Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Trial Access to Maney Online Research E-Journal Collections Through April 20

Maney Publishing, a British-based company, is offering trial access to its collection of over 150 scholarly journals through April 20. The collection includes titles in materials science and engineering, the humanities and social sciences, and health science.

Maney publishes extensively for learned societies, universities and professional bodies around the world, and its titles are peer-reviewed. The journals are hosted on Maney's own platform. A descriptive brochure listing all titles is available (in PDF format).

We invite you to try the journals in the Maney Online Research E-Journal Collections. Please contact Richard Kearney (kearneyr@wpunj.edu or x 2165) if you have any questions or need any assistance using the database.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Trial Access to Jazz Music Library from Alexander Street Press Now Available (through May 11)

The Jazz Music Library, from Alexander Street Press, is a large audio database of recorded jazz from the early 1920s to the present, including all major jazz genres (vocal jazz, bebop, acid jazz, big band music, modern jazz, and more). The database currently provides streaming access to more than 130,000 tracks, with new recordings added monthly. Trial access to the database is available now through May 11.

The collection includes works licensed from legendary record labels, including Audiophile, Concord Jazz, Contemporary Records, Fantasy, Jazzology, Milestone, Nessa Records, Original Jazz Classics, Pablo, and Prestige. Labels being added include Circle Records, GHB Records, Good Time Jazz, GRP Records, Impulse, Peak, Riverside, Solo Art Records, Stretch Records, Verve, and dozens more.

The list of artists is comprehensive, ranging from past greats to musicians performing and recording today, including: Abbey Lincoln, Andre Previn, Art Farmer, Benny Carter, Bill Evans, Billy Strayhorn, Bix Beiderbecke, Cannonball Adderley, Charlie ByrdCharlie Parker, Chet Baker, Chuck Mangione, Coleman Hawkins, Count Basie, Dave Brubeck, Dizzie Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Eric Dolphy, Gerry Mulligan, Grover Washington, Jr., John Coltrane, Karrin Allyson, Lester Young, Marian McPartland, Miles Davis, Oscar Peterson, Ramsey Lewis, Rosemary Clooney, Sarah Vaughan, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz, Thelonious Monk, Tony Bennett, Wes Montgomery, Zoot Sims, and a long list of others.

Liner notes to all the albums are included (in PDF format) as well as static URLs to each track and album in the database. Detailed instrumentation and performer information is also provided. Content is added on a regular basis, and new materials are highlighted on the home page as they are added. A detailed product brochure is available here (in PDF format).

The system requirements for listening to music from the database are available here. We invite you to try out the Jazz Music Library during the trial period. Please contact Richard Kearney (x 2165 / kearneyr@wpunj.edu) if you have any questions about using the database or experience any technical issues. And please contact Bob Wolk (x 2289 / wolkr@wpunj.edu) or Tony Joachim (x 3665 / joachima1@wpunj.edu) with any feedback about the database.

Friday, March 7, 2014

Naxos Jazz Music Library: Trial Access to Streaming Audio Collection Through April 4

The Naxos Jazz Music Library is one of the most comprehensive collection of recorded jazz music available online. It offers over 65,000 tracks of jazz from more than 6,000 albums. Over 12,000 jazz artists are represented in the collection. The Naxos Jazz Music Library comprises the catalogues of Blue Notes Records, 22 labels of Fantasy Jazz and over 150 other labels. US-based Fantasy has the world's deepest jazz catalogue and offers the very best in blues and rhythm'n'blues. Blue Note offers albums featuring the legendary artist John Coltrane and iconic artists such as Herbie Hancock, Dexter Gordon, Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter and many others.

Through the Naxos search engine, you can select works by featured artists, disc/song title, or catalogue number. Playlists can also be easily created for educational use, or for hours of continuous enjoyment. New jazz releases are continually added to ensure that the music library is always up-to-date. Accessible from any workstation with audio speakers, the database is an excellent tool for classroom use, as faculty can choose from a great selection of music to play without having to find or purchase compact discs.

The music is streamed in Flash AAC format. The standard sound quality produces near-CD quality. The audio streaming service requires Adobe Flash (Minimum 9.0.60, 10 recommended) and works with Internet Explorer 7+, FireFox 2+, Safari 2+, and any version of Chrome with Flash support. When you are finished using the database, we ask that you select the "Log-Out" link at the top of the screen so others may have access to it.

We invite you to try out the Naxos Jazz Music Library during the trial period. Please contact Richard Kearney (x 2165 / kearneyr@wpunj.edu) if you have any questions about using the database or experience any technical issues. And please contact Bob Wolk (x 2289 / wolkr@wpunj.edu) or Tony Joachim (x 3665 / joachima1@wpunj.edu) with any feedback about the database.