Sunday, March 19, 2017

Open Biblio: looking for books at the touch of a button!

Schools and libraries have a lot of special resources. Today we focus especially on libraries. A library is like the lungs to the rest of the human body. It keeps the school ‘breathing’. On the other hand, in today’s world nobody is prepared to waste precious minutes looking for information unless it is available at the touch of a button! Many people would like to have an update about the latest books available, or look for books available under a specific subject or area.
Today we are presenting OpenBiblio. Its features features include an online public access catalogue (OPAC), circulation, cataloguing, and staff administration. Operating System: OS Independent ie it works in any operating system!
More information about OpenBiblio: 



Sunday, March 5, 2017

Impro-Visor: a music notation tool


Music is part and parcel of education. Many people carry lots of songs on their mobile phone. Others go jogging with both ears having earphones attached. Maybe teachers and students would like to add more music to the school but sometimes you get one really great line or phrase for a song, but just can't get the rest. The Impro-Visor can help you finish your composition by suggesting improvisations and solos built on your theme. It's also a valuable educational tool for aspiring jazz musicians.

The objective is to improve understanding of solo construction and tune chord changes. There are other, secondary, things it can do, such as improvise on its own. It has also been used for transcription. Because rhythm-section (e.g. piano, bass, drums) accompaniment is automatically generated from chords, Impro-Visor can be used as a play-along device. Now having a wider array of accompaniment styles, its use is not limited to jazz.

It is free, open source and available for Windows, Linux and Mac. If you would like to download it, go here. Maybe you would like some tutorials. Other people might ask: with so many programs which deal with music, is there a place for another one? Well in this link, here the advantages of using Impro-Visor. Teacher who might query about its use in the classroom may visit this page.