American Variety Stage December 4, 2008

The American Memory Collection at the Library of Congress has many diverse digital collections.  The American Variety Stage: Vaudeville and Popular Entertainment 1870-1920 takes a look at the popular form of entertainment that took America by storm around the turn of the 20th century.  This collection is comprised of numerous multimedia holdings that include motion pictures, photographs, sound recordings, playscripts, and playbills.  There is also a portion of the collection devoted to Harry Houdini.

The collection is set up where the user can search the collection by keyword or browse by author or subject.  The collection contains many interesting things, such as the playbill for Ziegfeld Follies in 1914. Each section of the collection is given special attention, and background information is provided.  Also within each section, the collections are divided by subject.  If the user is looking for something on a particular subject, this makes it easy to locate.

Within the collection of motion pictures, the user can click on a specific picture.  Once the motion picture is brought up, the site gives further information about the picture itself, such as plot summary, when and where it was filmed, and other facts of interest.  This collection provides a great resource to the public that is interested in turn-of-the-century entertainment.

Joseph Muller Collection of Music and Other Portraits December 3, 2008

The Joseph Muller Collection of Music and Other Portraits can be found at the New York Public Library Digital Gallery.  This collection includes thousands of images that date between the 16th century and the early 20th century.  Most of the engravings and lithographs within the collection are of musicians and composers; however, there are some images of other famous persons that include actors, politicians, and nobility.

Joseph Muller (1877?-1939) was a violin student that studied at the Brussels Conservatory under the direction of Alexandre Cornélis. He began his collection due to his interest in music.  He travelled the world buying up prints from different dealers.  In 1934, Muller joined the staff at the Music Division in an attempt to strengthen the iconography department.  Through the efforts of Carlton Sprague Smith, Joseph Muller bequeathed his private collection to the Music Division at NYPL upon his death in 1939, where it was incorporated into a separate collection in 1940.

The collection that he amassed is astounding.  Although all of the items have not been digitized at this point, there are currently 4,907 items on display.  The collection is divided by the individual names.  The names are listed alphabetically, so that the user can scroll down to the desired portrait or can just browse.  After clicking on an individual name, a separate page pops up that contains all of the portraits of that particular person.  For instance, when I click on John Field, four portraits are displayed.  However, when I click on Franz Joseph Haydn, a total of 71 images are displayed.  Also there is a search box, so that the user may enter a particular person of interest.

Mozart’s Musical Diary December 2, 2008

The British Library has developed an interactive collection of several great masterpieces of literature and other works.  As part of their great collection known as Turning the Pages, they have included Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Thematic Catalogue.  This catalogue includes a brief description of each piece of music that he wrote along with the beginning measures so that the reader may identify the music.  One of the reasons that this collection is so great is that not only do they provide the entire catalogue in digital format that allows the reader to “turn the pages,” but they also include an excerpt of the music that is found on each page, a translation of the text on the page, and audio that gives in-depth historical background of the music that is found on each page. In addition to those aspects, the site also includes a magnify option.  Once this option is chosen, a “magnifying lens” appears on the screen, and the reader can drag the magnifying lens to any portion of the page.

This resource is one of the most fascinating that I have ever seen.  It is absolutely incredible to see the actual handwriting of a great composer, but with the extra bells and whistles that the British Library have attached to the collection it makes this collection a very enriching experience for any music lover.  For those not particularly interested in music, they have other additional digital works, including Lewis Carroll’s original copy of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground and the Diamond Sutra, which is the oldest dated, printed book from A.D. 868.

Piano 300-An Exhibition at the Smithsonian Institute November 28, 2008

Piano 300: Celebrating Three Centuries of People and Pianos was an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute from March 9, 2000 to October 21, 2001.  Although this exhibit is no longer on display, the exhibit information and photos are still available at the Smithsonian website. 

The exhibit was opened in order to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the piano.  Before entering the exhibit, a timeline is given of important dates in the history of the piano, and a music booth is provided with short excerpts of music throughout the years.  Twenty-five pianos were on display; pictures of those pianos are available at the website.  Along with the photos, there is a brief walk through the history associated with each piano.  A list of other resources is also available on the website.

This is an excellent site for piano teachers to use for their piano students.  In addition, this would also be a great site for music appreciation students.  The site gives the history of the piano and provides numerous photos for the visitor to see the evolution of the piano through the years.  I would highly recommend this site to anyone interested in learning more about the piano.

American Centuries…view from New England September 19, 2008

As I have been browsing the Internet for digital collections of interest, I found the Memorial Hall Museum Online.  This is a broad collection of about 2,000 artifacts, documents, photographs, and other interesting items that are from the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts.  The collection ranges from Native American artifacts to twentieth-century pieces.  The site is well organized and is divided into different categories that visitors may browse; Art, Entertainment, Work, and Rituals are just a few.  Within these broader categories are smaller, more precise sets, such as, music, travel, and weddings.  Visitors are not just limited to browsing, but they can also search using keywords or topics provided.

The site is very educational.  Under each digital image, a small caption is given that explains the history of the item.  The caption gives where it came from, what it is used for, and how old it is.  The collection is focused on the lives of these people and what their daily routines were like.

My favorite part of the entire collection was the wedding dresses from the 1800s.  Under each photograph, a brief history was given containing who wore the dress, the particular features that were fashionable, and the age of the dress.  They looked to be in very good condition.  They were a reminder of how different wedding gowns used to be.

Another item of interest was an article entitled “Americans with the Wrong Ancestors” that was written by Clara Breed, a San Diego librarian.  The article, published in The Horn Book Magazine in July 1943, addressed the issues of the lack of reading material to the Japanese-Americans that had been interned during World War II because of Executive Order 9066 signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  Breed was a strong advocate of establishing libraries to service those innocent people that had been wronged.  She established inter-library loans and gathered donations to send to the internment camps or relocation centers.  We as librarians should view her example of bravery and advocacy as a goal that all people should have the right to information regardless of who their parents are.

Introduction to Collections September 1, 2008

I am very new to the idea of a digital collection. I have known for some time that such collections exist but have not taken the time to find them.  In my browsing for three such collections to discuss, I have found three that I will introduce to you today.  I hope to explore them in greater depth as the semester continues.

Library of Congress American Memory

This collection is massive: it covers everything from Music to Native American History to Advertising.  This site is overseen by the Library of Congress.  It is dedicated to providing free and open access to its collections of photographs, sound recordings, sheet music, and other memorabilia that commemorate the history of America.  The collection contains over 9 million pieces of memorabilia.  The collection can be browsed by subject or topic and can be searched across multiple collections.  The collection provides an Ask the Librarian online reference service that is helpful if you do not find what you are specifically looking for.

As the semester continues and I have a chance to examine the site more closely, I will attempt to focus on the Music, Performing Arts collection, which contains 33 different collections.  These collections contain sheet music, sound recordings, and portraits that would be useful for any music librarian to be aware of.

Charles H. Templeton, Sr. Music Museum

This collection is part of the Mississippi State University Libraries.  The collection is named after the benefactor Charles H. Templeton, Sr.  The collection spans from the  Civil War to the Vietnam era with sheet music of popular music of the times.  The collection is catalogued by genre and given an inventory code.  The music that is in the public domain can be accessed online.  However, there are numerous pieces that are not in the public domain due to their copyright date and can only be accessed at the Mississippi State Library.  Along with the sheet music, there is also a collection of Digital Images and Cylinder Recordings.  Although the collection focuses on music, there are aspects that pertain to the social and economic aspects of the times.

Hoagy Carmichael Collection

The Hoagy Carmichael Collection is maintained by Indiana University.  The collection is the largest grouping of information pertaining to Hoagy Carmichael.  The collection contains manuscripts, correspondence, images, sound recordings, and films just to mention a few things.  The collection is comprised of holdings from three different entities: Lilly Library, Indiana University Archives, and Archives of Traditional Music.  As of November 1999, the Archives of Traditional Music holdings was the only group that had been completely digitized.  The holdings at the Lilly Library and Indiana University Archives were in the process of being digitized.  I could not find updated information, so I am not for sure if this is still the case or not.  Besides the expected browse and search options, the site also includes research information on his life.

I look forward to exploring these collections as we continue through the beginning of a new school year.  Hopefully, you will gain as much insight as I during this journey.