Holiday hours

Sibley Library's late December/early January hours will be:

Finals Week – December 14 - 20

Sunday, December 14: 1:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Monday, December 15: 8:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Tuesday, December 16: 8:00 AM – midnight
Wednesday, December 17: 8:00 AM - midnight
Thursday, December 18: 8:00 AM – midnight
Friday, December 19: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Saturday, December 20: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Week of December 21 – 27

Sunday, December 21: closed
Monday, December 22: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Tuesday, December 23: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Closed the rest of the week from December 24 – 27

Week of December 28 – January 3: Closed

Week of January 4 – 12

Sunday, January 4: closed
Monday – Friday, January 5 – 9: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Saturday – Sunday, January 10 – 11: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Library resumes regular hours on Monday, January 12, 2009

Thanksgiving hours

Thanksgiving break hours:

Tuesday Nov. 25 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Wednesday Nov. 26 - Saturday Nov. 29 Closed
Sunday Nov. 30 1 - 11 p.m. (resume regular hours)

Naxos upgrade

Naxos Music Library is in the process of migrating to NML 2.0. During this transition period there may be some disruption of service. One problem that has surfaced is that if your NML session times out, you will not be able to log in again for a few hours. This should not happen once the migration is complete (which should be by September 12).

Here are a list of new features, taken from a recent email announcement from Naxos:

• Microsoft Silverlight player combines various elements to create a unique, cross-platform, easy way to stream music!
• An actual home page has been created to present the most recent album additions, featured new additions, and Naxos news updates.
• Links to major pages of the site have now been logically grouped as a main menu on the header section of each page. Likewise, the keyword search feature has now been made available to almost all the pages of NML 2.0.
• The album page now contains additional information such as the short album description and the album information summary. Soon we will also be offering links to the "Work" information used by each track.
• Aside from the album page, the Recent Additions, Genre, Labels, and Composer List pages also have significant changes in the design.

Wireless Network Upgrade

Sibley's wireless system has recently been upgraded. With these improvements (which include increased covereage throughout the building), come some changes. The new wireless system will no longer require each wireless device to be registered in the Eastman Computing Services office, but will enable you to connect to the wireless system from any device with the use of your NetID and password. The two choices are UR_RC_Internal and UR_RC_InternalSecure. We encourage you to use the UR_RC_InternalSecure connection if your computer is able to connect with WPA. The UR_RC_InternalSecure network provides security for your information while the UR_RC_Internal leaves your data out in the open. When you first connect to the UR_RC_InternalSecure network, you will be prompted to enter a wireless security encryption key. When are prompted, enter URWireless. After connecting to the network and opening a web browser (such as Mozilla Firefox, Safari, or Internet Explorer), you will be redirected to the URWireless Acceptable Use Policy. You will need to enter your NetID and password (this is the account used for PeopleSoft, VPN, and student e-mail) in order to join the wireless network. Step-by-step instructions for connecting can be found at http://www.rochester.edu/it/wireless/.

Guests will also be able to obtain temporary NetIDs, but they must be sponsored by someone on the University staff or faculty. Information on the Guest NetID program for accessing the UR Wireless network is available at http://www.rochester.edu/it/netid/guest_netid.html.

Hours Reminder

Saturday, August 9th, ends our extended Summer hours. Beginning on Sunday, August 10th, and continuing through Friday, August 29th, we will be on intersession hours: M-F 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Over Labor Day weekend we will be open Saturday and Sunday 1-5 p.m. Sibley will be closed on Labor Day, Monday September 1st.

On Tuesday, September 2nd (the first day of classes for the fall term), we will open for regular hours:

Monday - Thursday 8:00am - 11:00pm
Friday 8:00am - 8:00pm
Saturday 10:00am - 8:00pm
Sunday 1:00pm - 11:00pm

Voyager to be updated

We will be upgrading the operating system on the Voyager server starting on Monday, June 23th. We expect the upgrade to be completed by 5 P.M. on Wednesday, June 25. Except for brief interruptions, Voyager Catalog (OPAC) will be available for searching; emailing records from Voyager should also still work.

However, the following will not be working:

• Place Requests function
• Patron Self Renew in My Account
• My Preferences view only (no changes can be made)
• My Bookbag view only (no changes can be made)

Also note that the circulation status of a given item may not be accurate, as we will not be able to charge and discharge during the process. As we have done in the past, we will save up every item to discharge, and keep a running tally of items checked out, which we will input once Voyager becomes available again. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions.

Bach Collection from the Archive of the Sing-Akademie, Berlin

In 2008 the Friends of the University of Rochester Libraries provided funding for an important collection of primary source documents on microfiche: Die Bach-Sammlung aus dem Archiv der Sing-Akademie zu Berlin. The call number for this new item in our collection is: Media 847. This collection reproduces some 26,000 pages of source documents, representing compositions by twelve members of the Bach family, with particular riches in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach's sons Wilhelm Friedemann, Carl Philipp Emanuel, Johann Christoph Friedrich, and Johann Christian. Read more about the collection at www.saur.de/index.cfm?lang=EN&ID=0000010842

Outstanding Service Award

On Thursday evening June 5, at the annual meeting and dinner of the Friends of the University of Rochester Libraries, Robert Iannapollo, Sibley's Access Services Manager, was recognized as the 2008 recipient of the Outstanding Service Award for a Sibley Music Library staff member. Robert was recognized, among other qualities, for his superb supervisory skills in managing a large group of student staff members who provide front-line circulation service and keep our stacks in good order. Robert also supervises interlibrary loan borrowing, thus holding primary responsibility for putting materials into the hands of library users--regardless of whether those materials are locally owned or borrowed from another library. Congratulations and thanks to Robert for his outstanding work at Sibley Music Library.

New Look for New Grove

The look and feel of Grove Music Online changed in May. Oxford University Press is changing how users will access their various electronic resources, including New Grove, by implementing a new gateway they are calling Oxford Music Online.

This new product combines the content of New Grove (including New Grove Opera and New Grove Jazz), The Oxford Companion to Music, and The Oxford Dictionary of Music (2nd edition). Searches can be directed at any of the sources, or across all three. According to a press release by Oxford, “Grove Music Online’s many improvements and enhancements will include a completely new and user-friendly interface, sophisticated advanced search capabilities, improved biographical searching, OpenURL compliance, an expanded cross-reference system, and more.” Oxford is also forming partnerships with third parties such as the Database of Recorded Music (DRAM), RILM, and eventually Naxos that will support linkages between the databases.

The other most significant development is that Oxford Music is OpenURL compliant. This means that you will be able to generate a Voyager search directly from a bibliography entry with a click of the mouse, allowing you to search the online catalog for that item. This functions much the same way the “Find Text” button works on some other databases, such as RILM.
Not only will the searching be different, but the way the results are displayed will also be different. Where multiple articles on the same topic exist, primacy will be given to the article from New Grove. Articles from “baby Groves” will be found under the main article, listed as “archived articles.” Oxford will also be developing a thesaurus and name authority list for variant spellings (e.g. Tchaikovsky vs. Chaikowskii). When searching biographies, it will be possible to limit by different criteria, such as occupation (e.g. “tenor,” or “singer” which will take into account all voice types). The new search interface supports the use of Boolean operators (including “near,” which Voyager does not use) and wildcards. A quick search box is available at the top of every page.

Oxford maintains that the site is equally accessible through a variety of browsers, including:

• IE6+
• Firefox 2+
• Safari 2
• Opera 9
• Lynx

Search results can be both printed (no more frames!) or emailed. Abbreviations are spelled out as mouseovers or hyperlinks. Search terms are highlighted in the article. The navigation tabs are more useful now, including tabs for Article, Works, Multimedia, and Related Content (the latter referring to content within Oxford Music rather than external links, which are included as part of the bibliographies). The display of works lists has also been significantly improved.

As with any major change such as New Grove is undergoing, there are going to be things that you will like about it, and things that you do not. For better or worse, there is little that we can do in the way of customization, however, Oxford is encouraging feedback which can be found using the Contact Us link in the upper right corner

Last Sibley Muse

The last volume of the Sibley Muse is now available for download here. The issue includes and article about the changes New Grove Online will see later this month, a final issue wrapup of the Muse's run by Dan Zager, Staff News, and a page with our Intersession and Summer hours.

End of semester hours

Please note the extended hours this week.

Monday May 5 8:00AM – 11:00PM
Tuesday May 6 8:00AM – midnight
Wednesday May 7 8:00AM – midnight
Thursday May 8 8:00AM – midnight
Friday May 9 8:00AM – 5:00PM
Saturday May 10 1:00PM – 5:00PM

GRADUATION WEEK
Sunday May 11 closed
Monday – Friday 9:00AM – 5:00PM

Interesting RISM-related website

The May/June 2008 issue of Choir & Organ arrived yesterday, with an interesting article about a website entitled RISM Music Manuscripts (1600 to 1800) in British and Irish Libraries. According to the article this website "provides descriptions and sources of 62,000 pieces of manuscript music." It is a regional (British and Irish) subset of the larger RISM A/II database. Check out the website at www.rism.org.uk

Free Endnote download for UR

We recently received notice that UR students, faculty and staff may now download the EndNote client for PC or MAC from this ITS page free of charge. Yes, we have licensed EndNote for the entire University. Find out how to get help with EndNote on this library page or the River Campus Libraries' A-Z Database listings.

EndNote is a citation management software, similar to RefWorks. Use it to store, manage, and search for bibliographic references. EndNote formats citations, figures, and tables in Microsoft Word with the Cite While You Write feature, and allows creation of bibliographies with other word processors.

How does EndNote differ from Refworks? Whether you use (or recommend) one product or the other depends on individual needs and situation. Pat Sulouff will address the difference in greater detail in an orientation session that she will soon offer on River Campus, but briefly, here are a few reasons that people have given for preferring EndNote:

- It is not dependent on Internet access
- Output styles are more sophisticated
- Filters are configurable
- Connection files are more sophisticated
- More ability to customize

No one at Sibley has yet done any testing of either Endnote or Refworks to see how they handle the difficulties posed when citing printed music, sound recordings, or video. If any reader of this blog has such experience and would care to comment we would be happy to hear about both positives and negatives.

MLA Wrap

Not only was Sibley well represented at MLA, but several former Eastman students and Sibley colleagues were also spotted there (including Phil Ponella, Lara Snyder, and Mary Wallace Davidson).

As far as Sibley contributions go, several of us gave presentations. Dan Zager gave a talk on teaching music bibliography, and specifically on the teaching of a source like RISM to masters performance majors. Gerry Szymanski, chair of the Information Sharing Subcommittee, led a very well attended session on Web 2.0 products that various libraries are using. Gerry's own 10 minutes was spent sharing information on Pandora.

Alice Carli, Jim Farrington, and Linda Blair presented a poster session on Sibley's score digitization efforts. This will be put up electronically in the near future, and we'll add a link to it when that happens. Alice was also part of a session in her role as outgoing chair of the Peservation Cmmittee, discussing the new committee's website. Jim also played in the MLA Big Band, a slideshow of which can be seen here.

Librarians on the Loose

This week is the 77th annual meeting of the Music Library Association. As usual, most of the librarians from Sibley will be attending and participating. Those who will be traveling from Rochester to Newport, RI are:


Linda Blair
Alice Carli
Jim Farrington
Rebecca McCallum
Rick McRae
Gerry Szymanski
Dale Vargason
Dan Zager


Most of us will be leaving either Tuesday or Wednesday, and will be back at Sibley on Monday, February 25. For those interested in the meeting, you can view all the details here, and even follow the conference blog.

Digital scores

As many of you know, Sibley began digitizing scores that are in the Public Domain (that is, there are no copyright restrictions) several years ago. We make them available in the University's digital repository, UR Research. Within the repository, Sibley has a "community" (the ESM Theory Department also has a recently-instituted community). Within the community, we have--so far--three collections:

Musical Scores
ESM Theses and Dissertations
DMA Papers

The latter two collections will be the subject of a later post. The Musical Scores collection, however, is worth a post of its own. It is the single most used collection in the university's digital repository. Although having less than 40% of the repository's total objects, it accounts for 80% of all downloads from the repository. Since statistics started to be gathered in early 2005, there have been over 1.1 million downloads* from the approximately 2600 titles that have been put in Musical Scores.

Although it is titled Musical Scores, it also contains whatever books and periodicals we have digitized. There haven't been many of these, but some of those that have been digitized are pretty interesting, including:

The Black Hercules, or The adventures of a banjo player (1884)
S.S. Stewart’s banjo and guitar journal, of which we have a nearly complete run from 1884-1900
Piobaireachd, its origin and construction (1915) by John Grant, on the bagpipe
A history of music for the use of young students (1879) by W. S. Rockstro

The repository is indexed by all of the search engines (e.g. Google), and we also make links from Voyager and Worldcat (OCLC).

*A download in this context is anytime someone clicks on the pdf link and views the score, not just simply page views of the metadata.

Welcome!

Welcome to Sibley Music Library's new blog. We hope that this will eventually take the place of The Sibley Muse, but even more than that this will be a way for the librarians of Sibley to make you aware of new services, recently acquired materials, staff updates, breaking news, or anything that we think you should know about.

We hope you find this useful, and welcome feedback.