Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Hey, Where's the Rest of the Article?

So you're doing research in one of our online databases, you find an article title that sounds dead-on for your topic, but when you click through for the details, you can't find a way to bring up the full text. There may be a link on the page, but all it does is reload the same information, or it takes you to a different website where they want you to log in or shell out money to see the whole thing.

Sound familiar? What you have found is a citation, which tells you about something that exists and where to find out without providing the document itself. It may include an abstract, which is a brief summary of the contents, and subject terms, which describe the subject and link to other articles on the same subject. For most of our databases it will be for a journal or magazine article, which means that the citation includes the author, article title, publication title, date and/or volume and issue number and page number so that you can go track it down by other means.

Why isn't the full text available for every article? It varies, but the short explanation is that the database provider doesn't have the rights to provide the full text of every article in the database. Some databases are explicitly citation only, some provide full text of everything, but many have a combination.

How you deal with this depends on how many search results you found that are relevant to your research and how much time you have. But don't pay an external website for content that Berklee can probably provide for you.
  • If you found lots of good results in a single database, try running your search again but limit results to full-text only. Most databases with a mixture of citations and full text offer this option on either the basic or advanced search page. That will quickly knock out anything that requires more work to track down.
  • If you found a promising citation, see if Berklee has it elsewhere electronically. From our Journals & Magazine list, search for the name of the journal listed in the citation. If we have access, you'll see a list of databases through which it is available. Look for one with full-text access for the date that you need. (Some may not have older or very recent coverage.)
  • If we don't have it electronically, we may have it in print. Check the journal title in our Local Periodicals Holdings. You may need to allow time for staff to retrieve a volume from our Annex, especially if it is older.
  • If you're still hitting a dead end, it's worth a shot to check Google Scholar. You may find a link to free access to the article.
  • If none of those options panned out, and especially if the only you link you found requires payment for the article, request it through Interlibrary Loan. We have an online request form where you can request books, scores and articles that we don't own, and you can easily copy and paste the information from your citation. We sometimes turn around article requests in a few days, but it may take up to two weeks, and we usually email the PDF directly to you.
If this all sounds like too much trouble, speak to some of our older staff members so we can regale you with tales of the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature and the olden days of having to do all your research with print resources only.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Archives Update: Two New Finding Aids

We're happy to report that two more archival collections have been processed and are available for use here at the Library:

The Franklin McGinley collection on Duke Ellington

A sample scrapbook page filled with autographs
This collection is comprised of memorabilia created and compiled by Franklin McGinley on Duke Ellington, including clippings, various commemorative materials, and a scrapbook documenting the rise of swing music. The scrapbook is a definite highlight of the collection, with artwork by McGinley and numerous autographs from the musicians featured on its pages, including a rare signature from influential bassist Jimmy Blanton. Other notable autographs include Roy Eldridge, Coleman Hawkins, Louis Armstrong, Harry Carney, and Duke Ellington.



The Bobby Vince Paunetto papers


A small fraction of the Paunetto papers
This collection includes scores, audio recordings, and other related materials created and collected by vibraphonist and Latin jazz composer Bobby Vince Paunetto '73 (1944-2010). Paunetto was a prolific composer who fused salsa and jazz in innovative ways. He was significantly influenced by Cal Tjader, Gary Burton, John LaPorta, and Herb Pomeroy, among others. Paunetto attended Berklee from 1969-1973 and released five albums over the course of his lifetime: Nuance (1962), Paunetto's Point (1974), Commit to Memory (1976), Composer in Public (1998), and Reconstituted (2001).



As with the rest of our archival materials, these collections do not circulate but may be viewed on site by appointment Monday - Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with evening hours available upon request. Email archives@berklee.edu or call 617-747-8001 to schedule a visit or to learn more about the Archives. You can also peruse other finding aids, as well as some digital collections, online at: library.berklee.edu/archives.

Friday, June 14, 2013

The Supreme Court and an '80s One-Hit Wonder

While Tommy Tutone would appear to have nothing to do with the Supreme Court, Justice Elena Kagan worked a reference to his lone hit into a recent decision. In her majority opinion in American Trucking Association v. City of Los Angeles, Kagan wrote: "The two directly at issue here compel the company to (1) affix a placard on each truck with a phone number for reporting environmental or safety concerns (You’ve seen the type: 'How am I driving? 213–867–5309.')" Kagan was in her early 20s when Tutone scored his lone hit in 1982, "867-5309/Jenny."

You can find the Tutone song in Like, Omigod! The 80$ Pop Culture Box (Totally) (CD 21291-21297 Disc 2) and with songs by artists with similar career trajectories in VH1 Selections from 1 Hit Wonders (MP1630.18 .P66 V5 2007).

Scott Bomboy, editor-in-chief of the National Constitution Center, reports on this and the history of the song for Constitution Daily:

Justice Elena Kagan adds to the Tommy Tutone legend

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Video Tutorials for Online Services

The library offers many online databases, but getting started can be confusing, and it's easy to overlook some of their more powerful features. Video tutorials from EBSCO can help.

EBSCO Publishing provides our ebook collection as well as many of our online article databases such as the Music Index, Education Research Complete and Academic Search Premier. To support their products, they have their own YouTube channel. Their tutorials range from EBSCOhost Basic Search (below) to ones on using their ebook collection and advanced features such as setting up alert services for searches.

 

Monday, June 10, 2013

RIP Arturo Vega, Ramones Artistic Director

Look at just about any list of the greatest band logos and you'll find the iconic Ramones logo inspired by the Presidential seal but featuring a bat-wielding eagle and the members' name. Arturo Vega, the band's artistic director who designed that logo, passed at age 65 on June 8.

The Slicing Up Eyeballs obituary quotes Vega from page 39 the Jim Bessman book Ramones: An American Band (ML421.R366 B4 1933):
I saw them as the ultimate all-American band. To me, they reflected the American character in general — an almost childish innocent aggression… I thought, "The Great Seal of the President of the United States" would be perfect for the Ramones, with the eagle holding arrows — to symbolize strength and the aggression that would be used against whomever dares to attack us — and an olive branch, offered to those who want to be friendly. But we decided to change it a little bit. Instead of the olive branch, we had an apple tree branch, since the Ramones were American as apple pie. And since Johnny was such a baseball fanatic, we had the eagle hold a baseball bat instead of the arrows.
Vega is also among the interviewees in Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk edited by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain (ML3534 .P54 1996).

Need your own inspiration for graphic design? Browse the shelves from NC 1833 to NC 1883.3 for books of great music posters and album cover art.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

"Get Lucky"? No Luck Needed to Find Nile Rodgers

Nile Rodgers is attracting new-found attention for his work on Daft Punk's No. 1 album Random Access Memories (CD 35207), particularly the lead single "Get Lucky." The prolific and revered guitarist, producer and songwriter first rose to fame with Chic in the disco era but since then has worked with David Bowie, Madonna, Mariah Carey and a boatload of other big names.

Want to find it all in our collection? It's easier than you may realize with the hyperlinked contributors in our catalog. When you're looking at the details for any item in our collection, such as Random Access Memories, click on the link for Contributors. You'll get a full list of everyone credited. Then click on any name to find everything we own that they've contributed to. For Rodgers, that includes not just the recordings he's worked on but also a video of the 1988 clinic he did at Berklee available in the Career Development Center (CRV 57).

Monday, June 3, 2013

Stage Names and Other Musical Pseudonyms

June 3 marks the birthday of John Paul Jones. The Led Zeppelin bassist was born John Baldwin in 1946. His stage name, which he shares with an American hero of the American Revolution, doesn't call attention to itself in the way that Snoop Lion's or Lady Gaga's does.

It is easy enough to find out the real name of anyone with an obvious stage name, but to discover assumed identities, browse through Musical AKAs: Assumed Names and Sobriquets of Composers, Songwriters, Librettists, Lyricists, Hymnists, and Writers on Music by Jeanette Marie Drone(Reference ML105 .D76 2007). It cross-references both original and assumed names and identifies sources for nicknames such as Mr. Can-Can (Manual Gutierrez-Najera), Mr. Tin Pan Alley (Harold Gumm) and assorted other kings, queens, first ladies and godfathers.