For example, to receive notice of all new Jazz CDs I would:

Log into My MIDCAT
Click on MIDCAT to search the catalog
Choose a format, like Music Recordings (in Advanced Search I may choose other parameters – like language, publication years, etc.)
Enter search term in a keyword box, e.g. Jazz
Submit search – it will bring up every Jazz item we have currently in that format
Click “Save As Preferred Search”
Go back to my “Patron Record” and click on “Preferred Searches”
Check the “Mark for Email” box

I will now receive an email notice for any new materials that match those search parameters. Check out the LIS Wiki page for more information about setting up or adjusting MIDCAT search alerts.

Tip: Want to get notifications about ALL of a particular material type (not just things matching a certain genre or keyword)? Use an asterisk (*) as your search term!  E.g. to find all DVDs (in order to set up a search alert for all new DVDs) perform an Advanced Search for Any field = * and limit to Material type = DVDs.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me here in the comments, or to contact a Librarian at x5496 or via email at Ask-A-Librarian.

Hit me, drummer, and pass the envelopes…

CLASSICAL
5. Sonatas and partitas for solo violin / Bach (CD 15478)
4. Rite of spring / Stravinsky (CD 13021)
3. Spanish guitar favorites / John Williams (CD 16760)
2. Complete works for solo piano / Ravel (CD 2699)
and the winner is…

1. Masters Of The Piano Roll: Debussy Plays Debussy (CD 14359)

This last disc is a fascinating document. It consists of early piano rolls, including several made by Debussy himself, newly re-recorded on a high-tech reproducing piano. It provides a wonderful glimpse into what some of the most highly regarded performers of the early 20th-century actually sounded like, without the poor sonics that mar most recordings from that era.

JAZZ
5. Possibilities / Herbie Hancock (CD 15871)
4. Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall (CD 15170)
3. The Cellar Door sessions 1970 / Miles Davis (CD 15321)
2. Seven Steps: The complete Columbia recordings, 1963-1964 / Miles Davis (CD 14602)
and the winner is…

1. Kind of Blue / Miles Davis (CD 11741)

Not much to say about this one, really. If you love jazz, you probably already love it. If you don’t know anything about jazz, but want to learn, this is a good place to start, with memorable themes and world-class improvisers. A true desert island disc for a lot of us.

If you want to explore this recording in-depth, check out these 2 books…

ROCK/POP
5. Garden State: Music from the motion picture (CD 14128)
4. Blonde on blonde / Bob Dylan (CD 7927)
3. Begin to hope / Regina Spektor (CD 16125)
2. Chutes too narrow / The Shins (CD 14177)
and our final number 1…

1. In yo’ face, vol. 1 (CD 11581 v.1)

It does my middle-aged heart good to see a slice of old-school funk take the top spot. Great great stuff here – James Brown, Sly, Curtis Mayfield, Parliament, Charles Wright… If you like this, check out the other volumes in the series. Also, the anthology What It Is (CD 16166) is another stellar, maybe even superior, package.