music

Smithsonian Global Sound’s Mobile App is Here!

Smithsonian Global Sound, Alexander Street Press‘s “virtual encyclopedia of the world’s musical and aural traditions,” has three convenient ways to access recordings from your mobile phone. Select a track you wish to listen to, click on the mobile phone icon, and choose one of three methods for accessing the track (and entire album!) from your mobile device. Click on the screen shot below of the Cajun Home Music Album to see the pop-up help menu you will receive. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at d.mandel@neu.edu. Debra Mandel

Boston GreenFest 2009

If you’re looking for something fun (and free!) to do this weekend, go check out Boston GreenFest 2009 at City Hall Plaza, right outside the Government Center T stop. This event runs from 10 AM to 10 PM August 21st and 22nd with a kickoff concert tonight from 5 to 10. Over the next two days there will be screenings of the films “The Greening of Southie”, “Fresh”, “Out of Balance: ExxonMobil’s Impact on Climate Change”, and “Flow: The Film”. There will be speakers and workshops covering everything from green cars to eco-games to the Charles River. You can also walk around and check out the art gallery, exhibits and listen to some live music. This looks like a really fun event with something for everyone. I’m planning to attend on Saturday so maybe I’ll see you there.

Interested in listening to music?

While the Library has a number of different academic resources, some can be enjoyed for non-academic reasons too.  I think the Naxos Music Library is a good example of this.  Even out side of music, history and art classes, you can take pleasure in listening to over 85,000 tracks while studying.  As a bonus, it is a resource also available to our alumni users.  You can search by genres such as Classical, Jazz, Pop and Rock, World, and even Relaxation Music.  I think one of my favorites is Ravel’s Bolero.  Try searching and see what you find!

Non-library hobbies

[This is mainly just a test post using my individual login…] Most of us affiliated with libraries would list “reading” as a primary hobby, but I’m curious what else people are involved in, what non-library activities we enjoy. I play clarinet in a community band, for instance, and I also just got an acoustic guitar for Christmas and can’t WAIT to learn to play. (Anyone want to offer me free instruction? I’ll trade proofreading/copyediting services for guitar lessons… 🙂 )