|
|
|
Bibliography Help and FAQ
Question Categories
Questions
General: What is this bibliography?What can this bibliography do for me?If you are a singer or a voice teacher, this bibliography can point you in the direction of some great books on just about any singing-related topic you can think of. You can also often see reviews of the books here that will give you an idea of what to expect from them, and find out how to obtain the books. Finally, you can recommend books to other singers and voice teachers and tell them why you like them, or contradict someone else's opinion already expressed here. We do maintain editorial privilege of editing or even deleting entries but we want to put as many well-informed, well-thought opinions up as possible: if you have an opinion, we almost certainly want to hear about it. What books or other items are in the bibliography?We catalog primarily books, but also some recordings, web sites, and music anthologies. Just about all of them relate to singing in some way: see the category list here or in the blue box on the left to get an idea of what topics we have so far. The books, recordings, etc. are from a wide time period but, in general, the more recent years have more listings. What information is available in the bibliography for each book, recording, etc.?We list as much of the standard bibliographic information as we can (title, authors, edition, publisher, publication location, publication year, etc.) as well as extra factual information (ISBN number, number of pages in book, how to obtain, etc.) and, usually, descriptions or reviews of the book. You can find this information via book title, author last name, general subject, and specific subject. The site search page might help you too--note that the Title Index is always the best place to go once you've found something in the bibliography, because that is where all of the book information is kept. How do I get started using the bibliography?To just get started using the bibliography, remember these guidelines.
How is the bibliography organized?The full bibliographic listings and annotations are found in the title section. You can look up books using the title index (alphabetically by full title including articles), the author index (alphabetically by last name), or the category system. The category system has both super-categories and (subsidiary) normal categories. If you choose a super-category, then you are given a list of subsidiary categories to choose from; choose a category from that list to see book titles and links. If you originally choose a category you merely go directly to the category's book list. Click on the title to see more information. See descriptions of the super-categories below. What are the super-categories?The many bibliographical categories are grouped into twelve super-categories. To explore the categories in manageable chunks, choose a super-category from the descriptions below or from the quick menu on the left. If you want to jump to a specific bibliographical page instead, use the subject index below.
What are the categories?This is a list of all the categories organized by super-categories, followed by a list of all the categories alphabetically. If you want to see a definition of one of the categories, click on either the category's link (at the top of every category page is a brief description) or the super-category's link (a definition of each composite category is included).
The same list arranged alphabetically by subject follows: Acting How do I get copies of the items listed in this bibliography?The bibliographical information included here is usually enough information to take to a book store, if it is commercially published and still in print. When something is self-published or available only through an unusual source then that source is usually noted. Finally, often books are linked to the on-line bookstore Amazon.com; they are quick and efficient, and you will contribute to the site at no cost to yourself if you buy from them using our links. How are books and recordings added to the bibliography?They are added from users like you! Please contribute reviews of books we already have and information on new books as well--anything from a full-blown review to a small, thoughtful opinion is fine! This form is for adding new books to the catalog, and this form is for adding a review for a book we already have in the catalog. Please help us and add info to the catalog! Links to these forms can be found on virtually every song catalog page at the bottom of the blue side bar and at the bottom of the page. Why doesn't [a certain book] have a review?Um, because no one has submitted one yet! Please send us your review. Did you know that you are not really using correct bibliographic form?Yup. Bibliographic form has been determined more by the vagaries of my automated database publishing program than by proper procedure. Finding: How do I find...the full bibliographic information on an item?The full bibliographic information on a given item is given in the Title Index section. Whenever you click on a link from the title of a book or other item you are taken to the full bibliographic information for that item. items by an author's last name?This is easy: look up the author's last name in the Author Index and you will see all the items we have in the bibliography by that author. Also, whenever you see an author's name followed by a link on the words "[books]," you can click on that link to see all of the books or other items in the bibliography by that author. a certain item (alphabetically by title)?If you know the title of a book, anthology, or recording, go to the Title Index section and look up the item title alphabetically (including beginning articles like "a," "an," or "the," by the way). If all you remember is a few words of the title, use our site's search function. items about a certain subject?Use the subject indexes! The super-categories for the subject indexes are listed in the left-hand blue menu of every bibliography page. The full category listing is found on this help page and on the bibliography home page. items related or similar to the one I'm looking at now?For every bibliographical entry there is at least one "See Also" link. These links will take you either to a related category of books or a specific, very closely related book. Explore! the newest items added to the bibliography?I keep track of all site updates, including bibliography additions, on the site's main home page. There, in the main section of the page beneath the current site headline article, you can read more detailed descriptions of the new material. Also, consider subscribing to the site's newsletter if you would like monthly site news updates emailed to you, including brief notes on the new items in the bibliography. more information on the music anthologies listed in the bibliography?If the anthologies are in our art song catalog section, they will have a listing in both the catalog and the bibliography. The catalog listing is the default even fom most links in the bibliography, but if you find yourself looking at the bibliographical listing without seeing the full song contents, there should be a link that says 'see song contents for this anthology'. Click it, and you'll go there! items with words elsewhere in their listings (other than author's last name or title)?Using the site's search page with be your only route for that. Give it a try. how to get copies of the items I see in the bibliography?The Amazon links found on most books are a direct route. Other than that, the bibliographic information found in the Title section can give you enough information to contact self-published writers, to order the book from your local book store, or to go to a used book store with a pretty full description. other music bibliography resources on the Internet?The only other full Internet music bibliography of which I am aware is the one at Vocalist, and that bibliography was the start of the one at daringdiva.com. Other music sites recommend books, of course, and sometimes give reviews. Classical Singer (listed on our singing links page) has announced that they will begin a small book review and purchase system at their site, for instance. other music-related bibliographies?Our site's bibliography contains listings of a number of music reference standards among which can be found some singing-related bibliographies. The Seaton is a standard and the McTyre comes highly recommended, although I have not looked at it. The Duckles Music Reference and Research Materials is a real standard that has some good bibliographical information for most fields in music, including singing-related ones. Contributing: How do I add...new books or recordings to the bibliography?You can add a new item to the bibliography by filling out this form. If you want to review an item already in the bibliography please use this form. Links to these forms can be found on virtually every bibliography page at the bottom of the blue side bar and at the bottom of the page. new information on an item already in the bibliography?Use the add review form to add extra information on an item already in the catalog. Links to it can be found on virtually every bibliography page at the bottom of the blue side bar and at the bottom of the page. my support to the singers' bibliography project?Please help somewhat offset our costs by using our links to Amazon books and music (links found throughout the bibliography). They give us a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you if you use a link from our site. To give us psychological support, please send us an email telling us that you like what we do and tell others about the site! If you are considering monetary or other physical support (such as contributing song editions to the song catalog's library), please contact us. Definitions:What are super-categories?They are just a way of organizing the oodles of bibliographic categories so that it is hopefully easier to find the subject you want without wading through 50+ categories. Instead wade through the 12 super-categories and then the few categories that comprise that super-category. If you really, really want to wade through all 50+ categories, you can find an alphabetic list on the bibliography home page, and that list plus a list organized by super-categories answering another question on this page. What do those red stars mean (like * )?In an ideal world, items prefaced by asterisks ( * ) would indicate that we think they are particularly valuable. The more asterisks (up to a maximum of five), the better. However, this is only occasionally implemented. There is no indication for "stay away" other than in the annotations: if an item does not have any asterisks, that may mean merely that we do not know enough about it to know how valuable it is. What do the Amazon.com links do?
What do those codes (like "v03.n270") mean?They identify what digest of the Vocalist mailing list the book notation comes from. To figure what a digest is and all that stuff go to the Vocalist site and look for the archives. If the number were 'v03.n270,' that would mean you go to the Vocalist archives, go to the third volume (v03.n270) and click the link for number 270 (v03.n270). Then, if you were looking for a certain word, you'd use your browser's find feature (the shortcut is often What does "ISBN" mean and what is that big number associated with it?Oh, they are some code that help book companies order books. I haven't cared enough to find out what it stands for. Book stores (of new books) have an easier time identifying books for special order etc. if you bring the ISBN in. What is Vocalist?VocaList is an excellent moderated email-based discussion group for singers and teachers of singing. I can't deal with the inordinate amount of email that joining one of those lists bring, so even though VocaList is one of the best of the bunch, I personally don't subscribe. However, having been a subscriber off and on, I can say that the discussions are sometimes extremely informative. Next to an author's name I always see "[books]" with a link. What does that mean?If you click it, you will see a list of all of the books in the catalog by that particular author. Further resources:What are some other music bibliography resources on the Internet?Sorry to make you skip around the page, but I've already answered this one. The short answer is that there isn't a lot else as far as I know. Click here. What are some other art song catalogs available in the world?Sorry to make you skip around the page, but I've already answered this one. Click here. Curiosity:How is this bibliography made?Using Microsoft Access, I constructed a database system and then wrote a set of Visual Basic programs to publish the database into the computer language used by web pages, HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). Although we now make occasional changes to the structure of the system and of the web pages, basically we just occasionally type in book and song information in forms on our computer then, once a week, press a button to have it all automatically republished incorporating the new songs in all of the indexes. Why is this bibliography made?When people realize the scope of this project, this seems to be a popular question. I started the site with the primary idea of building a song catalog, but the realization that I did not have the resources to attract composers to the project without a finished product to sell them--and I couldn't have that without songs! So I joined two other fields I knew something about, music books and music web sites, to the site. That would attract visitors even when the catalog was in a fledgling state. The plan worked perfectly, actually. If only the plan had included some method of getting money for the work I put into it! The web site seems to be leading to performing and teaching gigs. Moreover, I may be able to transfer the knowledge I have amassed running this web site to a paid job of running another one. So far the hard work seems to be beginning to pay off, but the site is essentially a labor of love: it just must continue to bring us some benefit--emotional, professional, or monetary--to justify the time and money we invest in it. Do you make any money off of this catalog?Not at the moment, although we would not be adverse to making a bit of change for the hours we put into the site! Whenever you buy anything from Amazon via the links at our site we get a small percentage towards the approx. US$200 we spend a year on the site. Please help us by buying from our Amazon links. Who are you people?Check out our personal page, Karyn's resume, and Gary's resume. I'm listed as Gerbrand there because that's my real name. Will you come give a workshop about contemporary song composers, Internet resources for singers, singers and technology, etc.?Yes, and at a pretty darn good price too, we might add. Contact us for materials. Please contribute to the bibliography
|
This page will help you use the bibliography and also attempt to answer any questions you might have about it. There is also an 
