Warp, Weft, and Waffle: Weaving Information Literacy into an Undergraduate Music Curriculum

I have had the privilege of working with bibliographic instruction and information literacy at St. Olaf College for more than twenty years. ¹ As a liberal arts college, our institution has always been committed to the concept of lifelong learning. Add a large music department with a particularly strong performance component to this mix, however, and it can create an interesting combination—something we often call "healthy tension." St. Olaf College also has a time-honored program of course- integrated, sequential library instruction, ² and that approach to instruction is the focus of this article.

Just what does course-integrated, sequential library instruction mean? It means that we work with existing courses and scheduled course time, collaborating with the faculty, to weave the library and the concept of information literacy into the course content with which students are presented. We accomplish this with specific assignments that build upon the knowledge and skills that students gain from semester to semester. And we do it again, and again, and again. Any good librarian knows one does not learn everything one needs to know about information in kindergarten; likewise, as musicians might phrase it, practice is one good way to get to perfect.

This process of "weaving" the library with the music curriculum demands that sometimes the thread of information literacy goes one direction, sometimes another, and sometimes we cannot decide so we simply waffle. ³ It is an ever-changing, organic process—one influenced by the healthy pressures created by changes in the curriculum, the faculty, the technology we use, and the information we want the students to master.

The underlying philosophy of St. Olaf's program of sequential, course-integrated library instruction has been strikingly consistent over the years. Based upon the model Evan Farber set for library education at Earlham College, our program has always relied upon the premise that students need to not only locate information but also understand the strategy behind their research and, very importantly, be able to evaluate the information they uncover. During the past two decades, technology has made it easier for students to locate information, but often more difficult for them to navigate the abundance of information they encounter to determine what is relevant and worthwhile in their research process.

Pros and Cons

When considering any course-integrated instruction program, we need to acknowledge the significant pros and cons that inevitably accompany the endeavor. One of the most daunting challenges is the initiative and energy required. Librarians must be more proactive in their approach to user education, and that can take much more energy than simply waiting for questions to come to the reference desk. ⁴ I am convinced that course-integrated library instruction is some of the most difficult teaching one can do: librarians visit pre-existing class environments, are always being observed by peers, ⁵ frequently encounter low student motivation, and often wait years for positive student feedback. And building a program within the curriculum is a slow process, often taking years if not decades to accomplish.

At the same time, there are important advantages to such a program. First, and probably most interesting to our administrations, it is cost effective. Many students can be reached in one class period, saving expensive individual reference service for more complex and well-prepared questions. Librarians are also able to reach students who may not come into the library when reference service is available. Second, the program has had a positive effect on collection development, from both library and teaching faculty perspectives. Because I, as music librarian, am better aware of general course content and upcoming assignments, I can better anticipate needs for the collection in tandem with curricular demands and changes. Third, the program leads to much more interesting reference questions. Students receive basic information for the assignment through course presentations and bibliographies, allowing librarians to focus the precious individual reference experience on questions that have been...