New in Library: Be Your Own Manager: a Career Handbook for Classical Musicians

We've just catalogued our first book on the new library system!  (You have no idea the fun we had getting to the point where you could see the results of our cataloguing work.)

Be your own manager a career handbook for classical musicians, by Bernhard Kerres and Bettina Mehne (London Tenaia Management Ltd, 2017)

Production Line (courtesy of Pixabay)

See it in the library catalogue, here.  Now for the next one ...

Yes, Whittaker Library is open all summer ...

Library Summer Hours

From today (Friday 16th June 2017), we operate summer hours: 

9-5 Monday-Friday, but closed at the weekend.

Visitors are advised to check the website if you're travelling a distance, just in case there are any unexpected changes to particular days.

Staff and students, remember you can still access all our electronic resources even if you're not around Glasgow. (Do ask for more details, if you've never tried before.)  And we're getting a new library system in July, so watch out for an enhanced catalogue experience too. It'll make it even easier to source lots of relevant materials.  Watch this space ...

Whittaker Library - Using the Catalogue and E-Resources

Hey, we now have a Whittaker Library YouTube presentation! Don't get too excited - you won't find librarians doing cartwheels or anything like that - it's just about using the library catalogue and exploring some of our electronic resources.  We thought that a few slides with a voiceover might just be helpful to any of our new students who haven't had much to do with online catalogues or databases before.

It's here (imagine your own fanfare):- Using the Library Catalogue and Accessing Electronic Resources

It "does what it says on the tin"!

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.

Historically Informed Music Performance

If you can't find the right books in the library catalogue, how do you improve your chances?

Try these special Whittaker Library searches:-

• Music Interpretation
• Music Performance Practice

Sometimes you're just using terms that are so specific, so narrow, that you're actually reducing your chances of finding books on that subject.  Eg, unless a book has the words, 'historically informed' in its title or somewhere in the book description, then the search engine won't be able to retrieve them. So by changing the terms you're looking for, or making them just a bit more general, you improve your chances.

Don't forget the categories down the side of the page, enabling you to choose a format (book, drama book, music book, audio-visual, etc) or a range of subject headings that have been attached to the items retrieved.  Clicking on one of these subject-headings works the same as Amazon's "If you like this, then you may also like ..." suggestions.

We've got the knowledge - just come and ask!

What's New in the Whittaker Library?

You can always find out what's new by clicking the link on our catalogue homepage.  (Imaginatively, we called it 'New Additions to the Catalogue'!)  It's updated daily.

A PLUG composer - Richard Ayres

Following on from our PLUG new music festival last month, we've now got some more scores by Richard Ayres, one of the composers whose works were represented in the festival.

His works all have numbers as titles, so ... we now have:-

• no.8 piano solo (1991)
• no.37b for orchestra (2006)
• no.38 : three small pieces for string quartet (2003)
• no.44 (diary pieces) (2009)
• We are hopeful that we may also be able to make some downloads available for consultation by our staff and students - watch this space!
• And we have a CD of Ayres' works, too, thanks to Schott publishers. 

Catalogue details here

Our PLUG Festival 2012 page

Opening the Oyster's Shell: better ways of searching the catalogue

Better ways of searching for library materials

Try for yourself - or ask a librarian!

Suppose you want a book about arranging tunes.  Entering 'arranging' in the search box may not be the best approach - you get too many results!

Try clicking the more search options link under the search button.  You can now refine your search with all or any of these choices:-

• Specify words that MUST be in your search
• Specify words that must NOT be in your search
• Specify a range of words, any of which might be relevant
• Specify the kind of material you want, eg a recording, a book, or a score

Here's an example.  Searching on 'arranging' yields far too many results.  Same for 'arrangement'.  And if you particularly want jazz materials, you're in luck - but maybe you don't want this.

• A better way of searching, using the more search options link, would be to enter 'arrangement arrange arranging' in the AT LEAST ONE OF THE WORDS search box. 
• Enter 'jazz' in the NONE OF THESE WORDS box. 
• Select Music book from the options in the COLLECTIONS box.

Do ask any of the Library staff if you need help constructing a search.  We've got years of experience between us!