Blog Post 2: September 10

While reading the "Foreword" by Roger Angell, it was really nice to hear someone say that it is difficult to write even for professional writers. I have always found that inspiration for writing does not come easily. Often when I am writing it is perfectly described by the image Angell gives of E.B. White sitting down to type in his office. Either the words are few and far between, or I procrastinate until I am forced to just keep writing. The steps that he outlines for writing "Write in a way that comes naturally," "Revise and rewrite," "Do not explain too mush," and "Be clear" make it sound as if writing is so easy. I do agree though that the world we live in today does not help our writing very much. Most of us are now used to sending quick short emails, or even talking to people via text message which can be composed of just a few words. It is not very often that we have to sit down and write something formal. Our culture certainly does not help much in that aspect, but the 5 tips that he gives are excellent.

My first reaction when reading "Introduction" by E.B.White was that Professor Strunk would have a heart attack if he saw my writing. I ten to embellish my writing with unnecessary words and phrases. While Professor Strunk seems to be the very definition of grammar police, I think he is very right in his message. By cleansing the fluff out of our writing we can make our job as writers much easier. The writing will be a lot clearer and the purpose will be very evident. I do like the point that White makes at the end. He describes "the author's deep sympathy for the reader." I really like that he brings this up. I think if we keep the reader in mind while we write then there will be more solid content and less fluff in our writing. The reader should not have to hunt for the purpose of a writing, rather it should be obvious. Based on what White had to say, I think I could definitely learn a lot from Professor Strunk.

The first thing that struck me in the article by David Watt were the questions that he posed. The first questioned posed has to do with historians gossiping on the steps of a library. This made me realize that with the digitization of today's libraries people do not often bump into colleagues and students in libraries as often as before because they are likely searching resources from home. I am curious to know how many great scholars have run into each other in libraries in the past and as a result came up with groundbreaking theories and discoveries. Watt mentions later that when he was a student he would run into his professors in the library and as a result feel as if they were part of a common goal. I feel as if my professors and I are aiming for a common goal but often feel as if we are fighting it separately. When I was an undergrad it was always striking to me to run into the grad students in the library. They always seemed so much older and wiser, and yet we would be searching for the same recording or music. I would agree that this is a part of research that we miss out on today. The few occasions that I have run into faculty in the library has always been very fun. The other question that Watt posed that I can relate to is the one about skepticism, when the student asks if an author actually said something. It reminded me of something that I see passed around online from time to time. A quote by Abraham Lincoln "The problem with the internet is that you never know if it is actually true." This has always made me laugh, given that he obvious never said this at all. But at the same time I feel like I have to approach sources this way when researching. While there are always sources available on a topic, they may not always be the most accurate. I would agree with Watt that there are some problems with today's online libraries but at the same time it makes research far easier. I would love to see a day when all scholarly articles are available in one online database that any student can access. (Although I don't even want to begin to think how hard this would be to search.) Hopefully overtime we can find a balance between the positives and negatives of online libraries.

"How Streaming Media Could Threaten the Mission of Libraries" made a lot of excellent points that I had never considered. I am so used to buy CDs and record albums that I hadn't realized that some recordings are only released on digital media. If every company starts charging libraries the way that the LA Phil publishers wanted to charge the University of Washington's library then how will music libraries survive? As a musician I rely heavily on having access to numerous recordings of any one work. I understand that there are multiple outlets for finding these recordings, but the first place I always check is the University library. Surely companies have to realize that they need to find a way for libraries to have access to these resources at a reasonable cost. Licensing fees are good for when they are selling recordings to the general public but if all publishers are worried about is money then they might single handily kill music libraries in the future. I realize that I am likely preaching to the choir here but surely we can come up with a solution to this issue. We can only hope that publishers will realize the issue that they have created.

For my first bibliography I would like to focus on the early French school of saxophone performance and works written by Marcel Mule, and Jean-Marie Londeix. Mainly I will be focusing on the Paris Conservatory and how it established the saxophone as a legitimate classical instrument. Given that I play saxophone this is a very interesting topic to me. Marcel Mule began teaching at the Paris Conservatory in 1944 was the first saxophone professor at the Paris Conservatory after Adolphe Sax left in 1870. Jean-Marie Londeix studied with Marcel Mule at the Paris Conservatory and went on to become one of the leading performers on saxophone. Between the two hundreds of works have been commissioned for them for performance and each have produced numerous books and articles regarding saxophone performance. The IC library only has recordings of Marcel Mule but he published over a dozen books on saxophone performance. The library does, however, hold about 6 books by Jean-Marie Londeix on saxophone performance and literature. I will need to use ILL to obtain some of the necessary resources but there are definitely plenty to use.