Your Librarian

Ned Potter:

BA (Hons), MA (Music), MSc (Library & Information Management)

Academic Liaison Librarian for the department of Music while Olivia Else is on maternity leave.

Email: Ned
Telephone: +44 (0)1904 32 4518

Appointments: I am very happy to meet with students, either individually or in groups, to talk about Library services and resources. If you would like to meet with me please contact me by email or telephone. Towards the end of June I will began regular drop-in sessions in the department to help you with anything library and information related.

I can help you learn to:

  • Search effectively in your subject area
  • Use print and electronic resources
  • Evaluate what you find
  • Reference your work correctly
  • Use web 2.0 tools to keep up with research in your field

Please let me know:

  • How you would like the Library services to be improved
  • If you have any suggestions for additions to the Library collection
  • If there are any other ways in which I can help you

Workbooks/Guides

Finding what you need in the library and online workbook and reference guide

This guide contains information about the library, specifically aimed at Music Students. Includes help with using the catalogue, accessing online resources via Metalib, and developing a search strategy.

Interactive Library Map for Music Students

This interactive map of the library covers all the need-to-know information for Music students. Press the little Play button, then hit 'More' and 'Full-screen'. You can either keep pressing the play button to navigate round the whole library, or just click wherever you want to go to zoom in and find more information about that area.

Useful Documents

Title Guide to Music Resources (PDF , 867kb)
Description A downloadable, printable version of the workbook embedded above.
Author Ned Potter Updated October 2011
Title An overview of Music Resources at York (PDF , 215kb)
Description A quick reference guide to the different physical and virtual collections of music resources, available to members of the  University of York                                            
Author Olivia Else Updated November 2010
Title Developing your Search Strategy (PDF , 190kb) (PDF , 190kb)
Description This guide explains how to search effectively on any given topic, and demonstrates simple strategies that can be applied to achieve good results.
Author Olivia Else Updated November 2010
Title MetaLib: MetaSearching and More (PDF , 235kb) (PDF , 235kb)
Description This guide introduces you to MetaLib - the portal to the University of York's collection of electronic resources.                
Author Olivia Else Updated November 2010
Title Getting the most out of Google (PDF , 269kb) (PDF , 269kb)
Description This guide offers advice on how to search Google efficiently.  In particular it introduces Google Scholar, a simple but effective internet engine that can retrieve academic quality results.
Author Olivia Else Updated November 2010
Title Evaluating Information (PDF , 218kb) (PDF , 218kb)
Description This guide contains a useful checklist of criteria to consider when evaluating information, whether in print or online.  It also directs you to web portals that have been reviewed and approved by the UK academic community.
Author Olivia Else Updated November 2010
Title An introduction to Nexis UK (PDF , 338kb) (PDF , 338kb)
Description This guide introduces Nexis UK - a resource that contains full text newspaper reports from local, national and international publications.
Author Olivia Else Updated November 2010

Music Resources

An Overview of Music Resources at York:

Information about...

Resources held in the University Libraries

The Library Catalogue (http://libcatalogue.york.ac.uk/) is the only way to see what is available in the J.B.Morrell Library, Raymond Burton Library, King's Manor Library and York Minster Library. For more information please see the An Introduction to the Library Catalogue  guide in the "guides/workbooks" tab at the top of this page.The collections include:

  • Books - electronic and print
  • Journals - electronic and print
  • Scores
  • CDs & DVDs - see the Audiovisual guide for more information
  • Newspapers - electronic and print
  • Microform - These are listed by title on the Library Catalogue. For detailed information about the different music microform and their contents please see the Music Microform Guide
  • Special Collections - held in a closed store. To access these items follow the "booking" link on the Library Catalogue
  • Reference Collections - held in the Raymond Burton Library

The Music section of the J.B.Morrell and Raymond Burton Libraries is arranged in the sequence shown below. This is a summary of the main subject divisions relevant to Music and is not a comprehensive list of all subjects covered:

A Philosophy
   
B Psychology
   
C Theology, including ecclesiastical history
   
D Sociology
   
L Fine arts
   
LM Music
LM 0.01 - LM 9.9 Writings about music
LM 0.1 Philosophy and aesthetics of music
LM 0.9 History of music, general
LM 0.92 Biography and criticism of individual composers
LM 1 Theory and technique of music
LM 2.1 Opera
LM 3 Sacred music
LM 4 Vocal music
LM 5 Instrumental ensemble(s) and their music
LM 5.1 Symphony
LM 5.5 Concerto
LM 5.6 Chamber music
LM 6 Keyboard music
LM 6.2 Piano
LM 6.3 Harpsichord
LM 6.4 Organ

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LM 7 Stringed instruments and their music
LM 8 Wind instruments and their music
LM 9 Percussion, mechanical, electrical instruments and their music
LM 11 - LM 99 Scores
LM 11 Collected works of various composers
LM 12 Anthologies of music, e.g., Musica Britannica, etc.
LM 14 Miniature scores
LM 21 Opera
LM 30 Sacred music
LM 33.1 Oratorio
LM 34 Anthems, motets
LM 42 Large secular choral works
LM 43.1 Songs, Lieder
LM 44 Folk songs
LM 51 Symphonies
LM 55 Concertos
LM 56 Chamber music
LM 61-62 Piano music
LM 64-65 Organ music
LM 70 Music for stringed instruments
LM 80 Music for wind instruments
LM 90 Music for percussion, mechanical, and electrical instruments
   
M-MY Literatures

Using MetaLib to access the University's collection of electronic resources

The Library's collection of electronic subscription resources is accessed via the MetaLib Gateway (http://metalib.york.ac.uk/). You can search MetaLib by specific resource title, or by subject area. The subject areas most likely to be of use to music students include Music, Reference, Newspapers, and, for Music Technology students, Electronics. For hints on using MetaLib please see the MetaLib: MetaSearching and More guide in the "workbooks/guides" tab at the top of this page. MetaLib includes links to:

  • Full Text Resources:
    • Electronic journals - search by keyword or use the a-z index to find the titles of music journals
    • Grove Music Online - an online version of the famous dictionary.
    • JSTOR - an online full text archive of selected humanities journals. The most recent issues of the journals are not available.
  • Bibliographic Databases:
    • RILM - an international database of music scholarship
    • Web of Science - a large multi-disciplinary database
    • INSPEC - a leading scientific database of particular interest to Music Technology students.
  • Media/Audio Resources:
    • Classical Music Library -  a database of streamed recordings with more than 50,000 tracks from over 30 labels. The repertoire ranges from vocal and choral music, to chamber, orchestral, solo instrumental, and opera.
    • Archival Sound Recordings - over 28,000 recordings from the British Library Sound Archive. Recordings can be downloaded and used for the purposes of teaching, learning and research.
    • Opera in Video (coming soon)
    • Film & Sound Online and NewsFilm Online - multidisciplinary resources containing footage of news and culture from around the world
    • Nexis UK - a full text archive of national and international newspaper publications

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  Departmental Resources

There are a small number of resources that are restricted to the use of Music Department students and staff. These include:

  • Departmental CD Collection - This is held in the main department building. Please see the Department Secretary, Helen Gillie, for information on accessing the collection.
  • Music Department Community Site on the VLE (http://vle.york.ac.uk/) - This contains a wealth of information on the resources available to members of the department including detailed descriptions of the Library collection. The following pages are particularly useful:
    •  Library and Dept Electronic Resources, Special Collections and other Library Services - this includes information on:

      • Audio Resources - a useful overview of the different audio resources available including The University of York Sound Archives and access instructions for the Naxos Music Library.

      • Academic Skills - a selection of guides on the topics of essay writing, research skills and the departmental house style.

      • Guides to Special Collections - an overview of the University's rare and special musical collections.

    • Additional Resources of Interest - this is a collection of wiki pages that bring together links to key websites on a wide range of musical topics. These pages are added to on a regular basis so do check back to see what's new. Highly recommended!

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Accessing Resources that are not available at York

During your studies you may need to access a resource that we do not have in our collection. When this happens there are several options available to you:

  • Access it at another Library
  • Request a copy through our Interlending Service. Requests cost £2 but you will not be charged if we cannot obtain the item that you requested.
  • Suggest that the Library purchases a copy - you can do this by contacting Olivia Else, the Academic Liaison Librarian for Music (see the "Your Librarian" tab at the top of this page). Items will be considered for purchase based on their cost and the benefit that they would bring to the Library Collection.

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