The Performing Arts Librarian at Chapman University incorporated open access archives into his Music Information Literacy course in order to accomplish several learning objectives: a) introducing students to using primary sources like music manuscripts and correspondence; b) creating an opportunity to discuss information privilege; and c) introducing students to open access resources that provide opportunity for anyone to participate in music scholarship regardless of location or institutional affiliation (or lack thereof). This discussion takes inspiration from the “Information Has Value” frame from the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, specifically related to the knowledge practice to “recognize issues of access or lack of access to information sources” and the disposition to “examine their own information privilege.” In class, students discover digital archives such as universities’ institutional repositories and open access digitized archival collections (including Chapman’s own), digital archives through other organizations (e.g., Library of Congress, Beethoven-Haus), and portals to find these collections, such as Digital Resources for Musicology and the Open Music Library. Students then complete an assignment outside of class in which they engage with and describe digital archival materials. This poster will provide a method by which music librarians can discover new methods to incorporate primary sources into music information literacy instruction, as well as engage with the ACRL Framework’s concept of analyzing information privilege.
