Trainee Teacher at RCS? Here's a Helpful Library Reminder

At the beginning of the year, we made a very short animation to summarise some tips about searching for things both IN the library, and electronically.

Here is the 90-second reminder in the version delivered to our Education students.  Watch it again, and see how much you remember!
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Search Tips for Your RCS Literature Search

At a recent workshop with BEdMus students, we explored different ways of fine-tuning your search techniques to retrieve better results in the catalogue and using Catalogue Plus.

Our catalogue offers access to all physical resources in the library (books, music, recordings etc) and also to individual e-book titles.  Meanwhile, Catalogue Plus offers access to all electronic resources - journal articles, databases, sound recordings, etc.
Here's a PowerPoint summary of what we talked about.

Extra free tip!

Don't forget the power of the synonym.  If one word doesn't retrieve what you expect, try another word that means the same thing. 

1. For example, nowadays we talk about "high ability" pupils, but earlier authors wrote about "gifted children".  Or prodigies! 
2. Similarly, sometimes you can get better results with a different version of the word.  If you want to write about Smetana or Sibelius as part of the late Romantic nationalist movement, searching for "nationalist music" may yield different results to when you search on Nationalism, or try Nationalism AND Music.

A Flurry of Flute Music

The Whittaker Library was honoured to be the recipient of the late David Nicholson's flute music, and we've been steadily adding it to our stock over the past couple of years.  We are nearly at the end of the process now, and we can safely say that our collection of flute music must now surely be second to none.  The last few items will be added over the next fortnight.

All David Nicholson's music has been tagged as "David Nicholson bequest" in the catalogue, so it is easy to see what's there. Take a look at our catalogue ...

Remember, you can search for all our music for any particular combination by using our instrumentation index. Visit the catalogue, and input, for example ...

• Flute1, piano
• Flute2, piano
• Flute1, violin1, piano
• Flute1, oboe1, clarinet1, bassoon1, horn1

Catalogue home page:- http://capitadiscovery.co.uk/rcs/
 

Finding Chamber Music Repertoire at RCS

A very long time ago, before we even had a library computer system, we built a database for finding chamber music for different ensembles. The database was incorporated into the library computer system in due course, and we've had it on board ever since.  We index anything that has parts, up to and including nonets.

Because it is a 'heritage' database, we had to encode it a certain way, so you could tell how many of any particular instrument would be required.  Time for an example: here's a string quartet!   

Violin2, viola1, violoncello1

And to reinforce the point, here's a wind quintet:

Flute1, oboe1, clarinet1, bassoon1, horn1

Because computers are more sophisticated now, it doesn't much matter which order you enter the instruments, but there are three basic rules: 

1. Enter instrument name in the singular (Violin not Violins)
2. Enter the number immediately after the instrument - no spaces (Flute1 not Flute 1) 
3. With the exception of piano duets, we don't put a number after a single piano.  So a piece for flute and piano is Flute1, piano, but a piece for piano duet is Piano1 (4 hands) or Piano2 (4 hands).

You can also look for items with voice and a chamber ensemble:

Voice1, violin1, piano

To try out the chamber music search, visit our online catalogue and see what you can find! Happy hunting!  http://capitadiscovery.co.uk/rcs/

Find Me a Flute Quartet!

From Empty Stand to Full Programme in 3 Easy Steps

Did you know we index all our chamber music in the Whittaker Library, so it's easy for musicians to find the right stuff for their ensemble?
 
For example - here are our flute quartets.
 

1. Go to the catalogue here.
2. Enter the ensemble you need, eg Flute4 (See the format? Instrument and number, with no space between?)
3. Find the music.  Ask a member of staff if you can't find it on the shelves.
   

 

What did Bizet have to do with Ossian? New Catalogue Reveals All ... *

We've just heard about a new online publication:-  

The Bizet Catalogue

http://digital.wustl.edu/bizet/

"Compiled by Hugh Macdonald and managed by the Humanities Digital Workshop at Washington University, St Louis.
"This is primarily a list of Bizet's works, providing essential information about the history and content of each one. It gives information on manuscript and printed sources, on documentary materials relating to the composition, performance and publication of each work, and is intended to provide a full historical documentation of Bizet's work as composer and transcriber." 

* Bizet, plainly intrigued by James Macpherson's Highland Ossianic tales, wrote an overture, La Chasse d'Ossian.  The work is now lost.  Click the link to find out what's known about it!

We are the Whittaker Library at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, here to help our performing artists with their teaching and learning information needs.  Our thanks go to Jennifer Ward , of the IAML Web Team, for pointing us towards this Bizet resource.

The One Perfect Book

Lydia the Librarian seeks the One Perfect Book

The other day, we had a query asking if there was one book that all undergraduates have to read.  Gently, we explained that most undergraduates read rather more than just one ...!

New students at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland will nonetheless get reading-lists with required and suggested reading material. Some of it is hard-copy, "real books".  Other reading is online, and the Whittaker Library has e-books and e-journals aplenty.

You'll find links to your reading-lists on the RCS library Mahara pages.  These live links mean you can click on a book title and find out whether it's actually available in the Library right now.  (If not, do pop into the library to reserve it at the issue desk.)

As for the One Perfect Book, that holy grail of all students - well, we're still working on it!

We are the Whittaker Library at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, here to support the teaching and learning of our performing arts community.  

• Our Library Catalogue        http://capitadiscovery.co.uk/rcs/
• Our Library Website            http://www.rcs.ac.uk/about_us/libraryandit/ 
• Our Electronic Resources http://www.rcs.ac.uk/about_us/libraryandit/databases/
• Our E-Journals                   http://www.rcs.ac.uk/about_us/libraryandit/e-journals/ 

Repertoire for String Quartet? For 2 Oboes and Bassoon?

Parts for your Ensemble

at the

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

Did you know you can search the Whittaker Library catalogue for a particular chamber music combination?  So if you want repertoire for your quartet, wind trio, or any other combination, just learn how to enter the ensemble code.

Like this:- 

• Score order, top to bottom
• Instrument immediately followed by number (eg Violin2, Viola1, Violoncello1)
• Cello is entered as Violoncello1
• Cor Anglais is CorAnglais1
• There are more tips via the catalogue homepage.  (Click on More Search Tips)

String quartet music, anyone?  We have heaps of it!  Look HERE.

Online Search Facility for Scottish Music in Wighton Collection, Dundee

Great News!

Friends of Wighton have made a temporary search facility for the Wighton Database.  Andrew Wighton was a Victorian collector of Scottish music.  His entire collection was  bequeathed to the City, in Dundee Central Library, and is kept in a fabulous newly-created space.  A few years ago the collection was catalogued online, and all the songs and tunes in every book were listed on the Wighton Database. 

For a while, this database has been off-line and unsearchable, although Google sometimes retrieved its contents.

So this NEW temporary search page is a great blessing!  Our congratulations to the Friends of Wighton for making this happen.

Search the Wighton Database at http://www.johnbagnall.info/allwighton.html

You can Search the National Archives

Anyone with an interest in history (music, drama or anything else at all!) will be curious to find out what's in the National Archives, and the Archives have a new search interface to help you find out.

We tried searching for Suffrage, Stage Lighting, and Scottish Songs - not all at once!

Results show (a) what's in the National Archives, and (b) what's in other archives.  Very impressive, and very promising.  Do take a look:-

• Search the Discovery Catalogue
• National Archives Homepage

Elevator Pitch - The Whittaker Library at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

Another round of freshers' tours over!  We're running late induction sessions between Monday 30 September and Friday 4 October at 3.30 pm

If I was given the length of an elevator ride in which to tell you about the Whittaker Library, what would I tell you?

Three things!

• We're a friendly, helpful library staff, and there are subject librarians to offer subject assistance in music, drama and dance.
• The printed library guides are also available on Mahara.  If you've signed up for your Moodle account, then you'll be able to find Mahara and the Library group.
• Course reading lists are on Moodle itself, under the modules you're studying.

Vital links:-

• Moodle sign in here
• Library and IT pages here - for electronic resources, the catalogue and much more.

String Chamber Music Gift

The Whittaker Library recently received a substantial gift of string ensemble music from the Borland and Irving collection.  They're being added to stock this week.

Try the New Acquisitions button on our catalogue homepage to see what's new in the Library.  It retrieves the latest 20 items added to stock.

Did you know? Latest Additions to Whittaker Library Catalogue

There's a link on our catalogue homepage, which tells you the most recent items added to our library stock.

Click here!

http://prism.talis.com/rcs/

 

Finding Stuff (without a crystal ball)

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland - 1st year Musicians

 

“Digital library: Electronic Stuff” for musicians (Monday 22 October, 2 pm)

Following on from her session on 'Finding Stuff' in the library catalogue, Music and Academic Services Librarian Karen McAulay meets 1st year musicians in the Stevenson Hall again at 2 pm, Monday 22nd October.  Moving on from print, paper and plastic, this session considers electronic library material.

Pet Shop Boys - Most Incredible Thing

The Pet Shop Boys have provided the sound track for the Sadlers Wells Ballet, The Most Incredible Thing.  The Whittaker Library at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland naturally has to buy that CD!  We do music, we do ballet ...
It'll appear in our catalogue when it arrives.

• Pet Shop Boys website

Britten-Pears Foundation - online info

You can now view the Britten-Pears Thematic Catalogue online. Visit the Britten-Pears Foundation website, and take it from there! Image from Tomski on Flickr, with thanks

London Music Trades 1750-1800

The Centre for Performance History at the Royal College of Music has created a very useful resource in this database for the London Music Trades 1750-1800. Find out about:-

• Music publishers
• Instrument makers
• Apprenticeships
• Insurance records
• Poll books
• Wills

Great for historical research!