Friday 26 September 2008

Upcoming Conferences and CFP III

UNLOCKING AUDIO 2: CONNECTING WITH LISTENERS
16 & 17 MARCH 2009
BRITISH LIBRARY CONFERENCE CENTRE, LONDON


Unlocking Audio 2: Connecting with Listeners is an international conference marking the end of the second phase of the British Library’s Archival Sound Recordings project, funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC).

The conference will focus on how audio resources need to be prepared for access in ways that researchers expect to discover, browse, audition and analyse them on-line.

Reviewing existing and emerging practices and technologies, the conference will be of interest to:
--content owners -- service providers -- user groups -- resource managers -- system integrators -- designers and implementers of data mining, search and analysis tools

The programme will include a social dinner and behind-the-scenes tours of the audio facilities of the British Library Conservation Centre. Space will be available for displaying posters and small exhibits.

A detailed programme, call for papers and registration information will be available soon at www.bl.uk/unlockingaudio <http://www.bl.uk/unlockingaudio>

For more information about Archival Sound Recordings: http://sounds.bl.uk

Unlocking Audio 2, The British Library, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB, United Kingdom Fax: + 44 (0)207 412 7441 Email: sound-archive@bl.uk

CALL FOR PAPERS
THE MUSICAL BODY: GESTURE, REPRESENTATION AND ERGONOMICS IN PERFORMANCE
SENATE HOUSE AND THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC
22-24 APRIL 2009

Institute of Musical Research, in association with the Open University, the University of Durham and the Orpheus Instituut, Gent, the University of Sussex, the Royal College of Music and the IMR Music & Science group

The aim of this interdisciplinary conference is to bring together researchers from widely divergent fields to share perspectives on the physicality of performance, and its visual representation, in musics of all kinds. From connections between musical performance and health, and musical performance as dance, to representations of the 'ideal' posture in historical treatises and the lampooning of soloists in caricature, the conference will explore the ways in which music and the body interact, both with ease (such as where composition or improvisation are explicitly ergonomic) and in tension (where physical strain is etched into a musical composition or acts as a marker of authenticity in a performance style). Finally, it is pertinent to consider those areas in which physical ease in performance is either obstructed (eg. via performance anxiety) or results from the creative adaptation of standard practices (eg. as a response to disability).

Sessions will be built around themes, with presentations grouped as far as possible in ways that bring together a variety of historical and generic areas of study. The following list of themes and topics is indicative only:

-- Music and health -- Iconographical representation -- History of performance style – Organology -- Dance and theatricality -- The boundaries of the idiomatic and the ergonomic in composition -- Entrainment, ensembles and community -- Gesture and embodied cognition -- Stage presence and performance anxiety

Keynote speakers will include Richard Leppert, Regents Professor, Department of Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature, University of Minnesota

Proposals are invited for the following: 20-minute papers / 30-minute lecture-recitals

For either category, please submit a 300-word abstract (authors of successful abstracts will be given an opportunity to edit their work before publication in the programme booket)

Please submit by email, in an attachment including your full name and contact details, to the IMR Administrator Mrs Valerie James, at music@sas.ac.uk. Proposals will be anonymised before consideration by the Programme Committee.

Deadline: 30 November 2008 Results will be announced in late December, with a provisional programme available from January 2009.

Programme committee: Katharine Ellis (IMR), Martin Clayton (Open University), Mieko Kanno (Durham University; Orpheus Instituut, Gent), Nicholas Till (University of Sussex), Aaron Williamon (Royal College of Music; IMR Music & Science Group


CALL FOR PAPERS
GRIEG IN THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT
13 – 16 MAY 2009
BERLIN, GERMANY

Organised by the International Edvard Grieg Society. Individual and common traits in the European artistic scene with emphasis on the period ca. 1880s to 1930s

Papers on the following items will be welcome -- Lyricism – as a line from Grieg and his contemporaries up to today’s artists -- Songs by Grieg - dissemination, translation, interpretation -- Chamber Music – Three great violin sonatas from 1886 (Brahms, Franck, Grieg) and their influence on later compositions -- Identification of individual and common traits in European music (ca.1880s to 1930s) -- “Hausmusik” as a diverse phenomenon: music as a social activity, educational and commercial aspects

The conference aims to: bring together researchers, composers, performers, documentalists and educators for discussions of relevant topics, encourage continuous co-operation on issues related to music research, documentation, promotion and interpretation and share international experience on these topics and present Master Classes on performance and interpretation of works illustrating the conference themes

We would especially like to encourage young researchers and other specialists to contribute. Subjects for papers may be related to research, methodology and analysis, but also other studies and projects relevant to the overall themes.

The conference will have room for presentations of different lengths (minimum15 minutes), presenting research projects, case studies, etc. Dissemination/publication: Full papers should be available after the conference on IGS’s well–visited website.

Language: The conference languages will be English and German. Abstracts, as well as full papers, should be in English or German.

Proposal deadline for abstracts: October 1, 2008

Proposals for presentations should be in the form of one page summaries of the content to be presented. The proposals should include the name, contact information and institutional affiliation of the author.

Proposals should be sent to the secretary of the International Edvard Grieg Society (IGS):
Monica Jangaard, Edvard Grieg Museum – Troldhaugen.
Postal address: Troldhaugveien 65, N-5232 Paradis, Norway
E-mail address: post@griegsociety.org

Evaluating committee
The proposals will be evaluated by a committee with these representatives (in alphabetic order) from the International Edvard Grieg Society and its affiliated institutions:
Signe Bakke, Associate Professor, Grieg Academy, Department of Music, University of Bergen, Erling Dahl jr, Director of Program, Bergen International Festival, Patrick Dinslage, Professor, Universität der Künste, Berlin, President of IGS, Maria Eckhardt, Chief Curator, Liszt Ferenc Memorial Museum, Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, Budapest, Trine Kolderup Flaten, Director, Bergen Public Library, Chair of IGS, Beryl Foster, Singer and Lecturer, Chair of the British Edvard Grieg Society, Harald Herresthal, Professor, Norwegian State Academy of Music, Oslo, Monica Jangaard, Head of Music and Collections, Edvard Grieg Museum – Troldhaugen, Bergen, Øyvind Norheim, University Librarian Music Department, National Library of Norway, Einar Røttingen, Professor, Grieg Academy, Department of Music, University of Bergen, Arvid Vollsnes, Professor, University of Oslo, Norway, Vice President of IGS

The evaluating committee will inform the applicants of the results by November 20, 2008.

Final versions – in English or German - of the full papers/presentations must be submitted to the above address by March 1, 2009.

There will be a few grants available for some travel and accommodation costs for students and young scholars. Please indicate in your proposal if you intend to apply for a grant. Bergen, April 20, 2008


PURCELL, HANDEL, HAYDN AND MENDELSSOHN: ANNIVERSARY REFLECTIONS
NEW COLLEGE, OXFORD
27 – 29 MARCH 2009

Offers of papers on the music of Purcell, Handel, Haydn, and Mendelssohn are invited for the above conference, supported by the Royal Musical Association. Offers are also invited for proposals for sessions and round tables. The conference is organised by Michael Burden, Donald Burrows, Peter Ward Jones, and David Wynn Jones.

Although we will be especially encouraging papers which link the four composers (in areas such as 19th-century reception, recorded music, biography, and film, for example) presentations on all facets of their music are welcome.

The deadline for proposals is 30 September 2008. Those proposing round tables and sessions should make their proposals by 15 September 2008. The proposals should be no more than 200 words, but may be submitted as word file or an email. They should be sent to michael.burden at new.ox.ac.uk in the first instance.


IRELAND, BRITAIN AND THE AMERICAS: THE INTERNATIONAL BOOK TRADE IN THE LONG EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY BELFAST
8 – 9 JANUARY 2009

The Centre for Eighteenth-Century Studies at Queen’s University Belfast is inviting proposals for papers or panels on any or all aspects of the book trade in the long eighteenth century (1680-1830). Papers are particularly encouraged on the themes of material culture; the concepts and constructions of readership and audience; issues such as advertising, copyright, piracy, printing history, marketing, and the international circulation of literature and music.

Keynote address: Professor James Raven (University of Essex), “Classical transports and foreign bodies: the importation of non-English texts into North America before 1820.” Panelsto include: Thomas Moore’s Irish Melodies; Archival Resources and Collections. Roundtable: “Directions for Research,” participants to include Dr John Hinks (University of Leicester) and Professor Raven (Chair). Notes and Queries and Short Reports Sessions (for ongoing projects or new research).

Deadline for proposals (250 words for papers, subject titles for “Notes and Queries” and “Short Reports”) by 17 October 2008, to: Dr Sarah McCleave, Lecturer, School of Music and Sonic Arts, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland, s.mccleave at qub.ac.uk

Participation by postgraduate students (both MA and PhD) is particularly encouraged. The School of Music and Sonic Arts is offering three bursaries (valued up to £150 each) to postgraduates from outside Northern Ireland offering papers on a music-related topic. Contact Dr Sarah McCleave, above for details.


EUROPEAN VOICES II: CULTURAL LISTENING AND LOCAL DISCOURSE IN MULTIPART SINGING TRADITIONS IN EUROPE
RESEARCH PROJECT / INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM/ CONCERTS
24 – 26 OCTOBER 2008
INSTITUTE FÜR VOLKSMUSIKFORSCHUNG UND ETHNOMUSIKOLOGIE UNIVERSITAT FÜR MUSIK UND DARSTELLENDE KUNST WIEN, ÖSTERREICHISCHES NATIONALKOMITEE IM ICTM, WIENER KONZERTHAUS


Although the fundamental meaning of basic terminology is well established for every scholarly discipline, many concepts are often questioned and redefined. In the case of ethnomusicology, this process is all too familiar, as researchers within the discipline focus on the most diverse of music cultures. The manifold worldviews of the resource persons, as holders and presenters (in both meanings of the word) of a tradition make the matter more complex. Such a situation has particular significance in the context of multipart singing because of the specific musical aesthetics and
vocabularies established among singing groups. Additionally, it is accentuated by processes of change within every musical culture and those of ethnomusicology.

Examining this question from the viewpoint of folk terminology means primarily considering specific and individual concepts of cultural listening, in the sense of "paying attention", "concentrating" and "focusing on". These concepts are established on the one hand through the processes of music listening and music making and on the other hand through the local discourse, in which singers and musicians as well as local communities are very much involved. The discourse as a communication category with which people communicate about the claim to validity of rules also plays an important role in processes of legitimating and power within the community. An essential part of the discourse is singing itself. The music therefore becomes the object and subject of research. Of particular relevance in this framework are questions of gender, applying to communities in which women practice multipart singing and others where they are mostly listeners, although forming a very important part of the discourse.

This was the starting point for the project "Folk Terminology and Musical Phenomena" initiated by the Institute for Folk Music Research and Ethnomusicology at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna in 2006 and supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). The extended network of specialists available since the activities on multipart singing in the Balkans and the Mediterranean in 2005 made it possible to include traditions of Central, Eastern and Northern Europe
in the investigations. The meeting debates will be supported by concerts of profane and religious multipart music performed by brilliant singers in whose everyday life this music is firmly rooted.


PROGRAMME

Friday, October 24, 2008
Multipart Singing and Cultural Listening
Venue: Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien
Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn-Saal

9:00 - 9:30 Opening Ceremony Welcome Addresses and Introduction to the Project

09:30 - 10:30 Keynote Address Klaus Ehrenberger (Austria): The Brain Makes the Music

10:30 - 11: 00 Coffee Break

11:00 - 11:45 Jean-Jacques Castéret (France) Cultural Listening and Enunciation Contexts in Pyrenean Multipart Singing

11:45 - 12:30 Zlata Marjanovic (Serbia) Cultural Listening in Multipart Singing on the Montenegrin Coast and in the Hinterland

12:30 - 14:30 Lunch Break

14:30 - 15:15 Piotr Dahlig (Poland) Multipart Singing in Poland as a Cultural and Musical Phenomenon

15:15 - 16:00 Mauro Balma (Italy) The Tradition of Sacred Songs in Liguria (Northern Italy): Sunset of a Culture Facing an Identity Crisis and a Reaffirmation of a Local Pride.

16:00 - 16:30 Coffee Break

16:30 - 17:30 Book Presentation: "European Voices I. Multipart Singing in the Balkans and the
Mediterranean" Wien: Böhlau. 2008.


19:30 "It should sound like bells" Concert of "Trys keturiose (Three in Four)" (Lithuania)
Introduction and Moderation: Daiva Raciunaite-Vyciniene and "Bistritsa Grannies and Mitevi Brothers" (Bulgaria)
Introduction and Moderation: Ventsislav Dimov
Venue: Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, Haydn-Saal.
Anton-von-Webern-Platz 1, 1030 Wien
Tickets: 12 EUR (Students 6 EUR)
Booking: krammer@mdw.ac.at

Saturday, October 25, 2008
Multipart Singing and Folk Terminology
Venue: Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien
Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn-Saal

09:00 - 09:45 Jaume Ayats and Sílvia Martínez (Spain) Evensong from the Pyrenees: A Peculiar Logic of Multipart Singing

09:45 - 10:30 Ignazio Macchiarella and Sebastiano Pilosu (Italy) Technical Terms in Sardinian Multipart Singing by Chording

10:30 - 11: 00 Coffee Break

11:00 - 11:45 Evelyn Fink-Mennel (Austria) The Behaviour of the Parts in Austrian Yodelling

11:45-12:30 Gerlinde Haid (Austria) The Role of Folk Terminology in the Research of Multipart Singing in Austria

12:30 - 14:30 Lunch Break

14:30 - 15:15 Tamaz Gabisonia (Georgia) Terminological Priorities of Georgian Traditional Polyphony

15:15 - 16:00 Lozanka Peycheva (Bulgaria) Verbal Projections of Multipart Singing from Central-Western Bulgaria

16:00 - 16:45 Daiva Raciunaite-Vyciniene (Lithuania) Interaction of the Voice and Instrument in Lithuanian Multipart Music. Viewpoints of Insiders and Outsiders

16:45 - 17:00 Coffee Break

17:00 - 18:00 Keynote Address Bernard Lortat-Jacob: Singing in Company

19:30 "Stimmgewaltiges" Concert of "Klapa Nostalgija" (Croatia) and "Schneeberg-Buam" (Austria)
Venue: Wiener Konzerthaus, Mozart-Saal.
Lothringerstraße 20, A-1030 Wien
Tickets: http://www.konzerthaus.at <http://www.konzerthaus.at/>
ticket@konzerthaus.at
Box office of the Wiener Konzerthausgesellschaft:
1030 Wien, Lothringerstraße 20
Tel.: (+43-1) 242 002, Fax (+43-1) 242 00 110


Sunday, October 26, 2008
Multipart Singing and Local Discourse
Venue: Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien
Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn-Saal

09:00 - 09:45 Joseph Jordania (Georgia/Australia) Music without Listeners: Polyphonic Singing in Traditional Societies

09:45 - 10:30 Ivan Lesnik (Slovenia) Multipart Singing in Slovenia as a "Performing by Ear" Phenomenon

10:30 - 11: 00 Coffee Break

11:00 - 11:45 Ankica Petrovic (Croatia) The Phenomenon of Multipart Singing in Rural Communities of the Dynaric Alps

11:45 - 12:30 Zanna Pärtlas (Estonia) Men's Songs in a Women's Song Tradition. Some Remarks on Men's Multipart Singing in Setus, Southeast Estonia

12:30 - 14:30 Lunch Break

14:30 - 16:00 Film Session: Bernard Lortat-Jacob and Hélène Delaporte Chant d'un pays perdu / Singing for a Lost Country (Albania/Greece,2006)

16:00 - 16:30 Coffee Break

16:30 - 17:30 Closing Ceremony

19:00 "Religious Folk Songs"
Concert of "Folklórny Súbor Telgárt" (Slovakia)
Introduction and Moderation: Bernard Garaj and "I cantori di Vermèil" (Italy)
Introduction and Moderation: Renato Morelli
Venue: Minoritenkirche, Minoritenplatz 1, A 1010 Wien.
Tickets: 12 EUR (Students 6 EUR)
Booking: krammer@mdw.ac.at

More information: www.mdw.ac.at/ive/emm

Contact: Mag. Evelyn Fink-Mennel (project management): fink@mdw.ac.at and Dr. Ardian Ahmedaja (chair): ahmedaja@mdw.ac.at


CALL FOR PAPERS
THE FIRST WORLD WAR: MUSIC, LITERATURE, MEMORY
KING’S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
11 – 12 JULY 2009


This two-day conference aims to explore literary and musical responses to the First World War, and the relationships between them.

The conference will take place on 11 and 12 July 2009 in King's College, Cambridge University, and will include a recital of relevant poetry and music in the chapel by Andrew Kennedy (tenor), Julius Drake (piano) and readings by Timothy West.

Papers might address such issues as: -- How does the sound of the First World War affect composers and writers? -- How do music and literature mourn, commemorate or celebrate the First World War? -- How do individual composers and writers respond to the First World War in their work? -- How is the war remembered in literature and music in the 1920s and 1930s? -- What is the relationship between musical and literary responses, and what do we learn from by putting them in dialogue with one other? To what extent were they in conversation in their own time?

We welcome papers on music, literature or both. We hope to put together a publication based upon the best of the conference papers.

Further information at:
http://ww1literatureandmusic.googlepages.com <http://ww1literatureandmusic.googlepages.com/>

We welcome abstracts of 150 to 250 words for papers of 25 minutes. The deadline for submission of abstracts is 30 January 2009, submitted to Kate Kennedy and Trudi Tate <http://trudi.tate.googlepages.com/> , Clare Hall, University of Cambridge. By email is preferred:
kma23@cam.ac.uk <mailto:kma23@cam.ac.uk> ; tt206@cam.ac.uk <mailto:tt206@cam.ac.uk>

Or by post to: Kate Kennedy and Trudi Tate, FWW Conference, Clare Hall, Herschel Road, Cambridge CB3 9AL.


FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL DE VIDEO DANSE DU BREUIL
INTERNATIONAL DANCE FESTIVAL OF LE BREUIL
MARCH 2009

Video dance entries are now being accepted for the first annual International Video Dance Festival of Le Breuil, sponsored by L'ARC The National Theatre of France and the City of Le Breuil (Burgundy). In addition, we are seeking dance photography submissions and a limited number of screen dance installations to be considered for an exhibition that will run in conjunction with the festival screenings. While we are not accepting documentaries, any other genre or screen dance format will be considered, including works that may not traditionally be thought of as "dance", but capture a strong sense of the way images are choreographed on camera and/or the manner in which movement is navigated in a time-based medium. The festival will take place in March 2009. All submissions must be received before November 5, 2008.

For video dance festival submissions, please send a DVD (multiple entries/DVDs are accepted) in either NTSC or PAL format, clearly labeled with name and title of work AND a separate sheet of paper that lists: principal contact name, e-mail address, phone number(s), mailing address, website (if applicable), title of film(s), running time, original format, year of production, brief description of film, list of the project's previous screenings and/or awards (if applicable), and a list of credits (director, choreographer, composer, performers, editor, producer and any other artistic collaborators). Please also include at least one still image (up to three, maximum) from each video submission. The stills may be sent via e-mail (jpeg) or mailed on a disc with your DVD submission. These images may be used in our festival/exhibition catalogue.

For dance photography submissions, please e-mail high resolution jpegs (up to three submissions) and include within the body of the e-mail: artist's name, e-mail address, telephone number(s), mailing address, website (if applicable), short artist's statement, title of photograph, dimensions, hanging format (framed or other), medium (digital, black and white, alternative printing method if applicable, etc.). E-mail submissions are preferred, but slides and images on disc will also be accepted at the mailing address given below. Please note: like screen dance, dance photography is a broad area of artistic exploration and we seek a diverse body of work that may fall within or outside the traditional parameters of what is traditionally considered "dance" photography.

For screen dance installations (or any type of screen dance project that is not meant to be projected as a film), please e-mail your name and contact information, a description of the proposed work, including detailed space and technical requirements (dimensions, electrical outlets needed, light source etc.). Supporting images e-mailed in jpeg format or links to online documents/websites are encouraged.

Please send all submissions before November 5, 2008. There is no submission fee. All applicants will be informed of our program selection by December 2008. Feel free to consult our blog at: http://www.videodansedubreuil.wordpress.com for more information.

Questions, video stills, and online submissions (online submissions are for photographs and installations only) may be e-mailed to: videodansedubreuil@yahoo.com

Please send DVDs and support materials to: Centre François Mitterrand, Franck Boulègue, Attn: Video Dance, 46 Route de Couches, 71670 Le Breuil, FRANCE


FEMINIST MEDIA STUDIES
COMMENTARY AND CRITICISM CALL FOR PAPERS


Potential contributors can write to the co-editors, Kaitlynn Mendes (Kaitlynn.Mendes@nottingham.ac.uk) and Kumarini Silva (k.silva@neu.edu) to express preliminary interest in writing about:

Women, Migration, and Media

In 2006, Elvira Arellano gained considerable notoriety in the United States by taking refuge in the Adalberto United Methodist church in the Humboldt Park area of Chicago, in protest of her deportation from the United States. The mother of an American citizen, Arellano was scheduled to appear before immigration authorities for the her 2002 arrest for Social Security Fraud—for entering and working in the US illegally since 1997—following tightened security post 9/11. Arellano's struggle to remain in the country of her son's birth became national news, raising considerable awareness about women's experiences in migration and immigration processes.

Because of people like Arellano, in the last several years, women and migration has become a topic that is drawing increased interest and visibility among academics. But, as women's bodies move across borders, discussion about the representation of female experiences in the migration process still remains somewhat mute. While migration is discussed as a process, the gendered aspects of the experience, and the representations of such, is often ignored or overlooked. We therefore invite contributors to submit short essays (1500-words) on women, migration, and media. Questions to consider include, but are not limited to, discussions about media coverage of women and migration; how popular media (film, television, on-line) represent female migrants and their experiences; how female migrant experiences are covered in the arena of global media, including film, documentaries, news etc.; how activists use media on behalf female migrants.


CALL FOR PAPERS
Special Issue of IEEE Transactions on Audio, Speech and Language Processing
SIGNAL MODELS AND REPRESENTATION OF MUSICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SOUNDS


http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/sps/tap
http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/sps/tap/sp_issue/audioCFP.pdf
Submission deadline: 15 December, 2008
Notification of acceptance: 15 June, 2009
Final manuscript due: 1st July, 2009
Tentative publication date: 1st September, 2009


Guest editors
Dr. Bertrand David (Telecom ParisTech, France) bertrand.david@telecom-paristech.fr, Dr. Laurent Daudet (UPMC University Paris 06, France) daudet@lam.jussieu.fr, Dr. Masataka Goto (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan) m.goto@aist.go.jp, Dr. Paris Smaragdis (Adobe Systems, Inc, USA) paris@adobe.com

The non-stationary nature, the richness of the spectra and the mixing of diverse sources are common characteristics shared by musical and environmental audio scenes. It leads to specific challenges of audio processing tasks such as information retrieval, source separation, analysis-transformation-synthesis and coding. When seeking to extract information from musical or environmental audio signals, the time-varying waveform or spectrum are often further analysed and decomposed into sound elements. Two aims of this decomposition can be identified, which are sometimes antagonist: to be together adapted to the particular properties of the signal and to the targeted application. This special issue is focused on how the choices of a low level representation (typically a time-frequency distribution with or without probabilistic framework, with or without perceptual considerations), a source model or a decomposition technique may influence the overall performance.

Specific topics of interest include but are not limited to -- factorizations of time-frequency distribution -- sparse representations -- Bayesian frameworks -- parametric modelling -- subspace-based methods for audio signals -- representations based on instrument or/and environmental sources signal models -- sinusoidal modelling of non-stationary spectra (sinusoids, noise, transients)

Typical applications considered are (non exclusively) -- source separation/recognition -- mid or high level features extraction (metrics, onsets, pitches, …) -- sound effects -- audio coding -- information retrieval -- audio scene structuring, analysis or segmentation

REMINDER: CALL FOR PAPERS "MEDIA CULTURE IN CHANGE"
54TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE GERMAN COMMUNICATION ASSOCIATON (DGPuK)
UNIVERSITY OF BREMEN, GERMANY
29 APRIL – 1 MAY 2009


Our present cultures cannot be understood beyond the media. If one understands cultures in the widest sense of the word as the whole conflicting way of living, knowing and acting of a major group of people, then they are communicatively mediated: Through communication we become socialized within cultures, and cultural practices are to a large degree expressed in communication. These processes of communication occur increasingly via technical media, beginning with newspapers and journals, through television, radio and film up to the so-called hybrid media of computers and mobile phones. In this sense we can understand our present cultures as media cultures.

Taking this as a starting point the conference “Media Culture in Change” has a threefold objective: First aim is to discuss how to describe media cultures within media and communication studies
theoretically and empirically. Secondly, the subject of the conference is to reflect how change can be described adequately and also how it can be operationalised. Third, the conference addresses the question of the significance of research on media cultures for the theoretical development of media and communication studies.

Papers on the following topic fields are welcome -- Concepts of media culture -- Empirical media culture research -- Historical dimension of media cultural change -- Present relevance of media cultural change -- Media politics, public sphere and political discourse cultures -- Integration, segregation and conflicts in media cultures -- Cultures of journalism, production and organisation -- Contents, formats and discourses of media cultures -- Everyday life, appropriation and socialisation in media cultures

Invited keynote speakers are -- Hans Adler, University of Wisconsin, Madison -- Claus Leggewie, Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut Essen -- Robin Mansell, London School of Economics and Political Science -- David Morley, Goldsmiths College University of London

For further information on the conference and the full call for papers please visit the web page http://www.dgpuk2009.de/index_en.html.

Abstracts must be submitted by 15th October 2008 via the online abstract management system, accessible via this web page after 1st September 2008.

Responsible for local organisation: Andreas Hepp (Andreas.Hepp@uni-bremen.de).


JOURNAL OF ADAPTATION IN FILM AND PERFORMANCE
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS Aims and scope

ISSN 17536421 Published by Intellect
Editors: Prof Richard J. Hand, University of Glamorgan & Dr Katja Krebs, University of Bristol.
Assistant editor: Dr Márta Minier, University of Glamorgan.
Reviews editor: Dr Duška Radosavljević, University of Kent.

Adaptation and translation in the form of the conversion of oral, historical or fictional narratives into stage drama has been common practice for centuries. In our own time the processes of cross-generic transformation continue to be extremely important in theatre as well as in the film and other media industries. Adaptation and the related areas of translation and intertextuality continue to have a central place in our culture with a profound resonance across our civilizations. As an academic discipline, Adaptation Studies has begun to establish itself in the last few decades as an important area of scholarship and research which - alongside Translation Studies - continues to make significant contributions to our analysis and understanding of a complex and increasingly diverse world culture.

The Journal of Adaptation in Film and Performance is a recently established peer-reviewed journal designed to engage with specific issues relating to performance on stage, film, television, radio and other media. Embracing comfortably these disciplines under the umbrella of adaptation theories and practices, it attempts to challenge widespread views of national cultural histories and global constructions of performance culture by analysing methods, histories and occurrences of adaptation and translation across a range of media.

We would like to invite contributions that offer historical, theoretical, practice-based and pedagogy-oriented considerations and discussions of adaptation and translation in/for performance in the context of one or more of the following topics: Theatre, Film, Television, Radio, Music, Dance, Opera, Gaming and Graphic narrataives.

The Journal of Adaptation in Film and Performance also features a 'Practitioners' Perspectives' section on processes of adaptations and translations examined from the point-of-view of the making.

Short 'Notes and Comments' contributions (up to 1,000 words) that facilitate debate and exchange and interviews with practitioners and scholars will also be considered.

Please, send your completed papers (4,000 - 6,000 words) accompanied by an abstract and a short biographical note to the editors, Richard Hand and Katja Krebs. We receive submissions on an ongoing basis. If you would like to discuss any specific proposals before submitting a completed paper, please contact the editors.

For further information on the journal please visit http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals.php?issn=17536421 or contact us at: rhand@glam.ac.uk, k.krebs@bristol.ac.uk or mminier@glam.ac.uk. With regard to the reviews section please email d.radosavljevic@kent.ac.uk.


CALL FOR PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS – PHENOMENON OF SINGING INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM VII
MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY OF NEWFOUNDLAND
2 – 5 JULY 2009


If you're interested in singing...The place to be in the summer of 2009 is Newfoundland and Labrador.
Indulge your musical, creative and scholarly spirit and join us for this exciting event!

Festival 500 Sharing the Voices, in cooperation with Memorial University of Newfoundland, invites proposals for papers and presentations at The Phenomenon of Singing International Symposium VII. This Symposium is an integral academic component of the renowned Festival 500 international choral festival. The purpose of the Symposium is to gather international expertise and provide a forum for interdisciplinary discourse and performance, the dissemination of research, and the generation of further knowledge relating to the phenomenon of singing. The Symposium invites submissions relating to all aspects of singing and the voice. Submissions relating to the 2009 special focus area for Festival 500, The Power of Song, are encouraged as well.

Go to http://www.festival500.com/ and download the 2009 Symposium brochure (.pdf file) for information about the call for papers and the Symposium.....or continue to read on for information on the following:

The Phenomenon of Singing International Symposium VII will take place July 2-5, 2009, in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, on the campus of Memorial University of Newfoundland.

1) PROPOSAL INFORMATION
Proposal submissions should consist of a 250-word abstract addressing focus areas of singing such as artistic, physiological, cultural, sociological, historical, pedagogical, psychological, compositional... and beyond! A diversity of presentation formats is welcome. These could include paper presentation, lecture-demonstration, lecture-recital, panel and roundtable discussions. Standard presentations are generally 20-minutes in length, followed by a 10-minute dialogue period. Selected papers will be published in the Symposium VII Proceedings.

2) POSTER SESSIONS
The Symposium offers a poster session opportunity to share current research and/or practice with the world’s top voice and choral scholars! Poster Sessions will be scheduled throughout the Symposium.

3) SUBMISSION INFORMATION
The deadline for submissions is October 15, 2008. Proposals may be submitted by mail, fax, or E-mail. Please indicate your institutional affiliation and e-mail address with your submission. As well, indicate clearly whether your submission is to be considered for paper/presentation or poster session.
You will receive a confirmation e-mail when your submission is received.

Send submissions to:
FESTIVAL 500
The Phenomenon of Singing International Symposium VII
P.O. Box 2333, Station C
68 Queen’s Road
St. John’s, NL Canada A1C 6E6
Phone: 709.738.6013
Fax: 709.738.6014
E-mail: information@festival500.com

For inquiries, contact: Dr. Andrea Rose, Co-Director, Symposium VII T: 709.737.7602 E: arose@mun.ca
Prof. Ki Adams, Co-Director, Symposium VII T: 709.737.3415 E: kiadams@mun.ca

4) 2009 INVITED PRESENTERS
Paul Hillier (UK/Estonia) http://www.paulhillier.net/
Wendy Nielsen (Canada) http://www.wendynielsen.ca/
Avner Itai (Israel)
Howard Goodall (United Kingdom) http://www.howardgoodall.co.uk/
Laurier Fagnan (Canada) http://www.fsj.ualberta.ca/csj/English/default.htm
Thomas Mapfumo (Zimbabwe) http://realworldrecords.com/thomasmapfumo/

5) COME SOLO TO FESTIVAL 500
Immediately following the Symposium is the eight-day choral festival. Festival 500 Sharing the Voices offers a special opportunity to Symposium presenters and delegates who would like to participate in this event. As a Come Solo participant you can take part in workshops, hear choirs from around the world each evening, participate in a massed choir and sing/perform in the Grande Finale.
Come and join in the excitement! Contact the Festival 500 office for more information.

6) EARN GRADUATE CREDIT - FESTIVAL 500 CHORAL INSTITUTE
Earn graduate credit by attending the Choral Institute co-sponsored by Festival 500 and Memorial University of Newfoundland. Both the Faculty of Education and School of Music at Memorial University offer a complement of graduate courses in the areas of choral conducting, vocal/choral pedagogy, and singing traditions and practices. Through participation in both the festival and symposium, participants expand their knowledge of, and experience with, all aspects of singing and earn graduate credit at the same time. Enrollment is limited, so register early. For more information and application procedures, see our website at www.festival500.com or contact the Festival 500 office.

7) FESTIVAL 500 "SAMPLER"
Symposium presenters and/or delegates can take advantage of a two-day participation package for Festival 500, either July 6/7, or July 9/10 2009. This festival sampler offers opportunities to attend workshops, observe rehearsals and master classes, and hear choirs perform at the evening World of Music concerts. See our website at www.festival500.com or contact the Festival 500 office for additional information. This offer is available to Symposium presenters and delegates only. Full registration applies.

8) REGISTRATION INFORMATION
For registration fees and procedures, please visit www.Festival500.com, or contact the Festival 500 office at the information provided above (in section 3).

The Phenomenon of Singing International Symposium, P.O. Box 2333, Station C, 68 Queen's Road
St. John's, NL A1C 6E6, CANADA
Tel: 709.738.6013 / Fax: 709.738.6014
Email: information@festival500.com Web Address: www.festival500.com


GRAMMA: JOURNAL OF THEORY AND CRITICISM
CALL FOR PAPERS

http://www.enl.auth.gr/gramma

The Text Strikes Back: The Dynamics of Performativity
Issue number 17, 2009

The 20th-century theatre has witnessed the gradual decline of verbocentric drama in favour of the image, the performing body and, more recently, the digital and media technology. Concomitantly, the playwright has gradually been superceded as the initiator of theatrical creation by the director, the performer or the composer of a hybrid media spectacle. From Artaud’s infamous condemnation of playwrights as the reptiles of the theatre, through Barthes’s announcement of the death of the author, to Lehmann’s more recent claim for a state of postdramatic theatre, theorists have also been working towards the demise of both the written dramatic text and its skilled artistic producer, the playwright. However, after many years of a theatrical praxis that has denied the artistic value of words in contemporary theatre, there has been a re-evaluation of such absolute distrust and rejection of language from the stage. The power of words to heighten sensory perception and refine the mental processes of audience reception has now been recognized and many contemporary playwrights show a renewed ability to use words phenomenologically and reconstitute their performative effectiveness. Obviously the word is finding a new function in today’s theatre and the playwright is negotiating a new meaningful position in the complex contemporary reality of infinite theatrical possibilities.

Issues to be tackled on the above problematics could indicatively be -- the “postdramatic” playwright -- authorship / authority / auteurism -- word versus image -- collaborative theatre -- devising text / adapting text -- the body as text -- performing and un-forming the word -- hyperstage / hypertext -- the virtual, the corporeal and the symbolic in the art of theatre -- playwriting in the electronic media age -- narrative and poetry into performance -- the way(s) and politics of adaptation -- theatrescapes / wordscapes

Papers should not exceed the length of 7,000 words (including footnotes and bibliography) and should be double-spaced. They should adhere to the latest MLA style of documentation and should be submitted electronically in the form of Word document to the editors of the issue, Savas Patsalidis and Elizabeth Sakellaridou, at the following e-mail addresses:

spats@enl.auth.gr and esakel@enl.auth.gr
School of English
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
54124 Thessaloniki Greece

Deadline for submissions: 31 December 2008


THE VIENNESE CAFE AS AN URBAN SITE OF CULTURAL EXCHANGE
17th October - V & A Museum, Lecture Theatre, 10am - 6pm
18th October - Royal College of Art, Lecture Theatre 1, 10am - 6pm

Although the Viennese coffeehouse has long been recognised as a site of importance, there has as yet been no in-depth scholarly investigation of how it functioned in relation to the broader culture of the city at this time. The cultural significance of the café provides a central theme for scholars from the fields of visual, social, literary and cultural history to meet and explore the similarities, differences and shared points of interest in recent research into Vienna 1900. The programme examines the café from a variety of perspectives, with the aim of deepening our understanding of the nature of this urban space, and the cultural exchanges and performances that went on there.

Keynote speakers: Dr Steven Beller, independent scholar, Washington DC and Professor Edward Timms, University of Sussex.

For further details of the programme and registration please visit: www.rca.ac.uk/viennacafe/conference.html

Or contact Angela Waplington a.waplington@bbk.ac.uk http://www.rca.ac.uk/viennacafe

The conference is organised to coincide with the Vienna Café Festival, running at the RCA and partner venues from the 7th-24th October.


SOUNDPAINTING WORKSHOPS
IMPROVISATION FOR PERFORMERS
VISITING ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE, WALTER THOMPSON
25 OCTOBER 2008


10.00 am – 4.00 pm Musicians, Dancers, Theatre Artists and Performing Artists, Academics, Practitioners, Enthusiasts, all welcome to participate and to observe. Musicians, please bring your instruments.

Day fee - £10, Parking available – free, Venue – Chapman Hall, Southland’s College, Bring a packed lunch

Contact Dr. Helen Julia Minors to register, or for information, h.minors@roehampton.ac.uk
02083923420. Music, Southland’s College, 80 Roehampton Lane,
Roehampton University, LONDON SW15 5SL http://www.roehampton.ac.uk/researchcentres/cimr/
Registration is advisable. Payment is to be made by cheque, payable to ‘Southland's College’.

In collaboration with: Centre for Interdisciplinary Music Research, Dr. Helen Julia Minors, http://www.roehampton.ac.uk/researchcentres/cimr/
Roehampton Music, Leslie Anne Lewis, www.roehamptonmusic.org.uk
Soundpainting, Walter Thompson, http://soundpainting.com/


CALL FOR PAPERS
THE SPLENDOUR OF BURGUNDY (1419-1482). A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH
CONCERTGEBOUW BRUGES, BELGIUM
12- 14 MAY 2009

Organised by the Musea Brugge and the Alamire Foundation (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven), in collaboration with the Concertgebouw Brugge and the Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen. In the framework of the exhibition ‘Charles the Bold. The splendour of Burgundy’ (27 March – 21 July 2009, Bruges, Groeninge Museum and Church of Our Lady; in cooperation with Historisches Museum Bern and Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna).

CONFERENCE THEME

In the course of the fifteenth century, the reputation of the Burgundian court rose to an unprecedented level, catapulted forward by ever growing territorial ambitions and accumulation of wealth. This reached a climax during the reign of Charles the Bold (1433-1477), the living embodiment of the pomp and pageantry of the Burgundian court and a generous patron of the fine arts.

Rather than focusing on a single domain, the conference aims to shed light on Burgundian court culture as an organic whole, between the start of the reign of Philip the Good (1419) and the death of Mary of Burgundy (1482). It is intended to provide a forum for new research from the fields of History, History of Art, Literature and Musicology. To this end, two plenary assemblies will present a multidisciplinary approach to the topics of ‘Power of/and representation’ and ‘Feast culture’, while a number of specialised sessions will allow in-depth exploration and discussion of more specific aspects of the conference theme.

For the specialised sessions, we invite proposals for panel sessions as well as for individual papers of thirty minutes (excl. discussion time). The function and meaning of concepts and artefacts (or their
portrayal) in the context of the Burgundian court culture can be discussed from multiple perspectives and (inter-)disciplinary approaches. Possible themes include (but are not limited to) the relationship between courtly and urban networks; gift exchange and its remnants in artefacts, literature and music; liturgical history of the court and its related institutions; administrative and governmental
history.

Proposals for both panel sessions and individual papers in the form of an abstract not exceeding 300 words should be sent as an e-mail attachment to symposium@brugge.be by 15 December 2008. Notification of acceptance will be given by 30 January 2008. The conference language is English.

Programme Committee: Prof. dr. Wim Blockmans, NIAS – Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Leiden University (NL), Till-Holger Borchert, Musea Brugge/Groeningemuseum (B), Prof. dr. David Fallows, Manchester University (UK), Nele Gabriëls, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Alamire Foundation (B), Prof. dr. Eberhard König, Freie Universität Berlin (D), Prof. dr. Johan Oosterman, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen (NL), Dr. Manfred Sellink, Musea Brugge (B), Anne van Oosterwijk, Musea Brugge/Groeningemuseum (B), Dr. André Vandewalle, Stadsarchief Brugge (B)

Organisation Committee: Bart Demuyt & Nele Gabriëls (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Alamire Foundation; B), Till-Holger Borchert, Manfred Sellink, Anne van Oosterwijk & Elviera Velghe (Musea Brugge, B), Jeroen Vanacker & Katrien van Eeckhoutte (Concertgebouw Brugge, B)

For further information, please send an e-mail to symposium@brugge.be

Concerts: 13 May: Psallentes, Concertgebouw Bruges, 14 May: La Morra, Concertgebouw Bruges
Nocturne: On 13 May, participants of the conference have the possibility to visit the exhibition from 17.30 to 19.30h.
Registration: Before 1 May; places are limited: max. 150 participants allowed.
Language: English

www.arts.kuleuven.be/alamire
www.kuleuven.be/research/researchdatabase/project/3H04/3H040797.htm


CALL FOR PAPERS
PURCELL, HANDEL AND LITERATURE
SENATE HOUSE, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
20 -21 NOVEMBER 2009


Institutes of Musical Research and English Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London. The Music and English Departments of the Open University in association with the OU Literature and Music Research Group. The Handel Institute. The Purcell Society. This conference will be one of the concluding events in the year marking the anniversaries of Henry Purcell's birth (1658 or 1659) and Handel's death (1759).

Proposals for papers are now invited. Papers should be of 20 minutes duration, and the proposal should be presented as an abstract of not more than 250words. Proposals for thematic round-table sessions will also be considered. Proposals should be submitted by 30 October 2008, and should be sent to valerie.james@sas.ac.uk. Please include your name, contact details and (if applicable) your affiliation within your proposal.

An outline programme for the conference will be prepared and circulated early in 2009, so that accepted participants can plan their travel arrangements. Funding for the conference will be sought, but this is likely to be limited and participants are requested to seek support from their own institutions where this is possible. If a large number of good quality proposals on topics germane to the conference theme are received, an additional day for the conference may be scheduled on
Thursday 19 November. For the conference abstract, see overleaf.

The conference programme committee, which will consider and review all paper proposals, comprises representatives from all of the sponsoring institutions:

Robert Fraser, Delia Da Sousa Correa, Donald Burrows (OU/Handel Institute); Sandra Tuppen, Bruce Wood (Purcell Society), Katharine Ellis (IMR), Sandra Clark (IES), Colin Timms (Handel Institute). Specialist papers may be referred to other members of these institutions, but the final decisions on conference content will be taken by the committee.

Conference abstract

Taken together, the careers of the two composers constitute one of the most remarkable periods in London's music-making. Although Handel's career in London commenced only fifteen years after Purcell's death, their styles in setting English texts were very different, partly because of their individual approaches to word-setting, and partly because of the different styles in which they worked. Yet for both of them English literary texts-reaching as far back as Shakespeare in Purcell's case-were fundamental to aspects of their activity. Both wrote for major productions (of plays or un-staged oratorios) in the London theatres, and contributed to some common genres - Cecilian and court odes, and liturgical church music on texts from the Book of Common Prayer. Handel set odes by John Dryden that had originally been written during Purcell's lifetime, and also texts by John Milton; texts by Congreve (though not the same ones) form a common thread in works by both composers. Nahum Tate was the librettist of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas; Handel's anthems include settings of texts from the metrical versions of the Psalms by Tate and Brady. Both composers, however, were also reliant on other librettists of their own generations: D'Urfey for Purcell's stage works, for example, Miller, Jennens and Morell for Handel's oratorios.

The intention of the conference is to bring together participants with interests in music and literature, and to cover a range of relevant topics, such as: the literary and musical genres, the nature of the libretti and the composers' treatment of them; the various forms of musical dramas (as genres, and in relation to the stage conventions of the 17th and 18th centuries); the status of Milton and Dryden as "musical" poets; the influence of text settings by Purcell and Handel on subsequent composers, and in subsequent literature; the genres of the court and Cecilian odes; the setting of English liturgical texts.

Although it is anticipated that the principal focus will be on English texts (and London performance conditions), the theme may also encompass the influence of Italian and Classical literature, Handel's settings of Italian texts in his operas and cantatas, and relevant topics relating to German literature. Proposals for papers that consider the importance of either or both these composers within literature of later periods will also be welcomed.

Monday 22 September 2008

Groovy Grove's changes its name and gets a facelift

Earlier this year Grove Music Online was rebranded as Oxford Music Online now incorporating The Oxford Companion to Music [OCM] (2002) and the 2nd edition of The Oxford Dictionary of Music [ODM] (2006) in addition to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera [NGDOP] (1992) and The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz [NGDOJ] (2001) which have been available with the entire second edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians [NGDOM] since the database launched sometime in 2001. I'm mildly amused when resources attempt rebranding exercises as they ignore one's cognitive and experiential development.

Case in point, my own first exposure to Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians was Stanley Sadie's 1980 version. I was preparing with other Music majors for one of our History of Western Music examinations, in particular, Professor Suzanna Waldbauer's infamous 'drop the needle' listening tests in the midst of a blizzard. Those who do not have a pre-CD/digital audio awareness may not appreciate how fun name-the-tune examinations used to be!

Whilst the Palisca and Grout History of Western Music was our central textbook with some additional support from Hoppin's Medieval Music and Reese's Music in the Renaissance, several of us were having a hard time distinguishing aurally between motets, virelai, madrigals, caccia, ballata, frottola. We would take turns just dropping the needle somewhere in the middle of the LP and try to identify the clip within a few seconds. Passing by our study room, Prof Waldbauer said (in her thick Hungarian accent), "Honey, if you are unsure, just go to Grove's and investigate. From there you can follow the bibliography and see where it takes you. Sadie has corrected most of the mistakes [particularly on early music]. Go to Grove's." Worried about the impending snow storm someone asked whether the listening examination would be cancelled.

Having grown up in rural Hungary studying with Zoltán Kodály and attending both the Franz Liszt Academy and the National Conservatory of Music in Budapest, "Zhuzhy" Waldbauer was not afraid of anything, let alone some snow. In characteristic style, she responded "don't worry darling, I'm sleeping here in the Department so that I can give you your exam."


And in spite of the blizzard which dumped nearly 1.5 metres of snow (above), we did have our 'drop-the-needle' listening exam having excised some further distinguishable elements of the various musical forms from Grove's. Now despite the name change to Oxford Music Online, I will always have Grove's indelibly burnt into my brain (as will many others coming out of that tradition!)

In terms of this latest incarnation, there are some notable changes. There has been a complete revamp of the overall structure of articles. Previously, when searching for a particular composer, one might retrieve two valid results drawing on an article from NGDOM and another one from the NGDOP (if it was a composer who had composed operas like Verdi for example) or from the NGDOJ (if it was drawing its source from there). Now entries from these specialised Grove's are classified as 'subjects' which function as 'sub-articles' to the primary article.

So a search in the new interface for Gioachino Rossini retrieves 55 results. A filter according to 'subjects' limits the result to 41 (above) which are mostly entries of his individual operas from the NGDOP. Overall, this is an improvement from Grove Music Online as the individual results used to display as valid entry points with no way to filter the results. You were in either Grove Music 'proper' or in the 'opera' section with this example. (However, I did like the fact that results would have the Level 1, 2 or 3 designation for exact matches and those which might be related. And this seems to be absent now.)

Whilst structurally improved, content (IMHO) can seem unnecessarily more cluttered. The addition of OCM and the ODM have certainly collocated more digital content, but does it add any more value? It is easy enough to de-select/select these options to bring in/exclude their respective articles, but in the editor's own words, the new content will "supplement Grove's more extensive coverage with content geared toward undergraduates and general users." It is already an authoritative source and researchers of varying level can take what they need. I certainly did as an undergraduate and I do now professionally albeit for very different reasons. At the end of the day, I don't think their particular addition adds much more value to the online experience.

Searching across the interface, the Boolean operators and truncation wild cards are still the same. Symphon* will retrieve plurals and foreign spellings. One of the nice features of the new layout is the 'tab' setup between the primary article, works, multimedia and related content. The related content refers to other relevant NGDOM articles as well as to the other external content. For example, if your institution has a subscription to Oxford Dictionary of National Biography then there is seamless integration to pursue further information leads. For example, more information on John Lennon can be found in the ODB below.

In addition to closer collaborations with the ODB, there is also the opportunity to connect bibliographic data in the entries to RILM. It should also be noted that it is also now possible to listen to materials licensed via the Classical Music Library and the Database of Recorded American Music (DRAM). These recordings would display in the Multimedia tab (if your institution has a subscription). If not, there are still other interesting materials such as score examples, various photographs and images and even playbills from the first performance (below).

One of my main criticisms of Grove Online (and to some degree Oxford Music Online) comes down to one of the key parameters used to evaluate online resources. In relation to the CRAP Index (which measures Currency, Reliability, Authority and Purpose/Point of View) the database sails through the 'R', 'A' and 'P'. Where I think it still needs a lot of work is with the issue of Currency.

When the NGDOM went online, there was no date (other than the copyright at the bottom of the screen) indicating when the entry was written. In the printed domain, one could easily identify this from the imprint. However, when it migrated into the virtual world, one could not identify with certainty when and/or if an article had been updated. Unlike journal articles which have volume and edition specific information, databases, particularly, those built on article entries, can not be uniformly captured with a roving copyright. This issue has been addressed to some degree in the latest upgrade. Some of the entries now contain a 'last updated' statement but many still do not. Oxford Music Online has said that the static articles (those drawn from the NGDOP and the NGDOJ) will not 'be subject to regular updating' and as such, will not have this critical piece of identification.

It should come as no surprise that this authoritative online music resource with its capacity for full text searching is still overall a tremendous benefit to researchers outweighing any of its shortcomings. The fact that it is collaborating with other existing music providers bodes well for future integration and seamless serendipitous information discovery.

Thursday 18 September 2008

No Drama just an Induction


I had a truly delightful time today doing an Induction for PGCE Drama students of the Central School of Speech and Drama. (I hope I didn't bore them to death!) It gave me a chance to test out some of the Web 2.0 applications firsthand with a group of students. I spent the first half talking about the traditional caveats to searching library resources, toggling between windows to demonstrate active searches in particular resources. From that foundation I went on to describe the shift in usage of the web and technology and how this can inform academic research.

Looking back at it I realise that my statement that 'everything I just said half an hour ago on controlled vocabulary now goes out the window' really drives home how much information management and literacy has shifted in the last few years with these social networking tools. For me, it seemed to be like Pigafetta's descriptive chronicles five centuries ago detailing and refining the edges of the map and conceptions of Magellan's world. In spite of time's travels, librarians are exploring anew in that area along the burnt edges of today's information map. Hopefully it will be as revolutionary a discovery as it was centuries earlier!

Tuesday 16 September 2008

RSS Razzmatazz

What is RSS? It can stand for either 'real simple syndication' or 'rich site summary.' In a nutshell, it brings the web to you rather than you going out and finding information. Broadly, it allows for the reuse of content from the original site, so that you can see new content drawn to your browser or feed page without having to first visit the actual website.

The following clip (under 4 minutes) has one of the best and succinct explanations of what RSS is and how it changes our use of the web. (The Netflix reference is a company in the US setup to compete against the Blockbuster model at the time which made users come in-person to browse and select their products. Netflix's model upended existing trends by offering a user-tailored and customisable online experience offering convenience of selection where users could reserve, request (DVD) videos rather than risk missing a highly anticipated release due to high demand (as Blockbuster's users frequently complained at the time). It also allowed users the ability to keep a movie as long as needed rather than the 2-3 day limit imposed by Blockbuster at the time.


As of this clip in April 2007 Technorati had calculated there were 50million+ blogs. Less than a year later (as of February 2008) Technorati had the number in excess of 185million blogs. By some algorithmic calculations - there are now over 212million blogs as of September 2008. Clearly, with such exponential growth of material, it becomes even more important for those conducting research over the web to 1) be alerted to the creation of new relevant information resources and 2) be able to critically evaluate them.

Phil Bradley has said that 'RSS underpins all aspects of Web 2.0' and when you see the prevalence of the RSS icon, you quickly realise its intrinsic interconnectedness. Pervading all major news web sites to academic databases such as Ingenta Connect and Academic Search Premier, one can also follow new information posted on blogs, new library books as they enter a library catalogue, new resources added via Delicious, new pictures added in Flickr, new presentations in Slideshare or even newly digitised music score collections from the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (http://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/index.html?c=rss&l=de)! RSS truly gives new meaning to the term 'information superhighway' where information is shunted faster than I could possibly type on Google or navigate via the various taxonomic folders of Bookmarks I've accumulated organised into Subjects / Publishers / News / e-Journals / E-Resources / D-Spaces / E-Prints / Metalib / Copyright / Diglib / Infolit / and then my favourite catch-all folders Junk1 / Junk2 / and to clarify things further there's Junk3.

Just a sample of some RSS buttons in their various guises.

What is the best way to maintain RSS feeds? That really depends on individual preferences. Each has its own strength. If you are a big fan of the email format then the Google reader (www.google.com/reader) is probably for you.

Each new post shows up similar to an unread email. Its view can also be filtered by the various subscription feeds you are receiving:

Another feed reader is 'My Yahoo' (http://uk.my.yahoo.com/) which allows you to set up multiple pages depending on your research interests. I originally set this up to follow news, library developments and music journals on separate pages as it was my own internal sense of categorisation which was unsatisfied with Google's approach. (Google did not offer this type of multiple page arrangement. ) Yahoo also offers the ability to customise the appearance of your page.


Bloglines also offers the opportunity (http://www.bloglines.com/) to organise RSS feeds. It is quite popular albeit I found it a little too austere for me. As much as software creators try to imitate and replicate the sanitised cleanliness of Google, there will always be those who need a bit of flamboyance in our lives that appreciate the ability to customise and re-appropriate!


Lastly, under the rubric of 'start pages' there are two further RSS aggregators: Netvibes and Pageflakes. These two RSS feeders allow not only the feeding of text but also dynamic add-ons called widgets (Netvibes) or flakes (Pageflakes) allowing a high degree of customisation. (I especially like the colour choices in Pageflakes.) Both of these exemplify the collaborative nature of Web 2.0 (as compared with the earlier Yahoo and Google readers but they are loosening up a bit as of late) in that they can be shared publicly (with options of creating private pages) to allow for collaboration.

Example of Netvibes page. (http://www.netvibes.com)

Example of Pageflakes. (http://www.pageflakes.com)

Very little differentiates these two products, except for the fact that Pageflakes allows for podcasts broadcast over the internet to be fed into the web page. The add-ons really allow for a more user-driven experience whilst reading the news or latest music or media journal by having pictures from Flickr or videos from Youtube feed into your RSS page. It really re-defines the concept and experience of a personal home page from the Web 1.0 environment. At the end of the day RSS allows for a more flexible approach towards research by providing concurrent retrieval of information via pre-defined parameters. Perhaps it does need to be said that whilst many of us may have one computer at home with our favourite web sites and blogs bookmarked (and even feeding into our Mozilla browser), all of these readers allow instantaneous access to our feeds of interest from any internet point removing the limitations of a single desktop.

 
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Interesting Music Stuff (IMS) is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence. Any redistribution of content contained herein must be properly attributed with a hyperlink back to the source.
Click on the time link at the bottom of the post for the direct URL
and cite Colin J.P. Homiski, Interesting Music Stuff.