FolkLib Index : Site Overview for First Time Visitors

          This page is for the first time visitor to the Folk Library Index. Once you are familiar with the information and services which are available in the Index, and described in detail below, for your return visits, you might like to use the main Home Page . It is an easy to use, short set of links to all the site features explained on this page.

          The Folk Library Index is an on-going attempt to index information on the World Wide Web that is related to the field of Folk Music. As an index, it consists primarily of links to other sites. * The all-text format is designed to make all pages Web accessible to users of all browsers and platforms, including LYNX, and screen readers for the blind and disabled.

* The Index maintains its own databases of birthdays, bibliographies, discographies, and Wisconsin Bluegrass Bands.

(content) = pages that include detailed information created for the Index and available here, and in most cases, not available anywhere else on the Web

          Most of the indexes relate to information about Musical Recording Artists and/or Performing Artists and Groups: home pages, discographies, itineraries, on-line articles and birthdays. In addition to the general alphabetical listings, there are separate indexes for artists in the following genres: Bluegrass and Old-Time Music, Acoustic Blues and Fingerstyle Acoustic Guitar. There are also pages devoted to special interests including Harp (the stringed kind) Players and everything related to Wisconsin Music and Musicians. Finally there is a separate index of 139 featured "FolkLib Index Artists and Groups" who have separate pages with detailed linking information, from home pages to lyrics.

          Many artist indexes on the Web list one Home Page for each artist or group. However, the Folk Library Index attempts to find and link to every official, unofficial, fan, record label, etc. artist/group Home Page that is known to exist on the Web.

          There are also indexes here of: festivals and venues, booking agencies and management firms, periodicals, record labels, societies, instrument info/sales, lyrics/chords/tabs **, and guitar tunings.

** There are no lyrics/chords/tabs here, but there are many links to sites with lyrics, chords and tablature.

          Thanks for visiting. Please see help if you have one or more Web links for an acoustic artist who is not listed, or a site with folk-related information in any of these categories.

          PS: If you wish to know more about this site, please read the July 14, 2001 interview of the Webmaster done by Peter Berryman at Whither Zither: August 2001.

CONTENTS

          Complete Domain Site Map - a list of every page at this domain, both music related, and otherwise

1. Artists

1. Alphabetical Index of Artist Pages - links to pages dedicated to individual artists and groups

2. Lists of Artist Home Pages - a list of sites that list home pages for multiple artists, organized by general lists, geographical lists and lists by genre, i.e., a list of lists

3. Special Interest Indexes - links to artist pages for the following specific categories:
   • Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Artists
     • Wisconsin Bluegrass Bands / Members (content) - the Index's ongoing research project to document all bands that ever existed in the state
     • Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Site Map - links to all Index pages related to Bluegrass and Old-Time Music
   • Acoustic Blues Artists - a few electric blues artists are listed, but the emphasis is acoustic
   • Fingerstyle Acoustic Guitarists - solo instrumentalists and composers
   • Folk / Celtic / Pedal Harpers and Harpists - soloists and groups which include a stringed harp
               Note: to avoid confusion, a harmonica is never called a harp at this site.
   • Wisconsin Artists (Folk) / (non-Folk) - special sections on another page list sites with lists of Classical, Country and Jazz musicians, but this is the only Index page that lists links for individual musicians and groups in every type of musical genre.
               Wisconsin Music Site Map - links to all Folk Library Index pages related to Wisconsin music and musicians
               Wisconsin Music Site Map (in Palm format) - specifically formatted for "AvantGo" and other similar Palm web browsers

   • Articles On-line Index - sites with articles by and/or about many different artists
   • Bibliography Index - sites that contain bibliographies of print sources and songbooks
   • Biography Index - sites with biography files for many different artists

4. Discographies
   • Discography Index - links to other discography indexes
   • Discographies - links to discography information by individual artists and groups
   • Wisconsin Discographies (content) - the Folk Library Index's list of over 2,100 recordings released by Wisconsin musicians in all musical genres:
               | Bluegrass | Blues | Classical | Country | Guitar | Jazz | Native |
               | Polka | Pop/Rock | Christmas | Gospel / Contemporary Christian |
   • "FolkLib Index: Wisconsin Discography" (the book) (content) - beginning in November 2002, I started preliminary work on a Wisconsin Discography which will list all recordings by current and/or former Wisconsin resident artists/groups in all musical genres that I can find from the LP era to date, and that have not been previously documented anywhere else in print. The book is due to be published in 2006.
   • My Discographies (content) - the Folk Library Index's list of recordings released by over 110 musicians, groups, magazines and record labels, including track lists
   • On-Site Discographies (content) - a list of all 200 discographies, both with and without track titles, which are part of the Folk Library Index, including the over 30 CD discographies by Bill Pringle which were installed in August 2001

5. Birthdays
   • The Birthdays Index - links to sites that have lists of famous people's birthdays and/or death dates
   • Birthdays/Bibliography (content) - the Folk Library Index's database of over 3,700 folk artists' birthdays, and detailed references for these artists found in books
   • Bibliography (content) - the Folk Library Index's database of over 270 books which contain detailed information about more than one musician

6. Artist Index Files - 139 separate pages for individual artists/groups with detailed links to on-line information including some or all of the following: home pages, discographies, bibliographies, lyrics, itineraries, FAQ's, etc.

2. Music

• Guitar Tunings - links to sites with guitar tunings for more than one guitarist
• Lyrics Index - links to indexes of lyrics, guitar chords and tablature sites
• Sound Files Index - links to indexes of sites offering MIDI, streaming audio and MP3's
• Video Files Index - links to indexes of sites offering video files
            Note: There are no lyrics, tablature, sound or video files at this domain.

3. Festivals, Venues and Itineraries

• Festivals - links to the home pages of acoustic music festivals held around the world, organized by location
            Old Time Music & Craft Festival: Past Performers Index (content) - list of performers at this Shawano, WI folk festival, 1979-date
• Itineraries/Venues - although Dirty Linen and Musi-Cal are the only sites that feature acoustic musicians regularly, this page links to all known general music sites that list concerts and venues for all types of music
            Wisconsin Concerts and Venues by City - a detailed list of large and small venues located throughout the state for all types of music

4. Groups and Associations - Real and On-line

• Societies - links to folk music societies, organized by location, and indexes of folk music societies
• Mailing List Index - links to indexes of folk-related on-line mailing lists (usually free)
• Usenet Newsgroup Index - links to lists of usenet groups
• Fan Club Index - links to indexes of fan club sites (for which there are usually membership dues)

5. Other

• Wisconsin Booking Agents / Management - links to Wisconsin based sites for folk music booking agencies and management firms
• FAQ Index (Frequently Asked Questions) - links to indexes of Folk Music FAQ's
• Film Credits - links to databases where you can find folk artist appearances and song credits in films
• Folk Music Periodicals - links to acoustic music periodicals
• Picture Files Index - links to indexes of sites with photographs of folk musicians
• Record Labels - links to label sites and indexes of label sites
• Copyrights - links to sites with mostly music related copyright and trademark information

• On-line Ordering: (see the "Orders" section of many Artist Pages and most of the FolkLib Artist Index Files).

• Acknowledgments - links to pages at this site results in links back to your site
• Sources - other than books and the Web for artist birthday details
• Known links to this page - a list of sites that link to the Folk Library Index Home Page. Similar 'Thanks for the link" site lists can be found on most other Index pages.
• This Site's FAQ - answers many of your questions about this site
• Web Accessibility information - includes links to sites with very helpful suggestions, guidelines and page evaluators, so it will not look like your site is deliberately discriminating against the blind and disabled
• Help - by sending additions/corrections for the Index
• What's New? - major changes, if any, made to the Index and installed during the weekly late Sunday night upload

• ExecPC to /www.folklib.net/ Conversion Page - The Index was located at my previous execpc.com ISP account from 11-25-1995 to 7-04-2000. This page lists major changes made to the old pages during the move to this domain.

• FolkBook to folkmusic.org Conversion Page - In 1995, the Index was affiliated with a Folk Music site called FolkBook. FolkBook went off-line in March 1998. This page lists what happened to every page that used to be at FolkBook.

6. Non-Folk Music pages also maintained at this domain, or at other sites by the author

• My former UW Oshkosh Home Page - Links for various topics: Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Computers, Hardware/Software, Web Tools and Search Engines, useful Lookup information sites, Retirement, Star Trek, etc. - Site Map

• Acronyms at UW Oshkosh and Beyond [As I retired on 08-30-2002, I can no longer maintain this page. If you have additions and/or corrections for this page, please write to UW Oshkosh Academic Computing.]
            However, effective 04-06-2003, this page has been installed here, all broken links have been fixed, and it will continue to be maintained here:
            Acronyms at UW Oshkosh and Beyond

• UW Oshkosh: A Celebration of Scholarship

• First Congregational Church of Oshkosh, WI at ForMinistry.com [01-22-2000 - 03-14-2002] - What's New [since 01-22-2000]

• Philatelic Links - links about Stamp Collecting

7. In print articles written by others about the Folk Library Index and articles written by its Webmaster can be found on the Index related articles page.

          Please report broken links using the MAILTO link at the bottom of every page. If it is known, or if you can find out what it is, also include the page's new URL address, as well as the URL of the page where you found the broken link. I hope the Folk Library Index proves useful to you in some way. Thanks for visiting the Folk Library Index.

          Hugh Blumenfeld had the original idea for, and created the first draft of, this introductory page for First Time Visitors. His voluntary assistance in making the Folk Library Index a better place to visit is greatly appreciated. Thank you, Hugh.

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