ETHOS - Electronic Theses Online

In brief - accessing British doctoral theses online is currently 'clunky' and cumbersome. The ETHOS project hopes to change all that. Their Beta (trial) website goes live on Tuesday 9th December. There's already plenty of background info at http://www.ethos.ac.uk/001_EThOSnet_Home.html

Here's what they say:-

EThOS Update: We are pleased to announce that on Tuesday 9 December we will be launching a beta phase for EThOS which will mean the system going live. Welcome to the Electronic Theses Online Service (EThOS) toolkit - the companion to the forthcoming EThOS Service.

• Using this toolkit will enable your institution to work in partnership with other Higher Education Institutions (HEI) and the British Library to ensure a high level of national and international visibility for UK postgraduate theses and dissertations.
• EThOS aims to enable end-users to access the full text of electronically stored UK theses, in secure format, via a single Web interface.
• The toolkit shows how theses produced by students at your institution can be accessed, via EThOS, from the British Library or from your institutional (or consortium) repository.

Effective practice with e-portfolios

The way ahead! Copies of this JISC-funded report are on order for the Whittaker Library, and will be available within the next couple of weeks.

Musica Scotica 2009 call for conference papers

Musica Scotica 2009 will take place on Saturday 25th April 2009 from 10am - 6pm in the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow.* At previous meetings papers have been given on a wide variety of topics, ranging from chant to James MacMillan, and fiddle manuscripts to bagpipe music. We look forward to another successful day, bringing together researchers working in different areas of Scottish music. Abstracts of no more than 250 words are invited for 20 minute papers. They should be sent to Professor Graham Hair (conference2009@musicascotica.org.uk) as soon as possible and no later than 28 February 2009. All general enquiries should be sent to Jane Mallinson, at this e-mail address: MusicaScotica2008 'at' yahoo.co.uk (yes MusicaScotica2008 is correct!). Please feel free to forward this announcement to anyone who may be interested.

Musica Scotica Mailing List (if you'd like to be advised about new publications and events) - http://www.musicascotica.org.uk/contact.htm

RSAMD Library signs up to IPA Source

Our readers asked for it; we trialled it; and now we've signed up - IPA Source.

"Online since 2003, IPA Source is the web's largest library of International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcriptions and literal translations of opera arias and art song texts. Now with over 3775 texts including 550 opera-aria texts! "

Another great resource from your ever-responsive library service.

Finlay MacNeill dies

Finlay MacNeill, Gaelic teacher and piper, died 28th October. Read his obituary in The Herald, Saturday 22nd November 2008.

Edinburgh University celebrates St Andrews Day

St Andrew’s Day celebration - An evening of the best of Scottish song and instrumental music from the Scots and Gaelic tradition. If you're in Edinburgh, join the University for a night of entertainment featuring pipes, clarsach, Scots and Gaelic songs and poetry. St Cecilia’s Hall 7.30pm to 9pm Sunday 30 November. More details here.

Unsung Heroes: New Musical Theatre & the Creative Industries

Article by Dominic Symonds and George Burrows, University of Portsmouth, for IQ - Internet Journal from Intellect Books. Read the pdf here.

Simon Van der Walt concert @ Oran Mor, Monday 17th November

The Whirlies

by J. Simon van der Walt Support your RSAMD postgraduates! Next Monday, at Oran Mor, you can hear a new piece for strings and electro-junk improviser, inspired by the roundabouts of East Kilbride - Òran Mór (Byre's Road, Glasgow) Monday 17 Nov 2008 Doors open at 1715, Concert begins at 1815 £10 includes cocktail and canapés 0141 357 6200

Scottish Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor - Peter Cynfryn Jones

Soloist - Edward 'Teddy' Edwards Also featuring:- Vaughan Williams - A Lark Ascending Debussy - Danses Sacré et Profane Respighi - Il Tramonto

Winterfest in Glasgow shopping centre

Winterfest needs performers! They're looking for groups to perform on George Square during the Christmas period. They're also interested in any choirs that would like to participate in their family programme during weekends 12.00pm - 4.00pm. Click on the link to find out more. http://www.winterfestglasgow.com/

Scotchsnap.com

A new Scottish music download service. Here's what's on offer:-

Scotland's Online Sheet Music Store

• Music for sale, penned by many of Scotland's best musicians
• 1000s of pieces of digital sheet music available to download by 60+ Scottish composers
• Classical, Traditional, Jazz, Burns, Scots, Gaelic and more
• Listen to mp3s on Composer Profile Pages

VIEW, LISTEN, BUY and PRINT sheet music - pennies per page using Sibelius Scorch Free Download. Sibelius is a world leading, award winning digital music notation software company. Click on Sibelius Scorch for FREE download.

Jobs.ac.uk will see you right!

Two useful career postings from Jobs.ac.uk today:-

• Making Decisions about Your Career - by Melanie Allen Step-by-step assistance to help you make decisions about your career. http://go.jobs.ac.uk/link/careerdecision/
• Developing Confidence in Public Speaking: Some Dos and Don'ts - by Dr Catherine Armstrong How to speak in public confidently. http://go.jobs.ac.uk/link/publicspeaking/

Copyright-cleared Internet images

If you've struggled trying to find copyright cleared images for a presentation, then this online tutorial might be very welcome. Internet for Image Searching - A tutorial from the Intute > Virtual Training Suite

Rupert Luck, Alumnus of RSAMD - first record

Rupert Luck and Daniel Swain have recorded Parry's violin sonatas on the Radegund Records label. There is a copy of the CD in the Whittaker Library, RSAMD. Rupert's website: http://www.rupertluck.com/biography.htm

IPA Source trial at RSAMD

Staff and students of the Vocal Studies Department and Opera School at RSAMD will be enraptured to learn that we have a month's trial of this valuable resource, starting today. (This is institutional access, based on the RSAMD computer IP range. It will not work from outside the building.) IPA = International Phonetic Alphabet. It's an online resource to help you pronounce all those foreign language songs and arias. Please - use it. Try it out. And let us know what you think. http://www.ipasource.com/

Sound Thought Postgrad Degree Show @Glasgow Uni

Sound Thought - a weekend of postgraduate presentations by music students at the University of Glasgow. 28th - 29th November, in the University Chapel (Friday 28th) and the University Concert Hall (Saturday 29th).

• Free entry!
• Performers
• Composers
• Musicologists

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Live music, electroacoustic, research presentations ... Visit the Website www.soundthought.info

5th November - National Stress Awareness Day

If you have time to visit another website without causing yourself undue stress, you might like to spend a couple of minutes recognising the 10th National Stress Awareness Day. Visit the website here.

• Don't Worry Take Action campaign
• Organised by the International Stress Management Association (ISMA)
• Tips, advice, interactive stuff and web-links
• http://www.nationalstressawarenessday.co.uk/

Playwrights' Studio, Scotland

Here's a website which might be very useful to Drama staff and students here at RSAMD: "The Playwrights' Studio, Scotland is a national organisation which directly engages the people of Scotland with new playwriting and raises the standard of plays for presentation to the public. It celebrates, promotes and develops Scotland's rich and growing culture of writing for live performance; improving and sustaining artistic quality, raising awareness, and increasing access to new playwriting."

• http://www.playwrightsstudio.co.uk/

Rising Cost of Fuel and other effects of the credit crunch: Impact on Employees and Jobseekers

An article just posted by those helpful folks at jobs.ac.uk.

Sound and music.org

Bookmark this! Sound and Music is a brand-new organisation starting October 2008. "This is soon to be the virtual home of Sound and Music, a new organisation that promotes and explores sound and contemporary music, across genres, in one new programme of activity." It's a coming together of four organisations:-

• British Music Information Centre
• Contemporary Music Network
• Society for the Promotion of New Music
• Sonic Arts Network

You can sign up to be notifed of future developments.

Jewish Music Institute

You might be interested to visit the Jewish Music Institute website. Right now, you can find out about the cultural programme they are presenting, and consider becoming a Friend of JMI for 2008/9.