Online Resource Guide Helps Opera Theater Students by Sue Kropp
		OCTOBER 22, 2001--Not that long ago, gathering information for a research paper meant a simple trip to the library. Today it often means a foray into cyberspace--to gather information from various web sites or to look up primary source material. Undergraduates across the nation are confronting these new electronic resources head-on, often with help from professors and librarians who recognize the challenge their students now face. At Oberlin College, Victoria Vaughan has launched a project that targets students in the Conservatory's Opera Theater Program. The project involves modifying several 200-level courses and helping students develop a basic knowledge of library and online resource materials. Vaughan, assistant director of Oberlin's Opera Theater Program, has also developed an online opera resource guide. After noticing that her students were having trouble finding resources to explain character roles and to examine productions from a historical perspective, Vaughan contacted Kathy Abromeit, a public services librarian at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, who helped compile a resource list for Vaughan's students, with assistance from Leslie Roberts '01. That information is the backbone of the online opera resource guide, which was developed by webmaster Eric Einhorn '01. "I needed a resource that would introduce my students to the interdisciplinary nature of Opera Theater much earlier in their college careers," says Vaughan. "They have a good knowledge of music history, but they also need to also have a broad understanding of art history, translation, and costumes. The online resource guide provides them with this information and helps them prepare for roles in campus productions." "Creating an online guide for students was the logical thing to do," Vaughan continues. "It's the modern way to link them to information. Plus, the site can be used by anyone interested in professional development or in taking their career to the next level." Abromeit's involvement with the project doesn't end with the resource list. She will co-teach two classes each semester with Vaughan in the Conservatory's electronic classroom. The classes will teach students how to search for books and how to use journals and multi-media, and will cover performance analysis through the use of recorded materials. Vaughan's project was made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which awarded a three-year grant to members of the Five Colleges of Ohio consortium. The grant, "Integrating Information Literacy into the Liberal Arts Curriculum," supports efforts between faculty members and librarians to incorporate information literacy into existing or new courses at the College of Wooster, Denison University, Kenyon College, Ohio Weslyan University and Oberlin College. Initial efforts on each campus have included a series of development grants enabling participants to focus on conceptualizing, producing and integrating projects into the curriculum. "The grant puts the Five Colleges of Ohio in a leading position among liberal arts colleges in fostering the development of students' information literacy skills, which are an essential component of liberal arts education," says Ray English, Oberlin's director of libraries. Information literacy includes understanding the value and importance of information for learning; understanding how information is produced, disseminated and organized; developing critical thinking skills in relation to information; mastering the processes of accessing information; and knowing how to use information effectively
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