FAQ
This FAQ list was compiled on the basis of questions sent to the DIAMM team since 1998.
Website Usage and Functions
I have an account. How do I log in?
To log in, please click on the 'MyDIAMM' tab at the top of the page, underneath the logo.
How do I see the full-sized images?
You must be logged in to see the full-sized images. If you do not have an account you can create one within a couple of minutes by completing the information on the Register page. Account details will be sent to you by e-mail, so you must have an e-mail account to register, and access to your e-mail as your password will be sent to that account. Once you are logged in you can use the search function to find manuscripts that have images available or, if you know which manuscript you want to view, you can go there using the Browse menus. Once you reach the source description page you will see a ‘tab’ entitled ‘Images’. Under this tab you will find thumbnails for all images associated with the manuscript. Clicking on a thumbnail will load the image viewer with the full-sized image. Note: if you are not logged in the thumbnails do not become live links: the link only works once you are logged in.
Why can’t I see the full-sized images when I click on a thumbnail, even if I'm logged in?
Make sure you have the correct version of the Flash plugin for your browser. You can download that here.
Nothing seems to work right. I keep getting error messages.
Some browsers work better with the website than others. You could try using a different browser if you are using one that is not very common.
Please also make sure that you are using the most recent version of your browser.
Internet Explorer for Macintosh is not supported.
The website may be undergoing a technical upgrade or an upload. Try visiting again later.
If the error persists you should report it to the project manager, but please include the following information:
- Your operating system
- Your browser software, including version number if possible
- What you did to cause the error (i.e. which link you clicked on, or which search you performed).
- If possible include the URL of the page
- If possible, cut and paste the http error information into your e-mail.
If are having technical trouble, please try to use the Feedback Form. If this is impossible, please email the Project Manager.
How can I let other scholars know that I am working on a particular manuscript?
You can use the Public Comments tool to indicate to other users the images that you are working on or that you are interested in. You may include your contact details in the comment so that people can get in touch with you if they wish. To foil spam e-mail harvesters we advise that you replace the ‘@’ sign in your e-mail address with ‘[at]’.
How can I contact other scholars who may be working on the same repertory as me?
You can use the Public Comments tool to indicate to other users the images that you are working on or that you are interested in and ask them to contact you. You may include your contact details in the comment. To foil spam e-mail harvesters we advise that you replace the ‘@’ sign in your e-mail address with ‘[at]’.
I want to put my digital collection online and have been looking at your delivery mechanism. Can I buy the software to create my own collection using your methods?
The delivery system used for DIAMM was custom-designed for us, and cannot currently be bought as a software package (although it is all open-source). It involved several years of technical development and considerable cost. However you can contact our design and technical team and they will be happy to discuss your needs and what would be necessary to adapt the DIAMM model to your needs, since it was built with a transferable end-use in mind. Since the framework is now designed, other projects would not be faced with the enormous cost of developing this from scratch, and we welcome interest from other projects or institutions in using this delivery system with other collections. Please contact Paul Vetch, our technical consultant at the Centre for Computing in the Humanities at King's College, London on paul.vetch[at]kcl.ac.uk
How do I ask DIAMM to take pictures of manuscripts for me or anything else?
DIAMM offers an extensive array of consulting services for hire by anyone. Please see our services section for more information.
I do not have access to the internet. Will I be able to use the website?
Probably not. If you can gain access to the internet you will be able to use the website and, indeed, read this answer.
Registration and Your MyDIAMM account
Do I have to be employed in a University to register?
No, anyone can register to use the site and view the images.
Is it possible for my institution to obtain an institutional IP address to register anyone within our IP range for use of the website?
Use of the features associated with image browsing is dependent on individual login. Users cannot create a personalised workspace unless they have a personal login. Since creating a user account is so quick, this should not be a problem for the members of your institution.
One advantage of individual user accounts is to ensure that anyone entering spurious material in the public comments or transcriptions fields is identified. This helps to avoid spam, pornography and other undesirable material from appearing on the website.
I’m not affiliated with any institution: can I still register to use the website?
Anyone can register to use the site and view the images. You do not have to be an academic, employed, or a musician to use and appreciate the content.
I am not a musician or a medievalist, can I register to use the website?
Anyone can register to use the site and view the images. You do not have to be an academic, employed, or a musician to use and appreciate the content.
The Information in the Archive
I can’t find the manuscript I’m looking for, even though I know it is in the relevant library, archive, private collection.
Assuming there is no error in your information about the library, or that the shelf mark has not been changed, the most common reason for this is that the manuscript falls outside the date or musical parameters that define this project:
- We do not list any plainchant manuscripts: DIAMM contains (at present) only sources of polyphonic music.
- The manuscript you are looking for may fall outside the dates of the project. At the moment, although there is some flexibility, we cut off at about 1550.
- It may be possible that you are actually looking for a printed book, not a manuscript. One of the reasons for the 1550 cutoff date is that from 1500 onwards music was increasingly reproduced in print, and multiple copies of these types of book survive, making them easier to access in person.
The final reason why a manuscript may not be listed is that we do not know about it. If you think the manuscript in question is one that we should list as it contains polyphony and falls within the remit of the project, then please contact us and let us know about the book so that we can add it to the database. Your contribution in bringing it to our notice will be publicly acknowledged.
I want to find all the works of a particular composer: how do I do this?
Unfortunately we don’t have inventories that would allow you to do this yet, but these should be brought online during 2010-2011. If a manuscript is listed in the Census Catalogue (CCM) this lists the names of composers represented in the manuscript. This information is stored in the Source Description field, and you may be able to find most of the relevant manuscripts by entering the name of the composer you wish to find in the Source Description free text field on the Search page.
How do I find out which pages in a manuscript have the pieces that I want?
Unfortunately we don’t have inventories yet, but these should be brought online during 2010-2011. You could look through the RISM pages until you get to the inventory section IF the MS is listed in RISM. Unfortunately if it’s only listed in CCM you’re not likely to find what you want yet, but we’re working on it. Sometimes the prose description lists specific composers or pieces along with folio numbers, so check that too.
What does [pr. bk.] mean, preceding some shelf marks?
Printed book. This is usually a book of printed music with additions by hand. Sometimes there is no music in the book except those items added by hand.
Why are there no pictures available for the manuscript that I’m interested in?
We haven’t photographed it yet (or had it photographed for us).
DIAMM lists all the known manuscripts of Medieval Music in the world. There are over 3100 manuscripts in the database so far and this number grows constantly. We only have pictures for some of these sources; since starting in 1998 we have only had the finances available to negotiate rights and travel to photograph documents for about 6 months in total. The images we have represent this work, which was spread over about 5 years. We concentrated first on obtaining pictures of fragments, since these are sources that are most neglected. Most individuals would not consider it cost-effective to visit a library just to see one leaf of music, whereas to travel in order to see a whole manuscript is more worthwhile.
Having photographed the fragments on our primary list we added some of the more important complete manuscripts, and have obtained as many further items as possible within the limitations of our funding.
There are a small number of important sources that have been photographed by DIAMM, but for which we were unable at the time to obtain the additional permission needed to make these images available on the website. We are currently negotiating with these libraries to extend the permission to allow web-delivery, and these images will be brought online as soon as possible.
If you have a request for a particular manuscript, please let the project manager or research assistant know, and we will put this on our priority list if funding for further digitization becomes available. You could also subscribe to our RSS news page, which will inform you when any new material is added to the online collection. You may be able to obtain a grant to have digital images made by a library, or to have DIAMM travel to the library and make them for you. If you are considering this course please contact DIAMM before ordering the images for advice on how to ensure you get images of suitable quality, or visit our Services page for information on preparing a grant application in conjunction with DIAMM.
Are there plans to digitize the manuscripts that are not included in the collection yet?
Yes, but digitization work is costly, and DIAMM does not have a regular income that can pay for this activity. We are currently without funding to create new digital images, but through various collaborations with institutions and with individual scholars we are making grant applications to obtain digital images of specific collections that will then be made available through the site.
If you have a request for a particular manuscript, please let the project manager or research assistant know, and we will put this on our priority list if funding for further digitization becomes available. You could also subscribe to our RSS news page, which will inform you when any new material is added to the online collection. You may be able to obtain a grant to have digital images made by a library, or to have DIAMM travel to the library and make them for you. If you are considering this course please contact DIAMM before ordering the images for advice on how to ensure you get images of suitable quality, or visit our Services page for information on preparing a grant application in conjunction with DIAMM.
I have digital images of a manuscript that you do not have: can I donate them to the online collection?
If you own the rights in the images we would be very grateful to receive them to add to our online collection if they are of suitable quality for online presentation. If you are not the owner of the document you, or DIAMM, would need to check that there would be no rights issues raised by donating them to DIAMM. Please contact the Project Manager for further details.
I am a collection holder and would like to have my manuscripts photographed by DIAMM. How can I arrange this?
DIAMM is available for digitization work on a consultancy basis. You can find details of our consultancy availability on this page. DIAMM is available to digitize, or advise on the digitization of any document collection; it does not have to be medieval, manuscript or music.
I have done research on a manuscript but it is not published. However, the information I have is more up-to-date than that on the DIAMM website. What should I do?
Assuming you are willing to share your information, we would be very grateful to receive a copy of any work you have done on any manuscript source. The information will be added to the website with full credit given to the author. Since this material is thus ‘published’ online it will count as a research output for you. If you subsequently publish the material elsewhere you should inform the publisher in advance that it already appears in some form on the DIAMM website.
Does DIAMM only digitize music, or only medieval manuscripts?
DIAMM will digitize just about anything (as long as it is not illegal, pornographic, copyright or for any other nefarious purpose). We prefer our objects to be flat (books, pictures, maps etc.), but apart from that we are able to digitize most items and most types of collection. If we feel our approach is not suitable for your collection we will pass you on to other experts in the appropriate fields. For more information about hiring DIAMM to undertake digitization work for you, please see the Services page.
The music looks very different from the music I usually play/sing. How can I learn how to understand this notation?
There are two books that describe how Medieval Music notation works: Apel, Willi: The Notation of Polyphonic Music 900-1600 (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1942. (4th ed., 1949)) – this may not be in print, but is available from most libraries that have a (classical) music section. Rastall, Richard: The Notation of Western Music: an introduction (St Martin’s Press, New York, 1982)
If you are looking for a historical introduction to Medieval Music the following is recommended: Hoppin, Richard H: Medieval Music (New York: W. W. Norton, 1978)
I’m interested in researching my family history. Where can I find out about them?
DIAMM contains no information about family history. This is a resource for studying Medieval Music Manuscripts. By searching you may find a name or names that seem relevant to you, but there is no genealogical information created from these names.
Copyright and permission for use
Why can’t I download the images?
DIAMM delivers images via a complex web-delivery system. The images are not owned by DIAMM, but are available online through us thanks to rights agreements with the owning institutions, and this rights agreement prohibits the free download of images. DIAMM does not have permission to sell or give away any of these images, since we are not the copyright holder. More details about this can be found on the Rights Protection page. If you wish to obtain personal copies of images that you have seen on the DIAMM website you need to contact the library that owns them. Clicking on the library name in any view will take you to the library contact details.
I want to show pictures from the website in a lecture/presentation. Will I be infringing copyright or breaching my access agreement?
The Website Access Agreement is clear that the images may only be used for research or non-commercial reasons. Since teaching falls under this category you may show any page from the DIAMM website either as a screenshot or live during a lecture.
I want to publish an article using images from the DIAMM website. How can I get permission?
If you wish to obtain print-quality copies of images that you have seen on the DIAMM website you need to contact the library that owns them to obtain permission. For publications you (or your publisher) may have to pay a reproduction rights fee, although this is usually waived for academic (i.e. non-profit) publications. Clicking on the library name in any view will take you to the library contact details. Make sure that you give the accurate information about which image(s) you require as it is extremely frustrating for libraries if they are simply given the name of a piece. You must supply the correct, complete shelf-mark for the manuscript, and the exact folio number(s) of the images you require: this is found in the text displayed beneath the images.
I want to get copies of the original images that I have seen on the website. How can I get them?
If you wish to obtain copies of images that you have seen on the DIAMM website you need to contact the library that owns them to obtain permission. You will need to specify the size/quality of the image you want. Remember that web-sized images are unsuitable for printing. If you ask for the full-sized images you will need image-processing software such as Photoshop or PaintShop Pro to open them. Clicking on the library name in any view will take you to the library contact details. Make sure that you give the accurate information about which image(s) you require as it is extremely frustrating for libraries if they are simply given the name of a piece. You must supply the correct, complete shelf-mark for the manuscript, and the exact folio number(s) of the images you require: this is found in the text displayed beneath the images.
I am a collection holder and would like to have my digital images included in the DIAMM collection. Will I have to pay to have them included?
There is no currently charge for adding your images of music manuscripts to the DIAMM collection. Our delivery mechanism was built to handle as many images as we can put into it, and the success of the site is largely dependent on its content. We are therefore more than happy to include digital images from other collections, provided there is no copyright issue.
If your collection is of non-musical items we may also be able to deliver the images. For a small number of images there would be no charge, but for collections of significant size we may need to acquire more server space, and that additional cost would have to be met by the depositor. Please contact us if you would like more information about this service.