UNT’s Music Library sees improvements to help patrons

Wednesday, March 20, 2013 - 20:17

Recent changes at UNT’s Willis Library have helped the Music Library better utilize space and update its facilities and services in response to the changing needs of patrons.

By reorganizing and consolidating items, the Music Library was able to use space in the southern part of the fourth floor of Willis to construct a 1,400-square-foot room. That room, which houses music technical services, is a dedicated space for processing new acquisitions and donations, and cataloging.

The Music Library also gained space off-site with a state-of-the-art remote storage facility and new, movable shelving. Most of the items with the highest use in the library’s nearly 100 special collections will be stored there, as well as non-digital sound recordings, the majority of which have not yet been cataloged. This space will help organize the estimated 1 million sound recordings in the Music Library’s holdings, across virtually all formats – cylinders, shellac 78 rpm discs, reel-to-reel tapes, vinyl 33 1/3 rpm LP discs, cassette tapes, 8-tracks, digital audio tapes, CDs, MiniDiscs and digital files, said Andrew Justice, Music Librarian for Audio and Digital Services.

Focusing on the current needs of patrons, the Music Library has subscribed to web-based music streaming sources and put some recordings from special collections, including College of Music recordings, online. Patrons can search the Music Library website to find items that are available at the library, in remote storage or that can be streamed online.

In response to the changing listening patterns of patrons, 60 audio carrels were removed from the listening center. Now, there are four carrels with computers that connect to a turntable, cassette, digital audio tape and CD players. The music played on them – recordings that cannot be taken out of the library or that are in formats for which the patron does not have their own playback machine – is routed to the computers in the carrels.

“We are trying to find a balance between items on the shelf, because there is a lot of literature that isn’t available digitally, and offering digital access,” Justice said. “We have a strong research library, so we try to have the best of both worlds.”

Another convenience for students and researchers soon to be operational is the addition of music work stations. The library’s IT staff patterned the stations after the College of Music computer lab, with Mac and Windows computers that have MIDI inputs and Finale music notation software, Adobe Creative Suites Master Collection, Eastwest Quanum Leap sound library, Auralia aural testing software and Musition music theory software. Digital keyboards will also be available.

Justice can help patrons who want to locate an item in storage or that may not yet be cataloged. Special Collections Librarian Maristella Feustle can help patrons who want to reserve an item from the special collections. Contact the staff of the music library online at http://www.library.unt.edu/music. Contact Justice or Feustle at 940-369-7061 or at Andrew.Justice@unt.edu or Maristella.Feustle@unt.edu.

Music Library hours are 7:30 a.m. to midnight Monday to Thursday; 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday; noon to 5 p.m. Saturday; and 1 p.m. to midnight Sunday.

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