Our+Digital+Library

 =About our Library = The overall theme of our Digital Library is Mary Poppins: Her Creator, Her Character and Her Influence. In order for users to expand their knowledge of the infamous nanny, we’ve included the original storybooks that made her famous, biographies of her creator, P.L. Travers, and a selection of music by composers inspired by the original soundtrack. Our comprehensive collection includes: Audio Books, DVD’s, Music CD’s, Storybooks, Biographies, Criticisms, and Sheet Music. Materials were selected based on their relation to the character and how best they represented the many different spectrums of Mary Poppins’ influence. The original storybooks introduce readers to the “original” Mary Poppins. The motion picture allows users to recognize Mary Poppins in “familiar territory”. The film has been translated and screened around the world and we recognized that most of our ‘digital library patrons’ will remember Mary Poppins in this format. Additionally, these two elements help to bridge the gap between those who know and love Mary Poppins the storybook character and Mary Poppins the film character. To further expand our collection we’ve included multiple variations of the music that accompanied the film and the broad way musical. Most are well known pieces but some of our guests will be surprised at the musicians that have performed these works. The contrasting styles of the recording artists help to display the wide-reaching impact of the Mary Poppins phenomena. To complement the audio music formats, we’ve also added sheet music. The far reaching popularity of the film’s musical pieces made the exclusion of this item impossible. We know that many musicians are interested to find the authoritative compositions from Disney’s work. Biographies of P.L. Travers are essential reads for those who wish to understand the underlying social messages conveyed in the Mary Poppins books. They also give a glimpse into the author’s psyche and her many different intentions when she first introduced the world to our favorite nanny. The inclusion of a criticism about the many layers (and there are many!) of Mary Poppins’ character help to reveal the depth the original books reach in their comments of Victorian and Edwardian England. The work also assists readers with the understanding the social and political climate of the time. With regards to our choice of metadata, standard library and retail forms were used in order to accommodate the needs of all of our patrons. ISBN’s were chosen because much of the material we’ve included is readily available for purchase at a number of different retailers. Many online retail establishments (including Amazon.com) allow purchasers to search by ISBN. Digital Images were added so that users could recognize (or be introduced to!) the photographs and illustrations that appear on the various resources. They also give the user immediate gratification in understanding what kind of formats the resources are available in. For those who wish to find these materials in their local library, the use of bibliographies should make this process relatively easy. And to please the librarians and cataloguers that visit our site, we’ve included detailed MARC records. = We hope your visit to our page is just as interesting and pleasant as a stroll down Cherry Tree Lane! =