Fisk Jubilee Singers: Climbing the Hills of Zion

After touring Ohio, the group crossed into the hilly terrain of Pennsylvania en route to the East Coast.  They continued singing at church services, praise meetings, and concerts, raising money to reach New York City.

Their praise meeting in Elmira, New York, was held at the church presided over by the Rev. T.K. Beecher, brother of famous abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher and novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe.  He sent word ahead to his brother, who would be one of their greatest supporters.

The group spent six weeks in New York, supported in their efforts by Henry Ward Beecher.  He helped them secure venues and wrote glowingly of their artistry in advance of their trip to Boston:  "They will charm any audience, sure; they make their mark by giving the 'spirituals' and plantation hymns as only they can sing them who know how to keep time to a master's whip.  Our people have been delighted."

"Climbing the Hills of Zion" might have taken on significance for the singers as they viewed the Adirondack Mountains on their way to New York City and Brooklyn. 

Jennie Jackson, the soloist for this song, was free-born due to her grandfather's owner (General Andrew Jackson) setting him free in his will, and her mother likewise benefitting from the President Jackson's wife's will.  Jennie helped her family by working as a laundress and nurse during the mornings, and her schooling was limited to a few hours per day at a freedmen's school.  Her years at Fisk were punctuated by periods when she had tro work to help her family and save for her tuition.  Jennie sang a solo at the group's first concert and remained with them for many years.

Fisk Jubilee Singers: Touring the U.S. (Ohio)

The select group of talented singers from Fisk University started touring in the Fall of 1871.  Their venues consisted of churches where they sang "praise meetings," rented music venues, and university concert halls.  The group toured at first without a real name, sometimes being advertised as "a band of negro minstrels who call themselves Coloured Christian Singers." Money coming in barely paid the group's expenses, so Mr. White decided on the name "The Jubilee Singers" in reference to the "year of jubilee" which slaves looked forward to as their time for emancipation.

"Way Over Jordan" is one of the "signal songs" that could be understood two ways. The literal meaning references the Israelites' travels under the leadership of Moses in the book of Exodus.  For the Israelites, crossing the Jordan represented the end of their travels back toward Israel and freedom.  Likewise, for escaping slaves, the Ohio River was the boundary between slavery and freedom and the end of a long journey for many.  Songs signaled to escapees in hiding when it was safe to cross or when "Satan" was on the loose.  A slave in hiding who heard this song would know that it was safe to cross the Ohio River to safety.

So it's fitting that their first tour began with several dates in Ohio.

But although people of the northern United States included dedicated abolitionists, Union soldiers, and people who risked their lives hiding escaped slaves in the Underground Railroad, not everyone in the North was so welcoming. In Chillicothe, Ohio, the singers realized that the trip would not be just a fund-raiser for their newly-founded school, but also a mission to break down prejudice.

Here at Chillicothe they met with an indignity which was often repeated in the next year's experience.  Applying at one of the principal hotels for entertainment, they were refused admittance because of their colour.  Treated in the same way at a second, they only secured shelter at a third by the landlord's giving up his own bedroom to them to use as a parlour, and furnishing them their meals before the usual hour, that his other guests might not leave the house.

  Within a few years, their reception had changed: 

People who would not sit in the same church-pew as a negro, under the magic of their song were able to get new light on questions of social equality.

After singing in Cincinnati, Chillicothe, Columbus, Akron, Oberlin, Cleveland, and Zanesville, they moved Eastward to continue their mission.


This post is part of a series dedicated to sharing the story of the Fisk Jubilee Singers as told in The story of the Jubilee Singers; with their songs by J.B. Marsh, from the Ball State Library Music Collection.

Fisk Jubilee Singers: Origins of a Tradition

Education was the key to success for blacks in post-slavery America, but having been denied an education for their whole lives, former slaves needed schools that could take adults from complete illiteracy to college graduation.  Fisk University was one of the first seven universities established toward this goal.  Students were enthusiastic learners:

All their lives, the lash or the auction-block had been the swift penalty for slaves who were caught learning to read. Now that the fetters had fallen from mind as well as body there came an eagerness to learn that was like a consuming fire. The world never saw such a sight before as these schools presented. Families pinched with hunger asked more eagerly for schools than for bread.(p. 6)

Although Northern charities funded these universities, money was needed for building and development.  George L. White, a teacher from New York and Union Army veteran, selected the best singers for additional training and formed a group from these voices.  In 1871 they began touring the U.S. and Europe.

They were at times without the money to buy needed clothing. Yet in less than three years they returned, bringing back with them nearly one hundred thousand dollars. They had been turned away from hotels, and driven out of railway waiting-rooms, because of their colour. But they had been received with honour by the President of the United States, they had sung their slave-songs before the Queen of Great Britain, and they had gathered as invited guests about the breakfast-table of her Prime Minister."

The song on this page was given to the group by Frederick Douglass.  Like many spirituals, songs of freedom, hope, and despair that drew on themes from the Bible that resonated with the experiences of slavery.  Some songs carried additional meaning for people escaping slavery via the underground railroad.  "Signal" songs told escapees when it was safe to travel, which way to go, or what dangers lay ahead.  "Run to Jesus" may have been one of these songs.

Fisk Jubilee Singers

The introduction to the songbook portion of The Story of the Jubilee Singers shows the kind of bias the singers faced, but also the sympathy that audiences felt for their circumstances: The excellend rendering of the Jubilee Band is made more effective and the interest is intensified by the comparison of their former state of slavery and degradation with the present prospects and hopes of their race, which crowd upon every listener's mind during the singing of their songs Regarding the songs themselves, author Theo. F. Seward writes from the perspective of the "cultivated" white audiences, accustomed to parlor music and classical concerts, who were hearing the voices of black people for the first time: Their origin is unique. They are never "composed" after the manner of ordinary music, but spring into life, ready made, from the white heat of religious fervour during some protracted meeting in church or camp. They come from no musical cultivation whatever, but are the simple, cstatic utterances of wholly untutored minds. From so uenpromising a source we could reasonably expect only such a mass of crudities as would be unendurable to the cultivated ear. On the contrary, however, the cultivated listener confesses to a new charm, and to a power never before felt, at least in its kind. The field of "ethnomusicology," the study of folk music (mainly), would not nuance this understanding for many years to come. Research into the folk music of other peoples would reveal charms and powers of those cultures as well, despite a lack of "cultivation." For concert audiences of the late Nineteenth Century, the Fisk Jubilee Singers revealed the artistry of folk music and the musicality of non-Europeans. A common bond of appreciation for finely honed musical performance helped break down barriers created by centuries of oppression and degradation. A short ten years after the writing of this passage, researchers in "systematic musicology" (or "comparative musicology") would take recording equipment into the "field" to study the music of "uncultured" peoples. Until that time traveling groups like The Fisk Jubilee Singers were the only way that many Americans and Europeans could hear the music of a culture that was so alien to them.

Celebrate Chinese New Year in Song!

Celebrate Chinese New Year with music from the Music Collection.  Use the Media Finder for World Music to search by country or language.  You can also use the Media Finder for Musical Recordings other than Classical to search for popular music sung in Chinese.  To see all the Chinese music in the Music Collection, use the Advanced Search in CardCat to specify format (compact disc, audio) and language (Chinese).

Happy Ground Hog's Day!

Happy Ground Hog's Day!  Have you ever wondered why we don't seem to have a song specifically about ground hogs for celebrating the day?  Sure, there's the "Pennsylvania Polka," played over and over in the movie, "Groundhog Day," but where is the cute song about the furry little critter? 

The cute little critter does have one old folk song to "celebrate" with, but it doesn't end well for him.  Take a look at the folk song below, which came from the hills of Eastern Kentucky.  The song was "collected" in the hey-day of ethnographic research to preserve America's heritage of folk music.  Researchers travelled from town to town with tape recorders and notepads, documenting the songs they heard the townspeople sing.

This version comes from a songbook that is so old it is now in the public domain (i.e., the copyright has expired).  Check out the lyrics and you might underestand why this song hasn't come down to us for celebrating Ground Hog Day:

Black History Month: Fisk Jubilee Singers

For Black History Month, this blog will share some of the songs and stories from the Music Collection's copy of The story of the Jubilee Singers; with their songs by J.B. Marsh of Fisk University in Nashville. (ML400 .M34 1877)  The book chronicles the history to that point of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, a college singing group that toured the U.S. and Europe to raise awareness of African-American spirituals and to raise money for their university.

Organized after the civil war, Fisk University and other universities educated former slaves, many of whom had been denied even the most basic education until then.  The singing group was called the "Jubilee" singers after the the Biblical term "jubilee," which referenced the Emancipation Proclamation.  The university has carried on the tradition to this day, and the Jubilee Singers still perform both on-campus and away.

Throughout February, this blog will summarize the biographies of the individual singers as described in this book, as well as discuss arrangements of the spirituals the group sang.

Music to Cheer You Up :-D

Winter getting you down?  The Music Collection has humorous songs to tickle your funny bone.  Check some of these out:

Old-Time Comedians
Still funny after all these years!

Tom Lehrer, math professor and hilarious songwriter
   An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer
   That was the Year that Was

Homer and Jethro, America's Song Butchers
  
Best of Allan Sherman
   Includes his hit, "Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda" (Camp Grenada)

Stan Freberg
   Host of a 1950s TV show that aired many parodies of music of the time.       His "Christmas Dragnet" is still heard during the holidays.

Mickey Katz, Greatest Schticks

   Borscht Belt takes on hits of the 1950s

Not-so-Old Comedians:
Ray Stevens Laughter is the Best Medicine
   Includes "The Streak," his biggest hit

Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary Collection

"Weird Al" Yankovic, master of the rock/pop song parody
   Greatest Hits
   Greatest Hits, Volume II

Current Musical Humorists
Stephen Lynch 3 Balloons and A Little Bit Special
  (Parental Advisory, explicit content)

Tim Wilson It's a Sorry World and Songs for the Musically Disturbed

Garrison Keillor Songs of the Cat
  The star of A Prairie Home Companion with Philip Brunelle

Classical Music Humorists
(You don't have to know classical music to get the humor, but it helps!)

Victor Borge, pianist famous for pratfalls and wrong-note humor

Anna Russell, a soprano famous for "How to Write Your Own Gilbert and Sullivan Operetta" and describing Wagner's Ring Cycle with wry commentary.

P.D.Q. Bach (Peter Schickele), serious composer under his real name, humorous composer as "P.D.Q. Bach.  He is best known for narrating Beethoven's Fifth Symphony as if it were a sporting event, and for punnily titled instrumentals, such as the 1712 Overture.

The Educational Resources Collection has many of these artists' live performances on DVD, too!

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: His Favorite Music

In My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr. , Dr. King's wife, Coretta Scott King, a classical singer, gives a personal account of the Civil Rights Movement and as the title says, her life with Dr. King.  Perhaps because she was a singer, she seems to have made a point of naming some of Dr. King's favorite songs, and songs sung at important events.  Her own role in the Civil Rights Movement included singing at special concerts, and her book describes the program in some detail.

Mrs. King earned an undergraduate degree in music from Antioch College, in Ohio.  While there one of her jobs was working in the music library.  She went on to graduate study in Boston, and that's where she met Martin Luther King Jr., who was working toward his doctorate in theology.  Although motherhood and the civil rights movement steered Mrs. King away from music, she used her talent in Dr. King's Ebenezer Baptist Church, a 1956 concert on the anniversary of the Montgomery boycott, and the "Freedom Concerts" of 1965.

Dr. King was especially fond of spirituals.  In the 19th Century, spirituals linked stories from the Bible to experiences of slaves.  In the 20th Century, these same songs resonated in the Civil Rights Movement.  "Balm in Gilead" was one of Dr. King's favorites, though he knew and sang many.  Mrs. King quoted his favorite verses from this song (p. 10):

Sometimes I feel discouraged

And think my work's in vain
But then the Holy Spirit
Revives my soul again.

There is a Balm in Gilead

To make the wounded whole,

There is a Balm in Gilead

To heal the sinsick soul.

Mrs. King sang at a concert commemorating the first anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott.  She alternated stories from the struggle for equal rights with songs drawn mainly from the repertoire of spirituals. Later, the Freedom Concerts of 1965 were a series of fund-raising events, narrated and sung by Mrs. King along the same lines.  Many of the songs were sprituals, including "Hold On," "Honor, Honor," "Witness," and "Seeking for a City."  She also sang songs composed by a family friend.

Just seconds before his assassination, Dr. King was making a musical request for the evening's entertainment:  "Be sure to sing 'Precious Lord, Take My Hand' for me tonight," he called down to Ben Branch, the evening's performer.

His funeral was held at Morehouse College, his alma mater.   Mahalia Jackson sang Precious Lord, the song that had been his last wish.  Also sung that day were the Hymn "O God, Our Help in Ages Past," the spirituals "Balm in Gilead" and "Ain't Got Time to Die," and the Morehouse College Hymn.  The organist opened the service with improvisations on spirituals and "We Shall Overcome," followed by Cortege by Dupre.  The Recessional was "Largo" from Dvorak's New World Symphony.

For scores and recordings of spirituals in the Music Collection, select "Subject" in Cardcat and type: "Spirituals (Songs) and African Americans."  You can also see early sheet music editions on the Library of Congress's American Memory site.

Music & The Civil Rights Movement: Books and Scores (Sheet Music)

Every revolution has its music, but the Civil Rights Movement was special in being the first to benefit from sound recording and broadcasting. This meant that people on the fringes of the movement, non-participants, and even the antagonists could learn and sing the same songs that the active participants sang.  Television showed marches, rallies, and sit-ins, and the songs that went with them. This gave music a special role in spreading the message and sentiment of the movement.

A few authors have written about this connection, either within the context of African-American music, or the context of protest music.  Check out some of these titles to learn more about the central role of music in conveying emotion and meaning:

A Change is Gonna Come: Music, Race & The Soul of America, by Craig Werner ML 3479 .W47 2006
Just My Soul Responding: Rhythm and Blues, Black Consciousness, and Race Relations by Brian Ward ML 3479 .W37 1998
Cultural Codes: Makings of a Black Music Philosophy by William C. Banfield ML 3479 .B364 2010
Rhythm and Resistance: The Political Uses of American Popular Music by Ray Pratt ML 3470 .P7 1994
Lift Every Voice!  The Second People's Songbook M 1977 .C5 L54
Sing for Freedom: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement Through Its Songs ML 1977 .C47 S56 1990

Unofficial Anthems of the Civil Rights Movement

When remembering Dr. Martin Luther King in music, the two songs that come to mind most readily are We Shall Overcome and Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing the two songs most associated with demonstrations and the civil rights movement in general.  But the movement also infused popular culture, inspiring some now-classic R & B hits, such as:
	Say it Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud) by James Brown Respect Yourself, and I'll Take you There by The Staple Singers Think and R-E-S-P-E-C-T by Aretha Franklin What's Goin' On? by Marvin Gaye Ball of Confusion, by The Temptations Smiling Faces Sometimes, by The Undisputed Truth
	One of the most iconic topical songs of the era was "The Revolution Will Not be Televised," by Gil Scott-Heron.  Though its style is still unclassifiable, it is sometimes credited as the "first rap song."

Other songs had socially conscious lyrics while not specifically addressing the Movement.  A common theme was a noble family or individual living in poverty as portrayed in such songs as "Patches" by Clarence Carter, "In the Ghetto" by Elvis Presley, and Stevie Wonder's "Living for the City" and "Uptight" (Everything's Alright).

Auld Lang Syne

Did you know that books & sheet music copyrighted before 1923 are in the public domain?  The Music Collection has some public domain material, including Sixty Patriotic Songs of All Nations, arranged by Granville Bantok (Boston, Oliver Ditson Company, 1913).  Among the gems in this anthology is the popular New Year's Eve Ballad Auld Lang Syne.  Click on the image at the right for a printable scan from this book.

Speaking of scanning, Bracken Library provides scanners in large and small formats.  Ask at the Reference Desk, Music Collection Counter, or Educational Resources Counter for assistance.  You can scan directly to your ilocker account, or save onto a flash drive in many formats, including .pdf.

Music for Winter Solstice

Winter celebrations are common to many cultures, and music is essential to celebration!   Some researchers believe the solstices have been the inspiration for rituals and believes associated with those times of the year.  The winter solstice coincides with holidays that use light in ceremonies and celebrations.

The Music Collection has CDs and sheet music to help you celebrate in style:

Celebrate the mid-winter Solstice with:
Firedance by Gaia.  Compact Disc 19342
Beautiful Darkness by Jessica Radcliffe. Compact Disc 18363
Megha Morganfield's Winter Solstice Carols.  Compact Disc 18460

If you are inclined to create your own music, try A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual: A Celebration of the Darkness and the Light with Songs and Stories.  This songbook includes a CD to help you learn the music.

M 1495 .M64 W56 2002

or... The Christmas Revels Songbook, which includes children's songs for the whole season.

783.65 C55555 (Educational Resources Youth Collection)

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

If you could hum the next line of that song but didn't remember the words, have no fear!  The Music Collection has song books to help you with your caroling, karaoke or Christmas joy!  Check these out:

Play-Along / Sing-Along:

Jazz "Holiday" Classics

MT68 .J36 V.78
A Charlie Brown Christmas
M175.5 .C53 2006
Cool Christmas
M175.5 .C66 2009
Christmas Hits (men's edition)
M1629.3.C5 C546 2008
Christmas Hits (women's edition)
M1629.3.C5 C54 2008
Christmas Carol Classics: Jazz Takes a Holiday
MT68 .J36 V.125
Christmas Standards (for male singers)
M1629.3.C5 C47 2004
Christmas Standards
M1629.3.C5 C579 2004

Songbooks without CD
Country Christmas
M1629.3.C5 C68 2006
Christmas Solos for All Ages (high voice)
M2110 .C57 2001
Christmas Solos for All Ages (medium voice)
M2110 .C571 2001
Christmas Solos for All Ages (low voice)
M2110 .C572 2001
The Definitive Christmas Collection
M2110 .D44 2004
The Ultimate Christmas Fake Book
M1629.3.C5 U48 2002

Christmas Carols
The New Oxford Book of Carols
M2085 .N49 1998
Joy of Christmas: A Selection of Carols
M2065 .J88
Noël!: Carols and Anthems
M2065.N64 H5 2000
World Carols for Choirs
M2065 .W67 2005
Penguin Book of Christmas Carols
M2065.P76 P4

Christmas Instrumentals
Sunday Morning Organist. Volume 1, Solos for Christmas
M14 .S861 2009

Interim Hours

Fall semester is winding to a snowy close.  If you're planning to be away from campus during the holiday, remember you can still access library services from home.  All you need is your BSU ID to use the databases or check your library account.  You can also use the "Ask a Librarian" service by sending an e-mail or asking a question via chat.  You can also renew books, scores, or CDs that you will need. To renew, log in to CardCat and then click on "My Account." https://liblink.bsu.edu/cgi-bin/login.pl

The Music Collection will be open all the hours that Bracken Library will be open over the break. Please be sure to return all your library material before you leave for the holidays!  For the complete schedule of hours go to the Hours & Calendars page.

While you're away, keep up with news about the library with Facebook: http://facebook.com/ballstatelibraries.

Have a happy and safe Winter Break!

The Books are Back!!

All the music collection books are now back on the Lower Level. There are three new additional shelving sections and space for growth. Toward the rear of the collection we now have a little space to sit, relax, and study near the windows.

Thank you for your patience during this time.

We're Expanding!

New Shelving:  " [ " marks the spot!

You may have noticed that the transfer of printed materials from the Fourth Floor back "home" to the Lower Level has stalled for awhile.  This is because we are waiting for the installation of new shelving in the area where some listening carrels used to be.  The new shelving  will free up space to add a seating area in the far section of shelving, by the windows.

The collection has been growing, and some shelving areas had become too tight before the carpeting.  Here are some of the main areas that have been growing quite a bit:

• M2, M3: Scholarly editions of music




Jamey Aebersold Play-Along


• M 1507: Anthologies of songs & arias from larger works, including The Singers Musical Theatre Anthology


• M 1629-30: Songbooks, including the Hal Leonard Pro Vocal sing-along series with CD
  
• ML 410-429:  Biographies of composers, musicians, bands, and conductors


• MT 68: The Jamey Aebersold series of jazz play-along leadsheet/CD sets





New Seating Area

Classical Music for Halloween

Many of the spooky tunes you know from years of Halloween fun are actually works by some of the world's most famous composers!  Check these out on CD from the Music Collection or stream them from Naxos Music Library:



Johann Sebastian Bach, Toccata in D Minor, BWV 565

Camille Saint-Saens, Danse Macabre

Giuseppe Verdi, Requiem (Dies Irae)

Franz Liszt, Mephisto Waltz

Modest Mussorgsky, Night on Bare (Bald) Mountain

Hector Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique (March to the Scaffold movement)

Gustav Holst, The Planets ("Mars" especially)

Charles Gounod, Funeral March of a Marionette

Orff, Carmina Burana

Edvard Grieg Peer Gynt Suite (In the Hall of the Mountain King)

Score Shelving Update

The scores are on the move, but unfortunately some of the shelving is also on the move!  Things may seem randomly out of place or they may seem to have disappeared, because we just can't reorganize everything all at once.  We hope to have the shelves back in good order soon.  As always, feel free to ask for assistance from the Music Collection staff or from the staff at the main circulation counter on the First Floor.

Thank you for your understanding as we work to improve our services.

New! Study tables in the Music Collection

In an effort to create more study space in the library, the Music Collection will add tables in the far corner of the book stacks, near the windows. To make room, there will be some reorganization of the shelves. Unfortunately, this means moving some of the books and scores that have returned from the Fourth Floor, and a short delay in moving the rest from the Fourth Floor to the Lower Level.

Please don't hesitate to ask for help when searching for print materials in the Music Collection!

Ball State Music for Homecoming

Are you coming to campus for Homecoming? Did you forget the music for your alma mater? The Library's Archives &Special Collections area has digitized historic Ball State music for the web. Check it out:

http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/123456789/193922

MLs are on the move!

Most of the scores are on hold because they need special shelving, so the night crew have been moving other areas back to the MC from their temporary quarters on the Fourth Floor.  The following are now back on the Lower Level:

• M 1-3 (Collected Editions, 3-day reserves)
• ML 1 - ML 178 A
• MT (all)
• Oversized ML & MT books

 As always, feel free to ask for help if you're unable to find something you need.

Oversized books are back!

Oversized books (kept on the low shelves in the middle of the MLs) have returned from their vacation on the Fourth Floor!  If the move seems a little scattered, it is.  The scores (M classification) require some special handling and they're on hold for now.  Fret not!  (unless you're a guitarist!)  The rest of the printed material will be back on the Lower Level soon!

MTs are back where they belong!



Jamey Aebersold vol. 84


Welcome home, Library of Congress classification MT (Music teaching & theory).  Located between the two rest rooms on the Lower Level West, the MTs include a new acquisition: The Jamey Aebersold series of play-along score/CD sets for jazz practice.  Find them at MT 68 J36.

The Scores are returning home!

Music Collection shelves have been reassembled and await the return of music books and scores.  The first to arrive are the M2s and M3s, toward the far back wall.  As of today, we have the composer editions through Willaert back where they belong.  The night staff have been doing the heavy lifting, so each morning there should be more books on the shelves.

Feel free to call before deciding which elevator button to push!

Hispanic Heritage Month: Styles and Genres to Explore

Each Spanish-speaking country has its own unique styles, though there have been many instances of styles crossing borders, including many styles that became popular in the United States. Some genres originated in the United States, which of course includes some territories formerly "owned" by Spain. Puerto Ricans, who are U.S. citizens, brought Anglo influences to Puerto Rico, and island culture to the U.S. mainland. The most recent popular Hispanic genre has been attributed to Puerto Ricans: "Reggaeton," or rap/hip-hop in Spanish.

Compact Disc 12685

Some other popular styles that originated in Latin America:

mambo, a Cuban dance form made popular in the 1950s by artists such as Perez Prado, composer of the original "Mambo No. 5."

Tango, developed in Argentina and brought to a high art form by Astor Piazzola.

Mariachi, from the Southwestern U.S. and Northern Mexico (Norteña).



Corridos, story-telling songs of history and heroism.

Banda, and Conjunto,derived from polka music.

Salsa, fast-paced music from Cuba.

Latin Jazz, which synthesizes jazz and one or more Latin American genres.

You can search by country or language using the Libraries' Media Finder for World Music, or by country using the Media Finder for Musical Recordings (other than classical).

New Website Deisgn

Check out the University Libraries' new website:

http://www.bsu.edu/library

"Research Tools"  includes links to the Libraries' catalog "(CardCat" as well as other important resources.  CardCat, WorldCat, the Music Subject Guides and the Music Databases still look and function the same as before, but navigating to them is just slightly different now.

The Music Collection page has tips and links you may find useful.  Please let us know if there's something you think we can improve!

http://cms.bsu.edu/Academics/Libraries/CollectionsAndDept/Music.aspx

Reference Books are Back!

Life is slowly returning to normal.  One positive sign is the return of the Music Collection Reference books to the wall behind the circulation counter.  There is a cart available for you to leave books after using them -- PLEASE DO NOT RESHELVE BOOKS!

Oversized Reference books are still on the 4th Floor - East, in the opposite corner from the part of the building occupied by the Music Collection.

Scores and circulating books are also on the 4th Floor, and will return in a few weeks.

Keep an eye on this blog for more updates, or just stop in and look around!

Welcome back!

Welcome back, fellow musicians! 

The Lower Level of Bracken Library has new carpeting, and the Ball State Libraries' website has a new design: http://cms.bsu.edu/Academics/Libraries.aspx.   It's still in the try-out phase, so try it out and give us feedback on how you think it can be improved.  There is a section for the Music Collection:  http://cms.bsu.edu/Academics/Libraries/CollectionsAndDept/Music.aspx  Feel free to e-mail me personally about that section!

Books and printed music are still on the Fourth Floor, in the opposite corner from the Music Collection.  We hope that they will be coming downstairs soon.

--Amy

Carpeting Project Update

The new carpet has now been laid throughout the Lower Level West, but things still aren't quite back to normal.  CDs are available from the Music Collection counter, but everything else is still waiting for crews to bring them back.  Scores and books remain on the 4th Floor East for now.

As always, let us know if there's any way we can be of assistance:  765-285-8188