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FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
Alexander
Street Announces Re-launch of The Garland Encyclopedia of World
Music Online
Alexandria,
VA—September 23, 2008—Long
a core reference for ethnomusicologists and anthropologists, and the
perfect starting place for anyone trying to learn more about the
music of a particular region, the ten-volume Garland Encyclopedia
of World Music gained an even broader audience when Alexander
Street released the fully cross-searchable online edition in 2007.
Launched
today, the second release of
The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online features a
wide range of new content and technical enhancements that make the
collection even more valuable and easy to use.
Says editor
Liz Dutton, “We’ve added hundreds of audio music samples from around
the world. Originally published with the print edition as CDs, these
tracks can now be enjoyed online in streaming audio. Users can now
read about and listen to a Venezuelan Warao shaman’s curing
song, for example—and see a photo of the rattles and baskets used by
the shaman as well.”
Along with the
audio examples, Alexander Street has released comprehensive browse
features for a wide variety of terms, including genre, cultural
group, musical subject, instrument, person, ensemble, and place.
Using a single interface, users researching the zither, for example,
can browse by instrument and find hundreds of related articles from
across the entire ten-volume collection.
Other exciting
features in the collection’s new release are Web 2.0 tools that let
users create, annotate, and share playlists—with content from
anywhere on the Web. Says Dutton, “These are particularly useful
tools for course instructors. If you want your class to learn about
the biwa, a Japanese bowl-lute, a playlist lets you point
your students to several articles from The Garland
Encyclopedia as well as to articles in other online publications
or found elsewhere on the free Web—to recordings, photos,
videos—anything with a URL. Annotations let instructors tell
students what to watch for. What’s more, you can embed these
playlists in a course syllabus or Web site without giving elaborate
instructions about where to find things. It’s incredibly easy, and
students love the feeling of discovery that online links to course
materials provide.”
In early 2009,
The Garland Encyclopedia will also be cross-searchable
together with all of Alexander Street’s online music
collections—both the full-text reference materials and the listening
collections of streaming audio, including two other popular
ethnomusicology collections,
Contemporary World Music and
Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries. Alexander Street is
also actively engaged in conversations with publishers of other
online music collections to establish cross-links between relevant
sources.
Says Dutton,
“For libraries that subscribe to or have purchased multiple
Alexander Street collections, it will make cross-searching these
collections a completely seamless experience.”
# # #
About
The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online
The Garland
Encyclopedia of World Music Online
is the first comprehensive online resource devoted to music research
of all the world's peoples. More than 9,000 pages of material,
combined with entries by more than 700 expert contributors from all
over the world, make this the most complete body of work focused on
world music.
Each
digital volume contains an overview of the region, a survey of its
musical heritage, traditions and themes; and a description of
specific musical genres, practices, and performances. Articles
include detailed photographs that show musicians, musical
instrument, and the cultural context of dances, rituals, and
ceremonies. Other images include drawings, maps, and musical
examples for further study. Since its first publication in 1997,
The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music has been the preeminent
reference work for research in ethnomusicology. It has won numerous
awards, including the Dartmouth Medal, the New York Public Library
Outstanding Reference Book award, and Library Journal's award
as one of the 50 Reference Sources for the Millennium.
The Garland
Encyclopedia of World Music Online
is available to libraries via annual subscription or outright
purchase of perpetual rights. Libraries interested in getting trial
access or pricing information should contact
sales@alexanderstreet.com. Individuals interested in making use
of this collection should contact their university or public
library.
About
Alexander Street Press
Alexander
Street Press is an electronic publisher of online research
collections in the humanities, social sciences, music, and
performing arts. Combining the skills of traditional publishing,
librarianship, and software development, Alexander Street creates
Semantically Indexed collections known for their quality
content, ease of use, and search capabilities powerful enough to
drive scholarly discovery. Alexander Street’s music collections
include both listening and full-text reference collections.
Listening collections in streaming audio include Classical Music
Library, American Song, African American Music, Contemporary World
Music, and Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries.
Reference collections include Classical Music Reference Library,
African American Music Reference, Classical Scores Library, and
The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online. A new series
of Critical Video Editions includes Dance in Video, Opera in
Video, and Theatre in Video. Visit
http://alexanderstreet.com to learn more.
For More
Information Contact:
Meg Keller
Director of Marketing, Alexander Street Press
mkeller@alexanderstreet.com
703.212.8520 x 116
Liz Dutton
Music Editor, Alexander Street Press
edutton@alexanderstreet.com
703.212.8520 x 118
For trial
access to The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online or
any Alexander Street Press collection, please email:
marketing@alexanderstreet.com
Direct access
to The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online:
http://glnd.alexanderstreet.com
http://alexanderstreet.com
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