A fair deal

Justice Joseph Story, the “creator” of Fair Dealing. Photo copyright Eric E. Johnson / Konomark. Eric is usually happy for you to use his photo, but please contact him.

For the last week librarians worldwide have been celebrating Fair Use, or, as we call it in the UK, Fair Dealing. So, what’s it all about? Fair Dealing is a term used to describe some limited activities that are allowed without infringing copyright. Although this may sound rather boring, it’s actually vital, as it defines how academics, researchers, critics, anyone who needs to use resources that are still in copyright, can do so without breaking the law. As Sarah Jeong beautifully expresses it on the Fair Use Week 2015 blog: “Fair Use is the part of copyright that gives us room to breathe, to move, to actually get things done. Things like criticism, parody, art–and yes, even legal scholarship.”

At the event: UL Friends talk by Margaret Faultless

It’s all in the notes. Or is it?…. On Wednesday February 11th Margaret Faultless gave an absorbing and illuminating lecture-recital to the Friends of the University Library on performance practice at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries taking Corelli’s violin sonata op.5 no.1 as her chosen example. Why?

For two reasons: because it encapsulated the points she wanted to make and because the University Library has several fine contemporary editions of the work with which to demonstrate her case. So much for the 50 word summary: now let’s, er, add the ornamentation…

The early days of Pendlebury borrowing

Self issue at the Pendlebury Library of Music ©Pendlebury Library

We are all very much aware that the library and information world is changing rapidly and that library use and expectations need to be evaluated constantly. Over the summer we traditionally look at statistics which help us a little to keep an eye on trends and developments. What jumped out this year is that the gradual drop in borrowing figures is continuing. This is no surprise since actual physical items are nowadays only a very small part of what the library is offering to its users. There is a vast amount of material and content available on remote access, both as free and as subscription resources. However, there is more; such as the constant change and evolution in the actual teaching programme and therefore also changing expectations, targets and approaches. So I thought it might be interesting to have a little look at how our users made use of the Pendlebury Library collections in the past.

Pack up your troubles: 1915, a year in music

“Pack up your troubles” by Felix Powell and George Asaf. [A1911.4144]

Piantadosi’s “I didn’t raise my boy to be a soldier”. [A1915.268 (plain cover edition)]

1915, the first full year of WWI, would see one ghastly event after another unfold: the second Battle of Ypres during which poison gas was used for the first time by the Germans, the appalling loss of life at Gallipoli, the sinking of the Lusitania and the massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman authorities.

No wonder, then, that songs were a hugely important part of life at the Front. They helped soldiers to cope with the unimaginable experiences they had to endure and offered, at least for a moment, temporary release from the terrors of the battlefield. Many have since become embedded into our popular culture.

This little post is intended to accompany the current exhibition in the Music Department and to offer food for thought.

Meet…Kate Crane

Elgar is lucky enough to meet Kate! Copyright James Dhonau.

MusiCB3: What has your road to librarianship been?

When I was a child I visited the local public library with my parents pretty much every week – I would happily wander around it for hours, and always came back home laden with books (they were mostly Roald Dahl stories and books about ponies at this point, if I remember rightly…), or rather my parents did! Despite this, the possibility of working in librarianship never really occurred to me until after finishing my music degree and realising that I missed being surrounded by interesting music resources! I then did some volunteering work in a music library, which was great experience and confirmed my interest in working in libraries. I began a distance learning MA in Information and Library Studies from Aberystwyth University, and shortly after starting that was also lucky enough to get a one-year traineeship job at Essex University Library.

New Year, New staff, New study space at the Pendlebury

Welcome back to the Lent Term of 2015 at the Pendlebury Library of Music.  Now that the Christmas festivities are over and Pendlebury staff are refreshed after their extended break, it’s time to take stock of what’s new.

1865: a vintage year

Regular readers will have noticed that at about this time of year MusiCB3 usually posts something about upcoming anniversaries. This year, fear not, we are continuing our tradition, but with a slight twist in that we have picked one year to look at: 1865.  And, as always, we give thanks for the Wikipedia lists of music events year-by-year to provide inspiration. So, what have I picked out to highlight? Read on and find out….