I thought I would do my last post of the term on the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. It hasn’t been in the news for a few years, but it exemplifies a lot of the concepts that have been discussed in LIBR559, including creation, collaboration, and participation.

In 2009, the creation of the orchestra was announced and interested musicians were called upon to post audition tapes of themselves on YouTube. Diversity amongst the musicians in terms of cultures, instruments, and geographic locations was encouraged. Once the players were selected, the orchestra came together for a concert that year at Carnegie Hall, headed by famed conductor Michael Tilson Thomas. The first concert was such a success that they performed a second one in 2011 at the Sydney Opera House.

YouTube Symphony Orchestra Wikipedia page

YouTube Symphony Orchestra YouTube Channel

Here is a recap of the 2011 concert:

I really think this was a great idea. It is no secret that Western Classical music has always been seen as a bit elitist. The emergence of ‘music for the people’ (popular music) in the 20th century has begun to cause some problems in the Classical music world as core audiences grow ever older. Funding and popularity are becoming very serious issues both in Canada and worldwide (that link is from 2002, but it’s as relevant as ever).

In my opinion, there is way too much emphasis on tradition within the realm of Classical music, causing it to be pushed to the fringe of relevant culture. I’m generalizing a bit here, but the only people I tend to see at the local symphony are seniors and Classical music students. There simply isn’t enough being done to reach out to contemporary audiences.

With that said, here is why I’m a big fan of concepts like this one:

Diversity is encouraged

• There was a huge focus on diversity amongst both musicians, with the emphasis on non-professionals from different countries
• The performances were also diverse, with the orchestra playing excerpts from a variety of pieces from a variety of eras and styles rather than the traditional one or two major works.

It brings it to ‘the people’

• The participatory aspect is huge here in that anyone with the means to make a video and post it online could audition.
• Unlike regular Classical music events that focus on the product, the process is heavily emphasized here. The YouTube channel features a variety of behind-the-scenes type videos.

Modern technology is utilized

• The affordance of creation and collaboration through social media, with the audition process and content sharing, is a major innovation for Classical music.
• Streaming! I can’t believe more orchestras are doing this these days. I think maybe they are afraid that people will stop going to the concert hall? In reality, streaming affords access to an extremely broad audience in addition to those that attend in person.

It makes the news

• Not much that happens in Classical music makes headlines these days, but this did. There needs to be more stuff like this!

It creates sharable content

• It is great from a marketing standpoint because videos like the one I posted above, as well as the numerous others on the channel, are perfect for sharing online.

I remember seeing some favourable reviews but, of course, the traditionalists hated it. I mean come on, the Sydney Opera House concert ended up being the most watched live-stream event ever, with 33 million views worldwide! That is nothing to scoff at.

To me, the point here isn’t that orchestras across the world need to abandon traditions and start incorporating digital technology into everything they do, they just need to do more to stay relevant. In this case, social media proved to be a perfect avenue for doing just that, thanks to its creative, collaborative, and participatory nature.

My assigned reading from the latest LIBR559 module (Hicks & Sinkinson, 2015) has me thinking about modern information landscapes and establishing learning spaces with affordances that encourage working, creativity, reflection, and collaboration.

On another note, I just got accepted at the University of Texas at Austin for a practicum in April, where I’ll be in the Fine Arts Library. Very excited about this.

So, for this post, I decided to apply some of the module’s information environment ideas to my first impressions of the library’s physical space and social media.

(Image taken from http://www.lib.utexas.edu/fal/about)

Of course, it is hard to gauge just from looking at a picture, but in terms of space, there are a few features that stand out to me.

Clearly, the first thing everyone sees is that awesome hanging piano. It sends an immediate message to the patron that this is a place of art, where one is encouraged to be creative and think outside the box.

There is also a great deal of openness, at least within the area pictured in the above photo. The ceilings are high and there are large windows along the walls that bathe the room in natural light. The shelves are very low in height, allowing one to take in the entire room and the people within it. This is quite different from the usual layout of stacks, with high shelves that compartmentalize spaces. Further, there is a sense of openness on the shelves themselves, where items are spaced out evenly along rows that face towards the user.

Another major part of modern information spaces is the learning tools that are offered, which I’m sure I will learn more about this when I get there and further explore the libraries services. Upon a quick inspection, I find the UT Libraries website layout quite appealing, and it is actually very similar to that of the UBC Library. They both use summon and appear to have a similar structure, although UT’s page fits nicely into one screen frame.

The Fine Arts Library also has a fantastic Twitter account. Use of images, embedded music streaming, and minimal use of text makes the page very engaging. Tweets focus on the local arts scene (this is Austin we are talking about, so no shortage there), including a bunch on SXSW lately.

So – just a first impression – but this library looks to me like it has built an engaging and effective learning environment both physically and digitally.

Reference

Hicks, A., & Sinkinson, C. (2015). Critical connections: personal learning environments and information literacy. Research In Learning Technology, 23.

I recently came across a social media report on the Music Library Association’s website and thought I would make it the subject of a blog post.

Links to the Report

MLA website

PDF

Highlights

The report describes the work of the MLA task force and its look at creating a social media strategy. According to the report, “the charge of the task force is to explore existing and emerging social media tools in order to develop a comprehensive plan for their utilization.” The report states that the resulting recommendations were due to the board in December 2013.

The main motivations for using social media are listed as “communication, education, outreach, and advocacy,” which supplement the goals of the association’s strategic plan.

The document identifies ideal social media channels, comparable organizations on social media, and background research. It concludes with a paragraph on strategies for moving forward, with some great ideas for effective online engagement and the requirements to put the plan in motion.

Personal Reflection

Getting an insider look at the MLA’s social media plan was very interesting for me. There is only one problem: despite the report calling for a 2013 submission, it doesn’t appear that much of this has come to fruition.

I found one of the most interesting points of the report to be its recommendation of which Facebook account to model:

I Fucking Love Science [https://www.facebook.com/IFeakingLoveScience]

This can be the model for the MLA Facebook page–over 5.5 million likes and for many it is the only science page with which they interact.

The MLA does have a Facebook page, but the similarities end there. I Fucking Love Science’s page submits up to ten posts each day and they have minimal text, attractive visuals, and catchy headlines. In contrast, MLA’s page has no cover photo, submits a post about two times per month on average, and posts content that has lengthy passages of text with no visuals.

Also, the association doesn’t appear to have a Twitter account, even though a bunch of great Twitter strategies are listed in the document. I did discover this account: @MLAplacement. It’s an absolutely fantastic resource for music librarians in the job market; however, it doesn’t do anything to encourage interaction with the association. Moreover, with only 251 followers at the time of this post, it seems to be largely under-promoted.

It is a bit of shame that there is so much untapped potential here. My guess is that the association probably lacks the time and financial resources to have one or more staff members constantly maintaining its social media presence. Regardless, I think the report would be a very useful reference point for any similar organization venturing into the social media landscape.

I’ve decided to give this blog a theme of music within the context of social media and librarianship. To kick it off, I figured I would use my first non-introductory post to take a look at the performance of three prominent North American academic music libraries on Twitter.

The Music and Performing Arts Library (MPAL) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) @mpalillinois

Out of the three accounts I explored, this was the first one to join Twitter (April 2009) and, with 681 followers at the time this post was written, is the least popular. Tweets occur several times per day on average and retweets are rare. The content of the postings is quite wide ranging; there are links to a variety of general music library related news stories, UIUC information, news related to the MPAL library itself, study tips, and so forth.

The Eda Kuhn Loeb Music Library at Harvard University @harvardmusiclib

The Leob Music Library’s account was created in October 2009 and has a decent following of 1,172 twitterers (is that a word?). The frequency of the tweets is slightly more sporadic than the MPAL account, as they appear to come in a flurry over a couple days each week. Another difference is this account’s reliance on retweeting to produce most of its content. There are original posts mixed in, but they are much fewer and far between. Like MPAL’s account, the Leob Music Library posts on a fairly broad range of topics. Most tweets are campus or library related, such as building closures, featured exhibits, collection news, and music events.

The Irving S. Gilmore Music Library at Yale University @yalemusiclib

The first thing I noticed on the Gilmore Music Library’s page is the absence of a background photo. With 2,242 followers, this deficiency doesn’t seem to be affecting their popularity too much. The Twitter account was created in September 2009, and I spotted one celebrity follower: Steve Reich (one of my favorite composers). This account was a little bit different from the others in that it does not appear to post any retweets. Also, while they do tweet approximately twice per day, each post either links to specific items in the collection or directs users to a [music library blog type page] that the university runs.

Personal Reflection

So what did I learn from this? Good question. Really, it is tough to gauge the true success of these accounts without knowing how much traffic they are driving to the websites of their respective libraries. Similarly, with followers, it is hard to judge any of the accounts without knowing how much time/effort/resources each of the libraries puts into their promotion. The next step would be to contact the librarians in charge to inquire further.

Something I did notice in all three accounts was very little interaction from users in the form of of favorites and retweets. I wonder if some of this might be due to a complete lack of hashtags in any tweets. In my opinion, this is a missed opportunity for an effective and easy way to reach a wider audience. Tweeting about new Stravinsky acquisitions? #stravinsky. Tweeting about the latest post in the library’s blog? #musicblog. etc.

Probably the most interesting aspect of my observation was the delivery of the tweets. There were some different approaches here, with the Gilmore Library being quite focused in its approach while the other two posted on a greater range of topics. Which method is the most effective very engaging in driving traffic? If I were tasked with running a library’s Twitter account, this is probably the first question I would address. Personally, I like MPAL’s approach: covering a large scope of relevant topics while keeping the messages more direct and personal by not relying too heavily on retweets.

I find social media extremely fascinating and that is part of the reason I am taking a course on it. Overall, I suppose I am very much a proponent of social media. I acknowledge that there are certainly negative aspects of it, the main one probably being how it can be a major distraction, but I often find myself arguing for it. I love the ability to be connected to a wide variety of people and ideas, both on a personal and professional level.

Here is a list of social media platforms that I either have used or still use in order of when I started using them:

Social media platforms that I no longer use

MSN Messenger: As far as I remember, the first social media platform I ever experienced was MSN Messenger, which is no longer in existence. I find that a lot of people kind of forget about this one and reference MySpace and Facebook as the platforms that really began the social media takeover, but this was huge for me all through my high school years. I really loved it because it was such a fun way to socialize with friends outside of school. Looking back, I really do think it complemented my social life rather than taking away potential face-to-face time.

MySpace: I was originally drawn to MySpace because it was the first social media service that allowed interaction with bands and other artists. Eventually I started using it to interact with friends in my social circle as well.

Nexopia: This was a fairly quick fad during my high school years. I think it was marketed as a platform similar to MySpace but for a younger age group. It looks like the website is still around; however, it has completely changed in the decade or so since I last used it.

Hi5: This was an even quicker fad during high school. I remember signing up for it but didn’t use it for long. It was another MySpace-type site that never really took off. I was actually surprised to see that it is still functioning.

Social media platforms that I still use

Facebook: I opened my Facebook page in 2007 and it quickly became my main social media tool. Because I was still pretty young at that time, I definitely had to do some “wall-cleaning” once I grew up a bit. As with many others I know, my usage of it has definitely receded in recent years, but I still find it useful for things like event planning. I do definitely keep my profile private.

Lookbook.nu: This is thought of as a fashion blog, but in my opinion it is really more of a social media site because the content is entirely user generated. Users submit photos of themselves in hip outfits and the photos that receive the most “hype” votes (similar to likes) rise to the top of the feed. Sadly but inevitably, it has slowly been infiltrated by corporate marketing, but I still go on it from time to time.

Instagram: This is definitely my favorite social media platform. I like it because it is not overly time consuming, and I have always enjoyed photography as a hobby.

Pinterest: Yes, I am part of the extreme minority of men who use Pinterest and yes, I used it mostly for wedding ideas. I do still interact with it occasionally, but not very often.

LinkedIn: I signed up for LinkedIn about a year ago after I heard from a few former MLIS students that it helped them get a job and was generally useful for networking. I just use it as an online resume that I update when it is necessary.

Twitter: I am still pretty new to Twitter. I previously sent out tweets for the men’s health network that I work for and finally got around to signing up for my own account just a few months ago. I am still figuring out how I feel about it.

Reflection

It is actually quite interesting to see just how involved I have been with social media since I began high school. I had not realized that until I really thought about all the platforms of have used and laid them all out here chronologically.