Listen Up: Discovering the Reference and Instructional Applications of Apple’s Tunes

Abstract

Apple’s iTunes software permits people to import music onto their computer where they can listen, compile personalized playlists, and share their music with others, a practice that is ubiquitous among students on college campuses. This article examines the ongoing exploration of the potential applications of iTunes software at Union College ’s Schaffer Library, first, as a subtle but pervasive marketing tool used to raise student awareness of new and existing library resources, and second, as a means of reaching out to the campus population in an environment where students already feel at home. The article also discusses the role that iTunes—and specifically the free educational content available from the online iTunes Store—has begun to play in library efforts to respond to a variety of reference and curricular support needs. We describe several strategies for communicating the availability and value of this content to faculty teaching a variety of courses across the curriculum, and (taking advantage of Urban Library Journal’'s online format) we provide examples of tools we have incorporated and tweaked to deliver this content directly and conveniently into the hands of our students. We also discuss the problems and issues we have encountered and describe how we’ve attempted to contend with them.