warp, weft, and waffle: weaving information literacy into an undergraduate music curriculum

Warp, Weft, and Waffle: Weaving Information Literacy into an Undergraduate MusicCurriculumAuthor(s): Beth ChristensenSource: Notes, Second Series, Vol. 60, No. 3 (Mar., 2004), pp. 616-631Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4487196 .

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WARP, WEFT, AND WAFFLE: WEAVING INFORMATION LITERACY INTO

AN UNDERGRADUATE MUSIC CURRICULUM BY BETH CHRISTENSEN

I have had the privilege of working with bibliographic instruction and information literacy at St. Olaf College for more than twenty years.' As a liberal arts college, our institution has always been committed to the con-

cept 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 kinder-

Beth Christensen is music librarian at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota. This article is a revision of a paper presented at the Continuing Education Workshop: Information Literacy at the Music Library Association annual meeting in Austin, Texas, 12 February 2003.

1. St. Olaf College is an undergraduate liberal arts college of approximately 3,000 students, offering both B.A. and B.M. music majors. In 2002-3, 300 students declared themselves music majors, 1,000 students participated in musical organizations, and 800 students registered for weekly applied music lessons.

2. In 1977, St. Olaf College received a five-year grant from the National Endowment for the Hu- manities and the Council on Library Resources for the purpose of establishing a program of bibliographic instruction. Our program is modeled after the program of sequential, course-integrated instruction at Earlham College, and Evan Farber and Tom Kirk served as consultants for the initial grant. Although some components of the program have changed significantly during the past twenty-six years, the underlying principles and goals have remained remarkably constant. The St. Olaf program has been cogently summarized in a master's level student paper by Kasia Gonnerman (reference librarian at St. Olaf College) entitled, "Bibliographic Instruction: Transformation, Successes and Challenges, and Assessment" (2003). Elizabeth O. Hutchins, Barbara Fister, and Kris (Huber) MacPherson also outline the development and sustainability of such a program in "Changing Landscapes, Enduring Values: Making the Transition from Bibliographic Instruction to Information Literacy," in Journal of Library Administration 36 (2002): 3-19. Since the grant's conclusion in 1982, instruction has been a regular component of job descriptions for most public services librarians.

616



Weaving Information Literacy into an Undergraduate Music Curriculum 617

garten; 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 de-

mands that sometimes the thread of information literacy goes one direc- tion, 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 accom-

pany 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 con- vinced 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 build-

ing a program within the curriculum is a slow process, often taking years if not decades to accomplish.

3. In weaving, warp refers to a series of threads or yarns that extend lengthwise, weft refers to the thread or yarn that crosses the warp, and waffle is a type of weave.

4. As is later noted, however, it also has the distinct and cost-effective advantage of being able to de- scribe skills and resources useful to the entire class just one time rather than providing time-intensive individual attention needed for students seeking one-on-one reference assistance. It also assures that more students have contact with the instructing librarian, a positive benefit for branch libraries that may not be fully staffed with professional reference help during open hours.

5. We strongly encourage the teaching faculty to remain in the classroom during any instruction ses- sion. This helps to emphasize the importance of information literacy, and it allows the librarian and teaching faculty to better act as partners in presenting class assignments.



618 NOTES, March 2004

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 prepared and researched ahead of time. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the library is perceived as being integral to what it means to be a musician. Thinking critically about music is a real goal, whether in choosing a score, selecting a recording, or finding critical works written about music.

THE ST. OLAF PROGRAM

One of the most stable areas of the St. Olaf program is the series of as-

signments that students encounter in music history courses. Our students must take introductory music theory during their first year (100- level courses), two required semesters of a music history survey during their sophomore year (200-level courses), and several additional period history courses during their junior and senior years (300-level courses- how many depends upon the area of emphasis or major track). Similar

sequences in music history exist at many institutions, so our general approach could be applied in other settings.

The chart in appendix 1 describes what we strive to accomplish in these classes. Several sample assignments are provided in appendix 2. I will highlight facets of the program without describing the entire se-

quence in detail. I would like to begin, however, by putting this sequence within the context of four stages of epistemological development as de- fined by Ethelene Whitmire, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, School of Library and Information Studies (see fig. 1). Our goal is to get students solidly to the fourth step by the time they graduate.

The first step, absolute knowing, is one that many of us encounter with

first-year students. Students believe what they read, assume that authors




are correct, and trust that there is one "truth." In the second step, transitional knowing, students begin to get an inkling that not everything is

completely trustworthy. This often leads to independent knowing, during which students do not believe in or trust anything-which, it is hoped, will be followed by contextual knowing, in which they realize that they need to evaluate and base all knowledge on context.6 Many of our assignments, ultimately, stress the importance of this context.

1. Absolute knowing 2. Transitional knowing 3. Independent knowing 4. Contextual knowing

Fig. 1. Four stages of epistemological development7

Assignments

During the students' first year our goals are minimal but important. We want students to know that the library exists, that music information is complicated (and it is not their fault), and, finally, that those of us in the music library are nice people who want to help, who realize that

nothing else we do matters unless they, as patrons, are connected to the materials they desire.

In their sophomore year students encounter three assignments-two during the first semester, and one during the second semester. The first

assignment is a fairly typical bibliographical exploration and search as-

signment. (We are not completely happy with this approach, but have yet to find a better way for students to examine a small set of prescribed information.) Students learn how to approach and examine a limited number of reference sources as they answer a guided series of questions and then find answers to general questions. This assignment is presented as something that will help them find literature, write program notes, and be prepared for the fun of "real" research in music history, which

they encounter about a month later in their second assignment of the semester.

This second assignment, for Music 241 (see appendix 2, Music 241), is a favorite that we have used for years. Students are required to select a

6. Courtesy of Ethelene Whitmire. Presented at Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota, on 23 January 2003. Currently in press in E. Whitmire, "The Relationship between Undergraduates' Epistemological Reflection, Reflective Judgment, and Their Information Seeking Behavior," Information Processing & Management (forthcoming), and E. Whitmire, "Epistemological Beliefs and the Information- Seeking Behavior of Undergraduates," Library & Information Science Research (forthcoming).

7. Ibid.




composition written before 1700, find an authoritative score and recording, create a fictional account of having attended the premiere (or a

contemporaneous) performance of the work, and complete a musical

analysis. Students are expected to incorporate materials from the general library as well as the music library as they investigate the social, political, and artistic contexts within which the work was composed.

The third assignment of the sophomore year (see appendix 2, Music 242) is completed during the second semester. Students must select a composition written between the years 1760 and 1840, find a criticism of the work written before 1940 and one written after 1960, and compare and contrast the viewpoints of these criticisms before creating their own detailed analysis of the work. This assignment can be challenging given the limits of an undergraduate collection (especially finding pre-1940 criticism), but the concept of context is always stressed. Students learn that criticism and reception history, as well as the creative process and the composition itself, are all a part of context and bias.

During their junior and senior years, student assignments reinforce and build upon what was learned during the first two years. (See appendix 2 for sample assignments for Music 344 and 345.) With each assignment, students encounter new subject-specific resources appropriate to the music being studied, and often learn to use familiar tools in previ- ously unexplored, more sophisticated ways. RILM Abstracts of Music Literature and the International Index to Music Periodicals are usually introduced at this level.8

Students are expected to use as much of the entire "flow of information" as is practical as they devise search strategies for their topics, and think consciously about how to approach information. (An example of the "flow of information" for contemporary music is shown in figure 2.)

We hope that students will understand how information flows from the composer's initial ideas to become a composition that is performed, reviewed, studied, and otherwise written about-and how they, in turn, can follow that flow from whatever stage to which the work has evolved (e.g., general overviews in encyclopedias or, in the case of very recent or less well-known works, perhaps periodical articles or reviews) up the chart as far as is practical. The many positive attributes of bibliographies are discussed, including in what sources they will most likely be con- tained and how they can be used for evaluation as well as location de- vices or tools. And the Internet is considered, not as a separate resource,

8. Although RILM in its online version is, in many respects, no more difficult to search than Music Index, we reserve its searching for upper level courses for several reasons: St. Olaf College pays for individual searches, and many of the resources students discover from RILM are beyond the scope of our collection and, in many cases, their undergraduate perspectives.




Flow of Information From Musician to the Public

Idea

Composition

Performance

Reviews - Newspaper The

Interneti Reviews - Journal

Scholarly Journal Article

Book

Encyclopedia Article

Fig. 2. Flow of information fiom musician to the public

but as a method of transmission that can permeate all of the stages in the

flow, from initial ideas to scholarly encyclopedia articles.

Assessment

Over the years, we have evaluated our library instruction program both quantitatively, with surveys and questionnaires, and through more informal means such as written narratives or focus groups.'t We have learned that students value paper handouts and bibliographies and rec-

ognize that the information they contain can be transferred to other dis-

ciplines, other courses, and other phases of life. It is not unusual for students to bring bibliographies from previous courses to initiate individual

research, to inform upper level courses, or even to help them in graduate school.

9. M~ost recently, St. ()laf has participated in an ACRL, (Association of College and Research Libraries)

glralnt pro)ject on "Assessing Student Lcarning Ou()tcoes in Information Literacy Programs," funded by a National Ieadership (Grant froom the federal IMLS (Institute of Museumn and Iibrar Services). The grant provided support to twenty-threee librarians tfrmt around the cotunttrl to teamn with faculty to design, im-

plemetnt, and evaliate to•ols

for assessing student learning outcomes resulting fromll infh)rmatimn literacy taught by libirarians and tlaculty.




Faculty support

Faculty support is essential in order for any course-integrated program of library instruction to succeed. Only supportive faculty can truly make students realize that what they are doing is important. It takes time to build a partnership and mutual support between the music department and the library, and longevity on the part of both library personnel and the teaching faculty is helpful. By regularly attending music faculty meet-

ings, I have been able to weave the library--and especially instruction- into the fabric of daily discussions about the curriculum and overall music program. New music faculty are introduced to a department in which information literacy is an integral aspect of the overall education mission. Although not all areas of the music curriculum currently partici- pate in instruction,'0 the college's (and music department's) endorse- ment of a program in which information literacy is central makes a much more stable environment for consistent inclusion of the library in the overall learning process. Information literacy is often discussed on campus, and, although the teaching faculty may not be consciously aware of the ACRL standards" for information literacy, they are certainly aware that teaching students to find and evaluate information is at the heart of their mission as educators of undergraduate liberal arts students.

The benefits for the music faculty are also significant. They receive better papers, get good reports from graduate schools about their students' preparation to do research, have a library collection that is imme- diately responsive to their assignment needs, and experience the relief of having help as they try to keep up with the rapid pace of information growth and change.'2

CONCLUSION

I will close with two brief vignettes of things I have overheard from St. Olaf students. These were seemingly insignificant events, but they were moments that touched my heart and perhaps demonstrate the impact

10. Much work remains, for example, in working with applied music students. 11. General standards for information literacy as established by the Association of College

and Research Libraries (approved 18 January 2000) are available at http://www.ala.org/Content/ NavigationMenu/ACRL/Standards_and_Guidelines/standards.pdf (accessed 25 November 2003). Standards for information literacy and bibliographic instruction specific to music have been discussed in several relevant articles. "Information Literacy for Undergraduate Music Students: A Conceptual Framework," by Amanda Maple, Beth Christensen, and Kathleen A. Abromeit, Notes 52, no. 3 (March 1996): 744-53, and "Bibliographic Competencies for Music Students at an Undergraduate Level," by the Bibliographic Instruction Committee of the Midwest Chapter of the Music Library Association, Notes 40, no. 3 (March 1984): 529-32, are two examples that have been published in this journal.

12. Working with the teaching faculty, we revise the information provided (if not the scope of the assignment) each time an assignment is given. Since the underlying principles and goals of the program have remained relatively constant, it has easily adapted to the fast-paced changes in information and its transmission.




our program has had. The first occurred as a student who was leading a

campus tour for prospective students and parents paused outside the music library doors. I was in the hallway and chose to wait rather than walk through the group. I was surprised by what I heard. Rather than talk about the music library facility, collection, or general student atmos-

phere (the usual things mentioned by practiced tour guides), this student talked about the library program. She told the prospective students that if they chose St. Olaf, they would learn a lot about the library, that the assignments were hard and challenging, and that they would really know how to use music libraries by the time they graduated.

Another "eavesdropping moment" came late one summer as students were just beginning to arrive back on campus for the fall semester. I was in my office, which is adjacent to the reference area of the music library, when a student brought her parents into the library. She was not one of our library student assistants, nor was she a student I knew by name. She was, however, excited as she brought her parents past my office to show them what she referred to as "our" reference area, a location for which she not only felt a sense of place, but also obvious ownership and pride.

St. Olaf College's evolving program of information literacy exists as a

partnership between the library and the music faculty. It depends upon the support of both units working together to create something that could not be done by either alone. In my best, most optimistic moments, I have the sense that the library is truly at the heart of the mission of the music department, and the college. And I cannot imagine it getting much better than that!



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APPENDIX 1: ST. OLAF COLLEGE MUSIC HISTORY SEQUENCE

Level Activity Concept/Skill/Goal

First-year students * Introduce facility and staff * Understand that music comes in multiple (all 100-level music theory * Introduce OPAC formats/languages courses, incorporating all music * Introduce basic reference sources * Understand concepts of keyword searching, majors) limiting, reading bibliographic records and

locations in OPAC * Understand basic types of reference sources in

music, and be able to identify several by name * Understand basic M, ML, MT classification; be

able to locate items within the music library * Introduce concept/atmosphere of library staff that is here to help and provide research and reference assistance

Sophomores: Music History * Provide more in-depth * Learn how to approach a reference work assignment 1 examination of New Grove 2 * Learn how to read and use bibliographies and (Music 241, semester 1) * Introduce Heyer/Hill works lists

(compare with NG2 works list) * Learn how to recognize authors-and begin * Introduce Expanded Academic to understand the concept of authorities

ASAP and Music Index * Understand M1-3 classification * Continue learning about OPAC- * Understand different approaches to finding

compare text vs. Web versions scores in collected sets and series and use "partner" program with * Understand concepts of abstract, full text, Carleton College and citations in indexes

* Examine and answer questions * Recognize graded reviews related to basic reference works * Understand necessity for paper as well as

* Find answers to list of questions online forms of periodical indexes



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APPENDIX 1: continued


Sophomores: Music History * Select composition written * Introduce concept of flow of information assignment 2 before 1700 * Lean how to choose a topic-pragmatism (Music 241, semester 1) * Find an authoritative score (review in selection

sources for collected sets, etc.) * Learn to evaluate scores-in sets or separately * Find the best possible recording, published using reviews if necessary * Learn to evaluate/find evaluations of

* Research background-both recordings musically and socially/politically * Learn to research musical context

* Use resources in general library as * Learn to research social/political context well as music library (using timetables as well as general library * Write fictional account of attending reference resources) premiere performance * Use research to support a fictional account

* Write an analysis of the work and creative writing venture * Be able to analyze the music

Sophomores: Music History * Select a composition written * Be able to evaluate score and recording assignment 3 1760-1840 * Reinforce and continue to learn new ways (Music 242, semester 2) * Find authoritative score to use seminal reference works (e.g., NG2)

* Find recording or attend live * Use bibliographies/indexes to find criticism, performance etc., from particular time period

* Find criticism of the work written * Be able to find background information about before 1940 critics/authors

* Find criticism of the work written * Consider the contexts (time/place/nationality/ after 1960 personal relationships, etc.) in which criticisms

* Evaluate critics' biases were written * Compare/contrast 2 critiques * Understand concept of thematic indexes * Compare thematic indexes with * Be able to find thematic indexes

NG2 works list * Be able to locate and use separately published * Analyze the work bibliographies



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Juniors and Seniors * Assignments vary considerably, * Reinforce and further develop concept of (all 300-level music history depending upon topic, instructor, evaluation-including scores, recordings, courses) number of students performances, and secondary sources

* Always review general music reference (including Web sites) sources and introduce specialized * Utilize information along entire range of flow resources for topic area of information; know where you are in the

* Always require evaluation flow-and why * Always require analysis * Develop knowledge of reference sources * Often require comparison devoted to specific areas of music research * Usually introduce RILM at this point (e.g., opera, jazz, American music, etc.)

* Be able to cite authors' credentials and determine potential biases

* Be able to consider topics within musical and social/political contexts

* Be able to choose and refine topics * Be able to develop coherent theses




APPENDIX 2: SAMPLE ASSIGNMENTS IN MUSIC HISTORY SEQUENCE

*Sophomores, Assignment 2 (Music 241, semester 1): Writing About Music: Two Approaches13

In this project you will be studying and writing about a piece of music from two very different approaches, each of which will contribute to your understanding of music and of writing. First, you must select a piece of music, dating from before 1700, as the object of your study. It may be of

any type, but you must be able to find an authoritative score for it and a

good recent recording. If you choose an extremely short piece, you may want to work with two of the same type. If you choose a large work, deal with only a part of it for the analysis. Then you are to do the research for and write two short papers in which you do the following:

Part 1: Place yourself in the historical context of an early performance of this piece. You may be either a performer or listener. In other words, imagine that you are a medieval monk, a Renaissance lady at court, a merchant attending Mass, or whatever. Research the appropriate setting for your music: the surroundings (city, building, etc.), the type of occa- sion or service, the type of people who might be present, etc. Your research should lead you into sources in the general library--sources on

history, architecture, etc.-but there are also helpful sources within the music library.

Then write a fictional account of your experience in which you de- scribe what you hear, your reaction to it, the setting in which you hear it, the performing forces, etc. You might think of this as an entry in a formal journal or a letter to a distant friend. This is to be creative writing but must be based on your research and reading.

You are asked to document the important verifiable events, facts, and

personages of your account in two ways: first, provide endnotes informing the reader of your sources and what you drew from them; and second, in

your bibliography provide short-paragraph annotations for those items that were particularly helpful (if you have not cited them as notes), sum-

marizing what you found in them.

Length: 3 pages of text plus endnotes and bibliography (with annotations).

13. This assignment was created by Dr. Gerald Hoekstra, St. Olaf College, and described in Beth Christensen and Hoekstra, "Being Here, Being There: Understanding Early Music through Historical Research and Analysis," Research Strategies 9 (1991): 106-10.





Part 2: Using the same piece, write a brief analysis from your point of view as a twenty-first-century music student. Consider the principal style features, the structure or form, the relation of text and music, etc. Also comment on the place of this piece in the history of the genre. Read

Wingell (Richard J. Wingell, Writing about Music: An Introductory Guide, 3d ed. [Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2002]) and give some

thought to what will go into your analysis. Note that the analysis goes beyond mere description and considers such questions as: What contributes to the unity and coherence of the piece? What contributes to its overall effect? How is it representative, how unique? Perhaps your work with part 1 will illuminate this study and vice versa.

Length: 2-3 pages of text plus endnotes and bibliography listing the source of the music and your recording.

* Sophomores, Assignment 3 (Music 242, semester 2): Research/Analysis Project'4

This writing project is designed to introduce you to the process of historical musical research through the formal and stylistic analysis of a

piece of music according to the views and findings of music critics and scholars and your own musical analysis. The project intends to challenge your ability to: (1) locate and apply appropriate library reference materials, (2) evaluate the findings and biases of secondary sources, (3) analyze the stylistic and formal features of a musical composition, (4) deduce a thesis from nos. 2-3 for a research paper, and (5) communicate your ideas and findings in clear, coherent prose and with the proper citation of sources (in endnotes and bibliography).

Assignment: Write a paper (5-7 pages) in which you present and de- fend a particular point of view about a musical work (composed between 1760 and 1840 and not discussed in class) based on: (1) an informed reaction to one music review or musical critique written before 1940, and (2) your detailed analysis of the piece, whose one-page, graphic analysis you must include in the body of your paper.

Preliminary work: A. Finding a composition

1. Consider several pieces composed between 1760 and 1840

you really want to know well.

14. This assignment was created by Dr. Alice Hanson, St. Olaf College.





2. Check their accessibility in Northfield (at St. Olaf College, Carleton College, or the public library) a. Is there a score available? b. Is there a translation of the text? c. Is a recording or live performance available?

B. Fulfilling the assignment 1. Find at least one assessment/critique of the work written

before 1940 a. Consult NG2 bibliography b. Consult Harold Diamond's Music Criticism c. Consult criticisms on reserve (see librarian's handout) d. Consult the composer's thematic index if possible

2. Choose the best composition based on A (your interest) and B (usable review)

3. Limit the composition to one movement, one large aria, or one large segment (note: If you choose to analyze songs or instru- mental works of less than two pages, then you must analyze at least two of them)

Conducting the Research A. Using secondary sources

1. Evaluate the musical review a. Find out the credentials of the author b. Identify what kind of review you are reading (academic

analysis? romantic appreciation or description? propa- ganda, e.g., pro-Wagner, boosting ticket sales, etc.?)

c. Identify bias/point of view of author B. Analyzing the music

1. Record important background information (date of

composition, extenuating circumstances, performance history or assessment)

2. If programmatic or part of drama, summarize content 3. If text, analyze text (message, rhythmic schemes, metaphors,

etc.) 4. Dissect various parts of music 5. Create one-page line-graph analysis of music

C. Formulating a thesis/"controlling purpose" sentence 1. Based on your research and analysis, decide one main point

to communicate to your audience 2. Revise your thesis as you continue to research and rethink the

composition 3. Write out your thesis as a complete sentence





* Junior/Senior Level (Music 345): American Music Writing Assignment'5

Assignment: Write a paper in expository style that examines the musical depictions of an American theme, event, era, or personality based on the detailed analysis of a composition of art music, and (choose two) a theater/film score, sacred work, folk music, jazz, and popular music (band march, hip hop, etc.).

1. Choose a topic that is found in three pieces of different genres. Use research tools, Internet sources, and textbooks to help you.

2. Find scores and recordings for each work. Limit the compositions to one workable section (e.g., one movement, one aria, one song).

3. Research the topic finding out what music historians and writers have said about the works. Evaluate the writers' credentials and

points of view. 4. Analyze in detail each work, creating a graph notating all signifi-

cant motivic, harmonic, and structural events. For all symbols on the graphs, provide score identification. If the music has no score

(e.g., jazz improvisation or rock jam), analyze it by ear and time. All texts should be written out, analyzed, and placed on separate sheets.

5. Come to some thesis that covers all three works. Use this idea to or-

ganize the writing and to create your paper title.

Sample topics could include, "The Depiction of the American 'Old West'," "The Impact of AIDS on American Music," "The Concept of

Progress in American Music," "Portrayals of Abraham Lincoln in Music," "Racial Stereotypes in American Music," "Education Models in American Music," "Three Centuries of American Views of 'God and Country'."

* Junior/Senior Level (Music 344): Twentieth-Century Music (note: this

accompanies a short bibliographic "refresher" and precedes a longer paper)16

Assignment: Choose a person from the following list of twentieth-

century composers [note: instructor provides this] and perform the fol-

lowing research. Summarize your research in a short written statement

15. Ibid. 16. This assignment was created by Dr. Donna Mae Gustafson, St. Olaf College.





(3 pages maximum) that includes an estimation of your composer's life and works.

1. Find and skim the most recent biographical information on your composer. Note where the composer was born, educated, and em-

ployed, major contributions, and musical style(s) used. 2. Name at least two authorities on your composer. 3. Note to what extent the composer's works are published. 4. Cite at least one recording of works by your composer. If available,

listen to at least one to help in your description of musical style. 5. Find and skim one article about your composer. What issues and

topics are discussed in this article?

Papers should present a condensed biography of the composer and evaluate the composer's musical works and style. End with a summary about recent areas of research. Feel free to comment on areas you think need more research.

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warp, weft, and waffle: weaving information literacy into an undergraduate music curriculum

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