Library Advisory Services Supporting Interests and Entertainment - January 23, 2007 Meeting Notes
Keys to music advisory
1. Know your catalog! What information is indexed? How can I get at it most quickly?
2. Use supplemental resources:
Performer names
- All Music generates a browse screen that helps with unknown spellings
- For local musicians, use You Tube; almost every beginning performer has material there, and the search engine generally includes song titles, too
Song titles
- For recordings, All Music generates a browse screen that helps with unknown spellings
- For movie music, use the Internet Movie Database, which offers a “soundtrack listing” feature
- For stage musicals, use the Internet Broadway Database, which offers a “Songs in this production” feature
Lyrics
- The most dependable lyrics sites are the artists’ home pages; there are substantial variations elsewhere (in fact, there is often a difference between what the artist sings and what is printed in the liner notes!)
- There are a number of large collections of lyrics available on line, though: elyrics is one
- Often most effective is enclosing known lyrics in quotes via Google or another search engine; if quoted text is common, use a clustering engine, e.g., Clusty
Recording titles
- Start with All Music to verify title, then use WorldCat or another large library catalog to identify locations and availability
Explicit vs. Clean versions
- All Music offers this at the album level, once the album title is known
- Less efficient but becoming more useful are bookseller sites like Amazon or Barnes & Noble
Recording content
- Use library cataloging agencies for this: WorldCat, or large public library catalogs; All Music is helpful here, but generally less accurate than catalogers.
Tunes
- This service offers fee-based identification of songs: 411 Song
- Melodyhound offers the user an opportunity to play a tune on a web keyboard and returns the correct title remarkably often
Styles
- Shazam offers a floating display of musical styles similar to that of Literature Map for authors; neither of these resources is particularly comprehensive, however. Usually more useful are the style and genre categories employed by All Music
Compiled by: Aaron Smith (smithaa@oplin.org)
Clermont County Public Library
513.735.7147
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