| Subject to change by the instructor | Copyright ©1998 by Todd Ellison | revised 2011 |
Why should I take this course? This introductory course in archives is useful to anyone considering archival work, a budding historian, and anyone interested in the history of providing access to historically significant materials. The tools and approaches taught in this course are useful to anyone and everyone who aims at making a difference in today's information age.
Course overview: This is an introductory study of archival theory and practice. In addition to learning principles from the archival profession, we will observe and implement effective and efficient ways of storing, accessing, and selectively preserving data. The theme of this course is that the effective archivist takes a proactive rather than custodial stance towards each of the aspects of the professional work. The guiding principle of the course is that application is more important than content memorization. My goal as your instructor is to serve you by seeing to it that each of you masters the irreducible minimum of content you must have to be knowledgeable about archives and archival work.
The two hours of class sessions each week are supplemented by hours of hands-on archival work throughout the course of the trimester. Learning formats will include lectures, classroom discussion, case studies of typical administrative problems, core readings of archival literature, on-line activities, thoughtful written pieces and oral presentations, and the archival project.
Texts: The primary book for this course is Hunter, Gregory S., Developing and maintaining practical archives: A how-to-do-it manual (New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2nd edition, 2003) CD950 .H86 1997
Weekly
syllabus:
Week.....Topics and assignments...(Week of class meeting, fall trimester)
A. The language of archives and the nature of records.
B. Course assignments/practicum scheduling/ subscription to the Archives and Archivists list on the Internet.
C. Objectives for this week are to develop a beginning understanding of the basic functions of records and archives in a society and the nature of data, documents, records and archives and other information entities.
D. Key terms to understand: including archives, documents, records, record series .
E. Assignments
F. Assignment to complete by next week:
A. Distinctives of archival work today (and discussion of website visits).
B. Distinctives of archives, libraries, and museums--a comparison of three cousins (discussion of Hunter's table, page 7).
C. Nature and history of documentary sources. Historical development of the archival profession.
D. Archival/special collections tour.
E. Reading for next week:
A. Archival appraisal. (and its foundation, a collection development policy). Do Archival Key 3 on provenance and Archival Key 1 -- practical exercises to introduce you to the concept of archival series.
B. Archival accessioning.
C. Readings for next week:
E. Assignment for two weeks from now: oral presentation of a critical evaluation of an archival text or article.
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4. Archival challenges (videos) (week #4)
Watch these videos, using the 3-page Class Exercise #2 sheet. Fast-forward as appropriate, as they are each 58-60 minutes long.
Slow fires: on the preservation of the human record / Council on Library Resources (Santa Monica, Calif.: American Film Foundation, 1987). Z701 .S5 1987
Into the future: on the preservation of knowledge in the electronic age/ Commission on Preservation & Access, 1997. Z681.3.D53 I58 1997
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5. The second pair of tasks (theory and practice): archival arrangement and description (week #5)
A. Introduction to the physical and intellectual processing of collections. Do Archival Key 4 -- practical exercises in archival arrangement and description, and Archival Key 2, which includes practical exercise in archival foldering.
B. Readings for next week:
6. Archival preservation (week #6)
A. Preservation basics and strategies. Do Archival Key 5 -- practical exercises in archival preservation.
B. Watch preservation videos.
C. Optional (fun) reading for next week:
A. Oral reports
B. MID-TERM EXAMINATION (see midterm review notes to study beforehand)
C. Readings for next week:
A. Researcher access to documentary sources; archival researcher strategies.
B. Reference service in archives.
C. Readings for next week:
A. Outreach from archives.
B. Readings for next week:
A. Legal issues in archives.
B. Ethical issues in archives.
C. Readings for next week:
A. Management principles and techniques (including e-mailed and oral reports).
B. Records management and archives.
C. Funding and archives.
D. Readings for next week:
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12. Archival automation (week #12)
A. Uses of computers in the six task areas of archival work.
B. Practical exercises in automated cataloging. See list of Library of Congress Subject Headings for cataloging photographs.
C. Readings for next week:
D. Assignment for next week:
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13. Personal applications (week #13)
A. Class presentations on course archival projects.
B. Personal applications of archival theory and practice; discussion of personal archival project plans.
C. Reading for next week: Society of American Archivists, “Guidelines for a Graduate Program in Archival Studies,” http://www.archivists.org/prof-education/ed_guidelines.asp
~~~~~
14. Archival careers and education (week #14)
A. Project progress reports.
B. Education in archives.
C. Careers in archives.
D. Assignment for next week: plan for a personal archival project.
B. Assignments due by first class this week: (note: due to the structure of our team project this time, we won't be completing these assignments individually)
| participation 30% | quizzes 10% | mid-term exam 15% |
| course project (including inventory) 15% | assignments 15% | final exam 15% |
Grading overview: Failure
to complete the bulk of the work will earn you an F; doing below-average work
will earn you a D; average work will earn you a C; above-average work will earn
you a B; truly exceptional work will earn you an A.
Participation in class discussions and in archival processing counts highly because it is only as you think about information that it becomes personally useful. Also, be forewarned that in this course style is important; arguably, the organization and format of archival work is as important as its content. This implies using strong introductions and conclusions to each paper and each paragraph, spelling words correctly, turning in a clean printed copy with no scratch outs, and demonstrating an archival aptitude for clear organization.
Notice that the mid-term and final exams are weighted equally; by mid-term, you will have begun to absorb sufficient facts and principles to enable you to write, speak, and process materials with archival understanding. This assumes that you apply yourself to learning the course material from the day of the very first class. Readings are heaviest in the first half of the course; after that, more of your outside-of-class preparation work will be devoted to your final project and your written reports and class presentations.
Punctuality: Course protocol includes respecting one another in such ways as coming to class on time and not being absent from class or leaving early without explaining the need to the instructor beforehand.
Students with disabilities who require reasonable accommodations to fully participate in course activities or meet course requirements must register with Disability Services, 280 Noble Hall, 247-7459. If you qualify for services, bring your letter of accommodations to me as soon as possible.
Requirements/
Assignments:
Course requirements include the following:
** Adequate preparation to discuss required reading assignments.
** Full participation in class discussions and in group exercises.
All written assignments are to be submitted as word processed documents; no handwritten assignments will be accepted.
Email - Students are required to obtain and use an e-mail account for this course. Just as in the archival workplace, you will be expected to interact with the instructor and with each other by e-mail. Students are expected to check their e-mail accounts regularly for messages from the instructor, and to use e-mail to submit designated assignments and to send the instructor weekly reports on their processing projects.
Book/article review (if assigned) should be about 3 typed pages (about 700 words) and extend to a critical evaluation of the work, including its stance, strategies, and style. Aspects of this thought will include an understanding of the textual context (author's credentials, etc.) and the standard conventions of the archival discipline (bibliographic citation formats, for example). You might select one of the Society of American Archivists archival manuals or a case study or "perspective" article in The American Archivist or another archival journal. Suggestion: read others' reviews online and/or in journals like the American Archivist, The Journal of American History, and American Historical Review.
Oral report (usually assigned to be presented during Week #7, the week of the mid-term exam) is to be a 5-to-10-minute presentation on an agreed-upon topic (see my memo for more details and a list of suggested topics) or an archival management concern, with accompanying memo (we may space these out over the trimester). The report should be a useful, interesting synthesis with strong introduction and conclusion.
Page last modified: March 27, 2011