember, remember, in early December ...

Here in the Whittaker Library, we have a huge spreadsheet to help us remember when different classes have assignment deadlines.  For example, there will soon be group presentations about music history and music in society, whilst the electroacoustic composition elective students will be submitting their work with accompanying documentation.

The library has shelves full of conventional books, web-pages full of e-resources, and well-qualified music librarians to help our students find suitable materials for their assignments.  Admittedly, we can't do the compositions, or give the presentations! But we have plenty of literature on compositional techniques, oodles of materials on music history or music in society - and can probably also source resources on how to give presentations!  We can also advise on referencing or compiling a bibliography.

So what are you waiting for?  Just ask!

When a Reference leads to a Book not a Job Offer

RefMe saves your references!

 If you write essays or other assignments, you'll have been told to make sure you cite your references;
in other words, you must say which author you're quoting from.  (Some people talk about references, some about citations.  Same thing.)

There are many ways of citing your references - basically, they're different ways of formating your references so that they all give the necessary bibliographical information in a prescribed way.  Here at RCS, we use the Harvard referencing style.  (Click here to find a page about it. You'll have to be an RCS student or staff member to access this page.)

It's very handy to automate the procedure a bit, by using referencing software.  There are a number of free apps available.  RefMe is one of the latest, and probably the simplest.

How to use it?  Sign up here. https://www.refme.com

1. If you're citing books, go to your library catalogue or a website like Amazon or Copac.  
2. Highlight and copy the title of the book you've quoted from, and make a mental note of the date the book was published.
3. Tell RefMe that you're creating a reference.
4. Tell RefMe you're listing a book.  A search box will appear.
5. Copy and paste the book title in.
6. Choose your book from the list of results that will appear - make sure the date is right. Click on it.
7. Bingo! Your first reference.
8. Once you've got all your references listed, you can export it various ways, eg as a Word document.  That can be copied and pasted at the end of your essay.

Cool Cats Do Research Online (Whittaker Library can help)

If you are in your second or third year studying BMus, or third year BEd, at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, you've probably got assignments due at the end of the week.

Need help with your assignment?

Sadly, we can't write it for you!  However, there's plenty of help from the Library if you're frankly a bit short on content for your assignment. Come to the Library to consult us, or take a look at our e-resources.
All these possibilities (and more) are yours at the click of a button, via the library website:-

• OxfordMusicOnline
• Jstor (back copies of music journals online)
• E-books in the library catalogue
• Our e-Books page offers more bulk collections from different publishers
• Streamed music (Naxos and Alexander Street Press)
• Classical scores library - maybe you could source quotes for your essay here?
• Individual e-journals - try Eighteenth Century Music for your assignment about Bach and rhetoric, for example.

There are various pages you can look at from the library website. Use your usual login if you're off-site. Take a look, visit us, or try LibraryChat on the catalogue homepage during library opening hours. 

We are the exceptionally helpful Whittaker Library, here to help our performing arts community with their library and information needs.

While You Were Away ...

During Bridge Week, our students are so busy pushing the boundaries that they don't make it into the Whittaker Library quite as much as usual. 

Don't for a minute think we've been resting while you were away!  

• We've added new stock, we've blogged, and we've tweeted.  
• We've ordered new books to support our students in their personal lives as well as their studies - watch this space, because we'll tell you when they arrive!
• We've thought about useful online web resources for essay assignments coming up, 
• And we've talked about National Library Day.  (Send us your shelfies on Saturday!)

Mind you, we've been part of Bridge Week too, because we've hosted the Human Library every lunchtime.  The only remaining question is this forthcoming performance about a sad librarian.  We hope we didn't provide the inspiration?!

Who has to write an Assignment on Jazz History Performance?

Our Royal Conservatoire of Scotland jazz students have essays looming - the deadline's just a week away!

Don't sit at home panicking this weekend.  If you're free, get yourself into the library (Saturday 10-4, and Sunday 11-3) and see what you can find.  If you're tied up and can't visit, then log in to our online resources when you have a chance - there's loads to help you.


Here's a quick run-down:

In the Library

At home or in RCS, use our online catalogue  to find useful books and recordings.  You might like to try these searches:-

• Jazz criticism
• Music criticism
• Blues criticism
• Jazz arranging

(Don't forget, sometimes musicians have more than one form of their name, eg Charles Mingus is also known as Charlie Mingus.  Best search both ways to make sure you don't miss anything. This goes for internet searching, too!)

Internet-based resources, accessible anywhere. You'll need to use your RCS login if you're off campus

• JSTOR - Full text access to lots of journal articles 
• Oxford Music Online  The world's best music encyclopedia - jazz, trad, classical are all there. Eg look up Charles Mingus
• Streamed jazz recordings on the Jazz Music Library database from Alexander Street Press. For example there are no less than 957 swing recordings.
•  British Library Sounds is audio recordings of music and interviews with musicians.  For jazz musicians, there is Oral History of Jazz in Britain  - interviews with people, for example Terry Day was interviewed by Christopher Clark and they talk about Evan Parker and Sun Ra.

Preparing your Kodaly Musicianship Written Assignment or Presentation?

Brush Up on Kodaly!

Some of our students are preparing assessments for the end of next week.  The Whittaker Library has a lot of useful materials in the library including an e-book (24:7 access on that one!).  

• All our Kodaly textbooks are HERE. 
• The Houlahan ebook and a couple of other useful weblinks are HERE.  (The e-book will need students to login using Shibboleth, where you identify the RCS in a list of institutions, then use YOUR usual RCS login). 
• And all our Kodaly printed music IS HERE.

Do drop into the library if you need any help finding resources!