History 6201

Archives Arrangement and Description Practicum

State University of West Georgia

Instructors:

Dr. Ann McCleary                                                            Myron Wade House

Public History Coordinator                                                Special Collections Librarian

History Department                                                            Ingram Library

Office TLC 3-211                                                            Special Collections Room

770-838-3031                                                             770-830-2361

amcclear@westga.edu                                                mhouse@westga.edu

Class meetings:

Students are expected to spend approximately ten hours per week on class projects.  Six hours each week will be spent in an archives setting processing archival collections, as assigned by the instructors.  Students are expected to spend the remaining four hours reading the required assignments, preparing a journal of their responses to the readings and practical work, writing finding aides, and discussing the assigned readings with the instructors.

Office hours:

Myron House: Usually in the Special Collections Room on Mondays through Fridays from 1 to 3 p.m., but please make an appointment if possible.

Ann McCleary: Please see her regularly scheduled office hours posted each semester.

Course goals:

The goal of this course is to expand upon the principles of archival management covered in History 5485: Introduction to Archives.  This practicum is designed to offer more extensive training in archival processing and to introduce the student to advanced readings in the field of archives.   Through this class, the student may match his or her interests and talents against the various aspects of archival work.  This is an invaluable course for those exploring the archival field as a potential future career.

Learning Outcomes:

1.               Students will process a variety of collections according to professional archival standards.

2.               Students will complete a minimum of three finding aids according to proper archival standards.

3.               Students will read advanced literature about archival arrangement and description practices to gain additional knowledge about professional archival standards and to learn more about the issues that archivists face today.

4.               Students will reflect on the readings by writing in a journal on a weekly basis.

5.               Students will demonstrate their knowledge of archival practices in hands-on assignments made by the instructors.

Required Readings:

A list of required readings is attached to this syllabus.  Each week, at least one and often two readings from the Archives Reading List will be assigned and supplied to the student.  Additional readings may also be assigned depending on the student=s background and previous archives experience.

Course Requirements:

Archival Processing (40%)

Each student will be assigned a variety of archival projects to complete during the course of the semester, reflecting the diversity of the archivist=s work.  Students are expected to spend six hours per week in the archives working on these projects.  Most of the assignments will be in the Annie Belle Weaver Special Collections although some may also be in the Center for Public History.  Students will receive a grade for each of the assignments.

Journal (20%)

To reflect on the issues presented in the readings, students will write in a journal on a weekly basis.  This journal should contain student comments, observations, and opinions about the reading and the archives projects.  Students should turn their journal in at the midterm date assigned by their instructors and on the final examination date for a grade.

Preparation of Finding Aids (30%)

One of the key elements of archival processing is the creation of finding aids that make the archival collections accessible to the public.  Throughout the course of the semester, students will be expected to complete at least three finding aides. When completed (throughout the semester), students are expected to submit these finding aids to the instructors for a grade.

Discussions with instructors (10%)

As a practicum, this class does not have a formal meeting time but students are expected to arrange time at least every two weeks to talk with the instructors about the readings and about the projects in which s/he is engaged.

revised 09.24.01

Grade Sheet

Archives Arrangement and Description Practicum

Assignment Type

‘               Collections processing project

‘               Finding Aid

Name of collection: ____________________________________________________

Strengths of student=s work:

Weaknesses of student=s work:

Grade for project:

Graded by:                                                                                         Date: