Openness in the Archives: Educational Equity and Primary Sources

abstract: Academic libraries and colleagues within the larger educational sector commonly prioritize educational equity and affordable course content. While higher education frequently incentivizes open pedagogy and open-educational resources (OER), primary sources should also be cultivated as freely available resources that foster engagement, critical thinking, and historical inquiry. Blending both the theoretical and the practical, this article covers definitions, research, and case studies from teaching archivists representing five institutions at different stages of implementing primary source instruction programs. This article provides archivists and librarians with the language and inspiration to advance conversations with their teaching faculty collaborators in furtherance of educational equity.