History 5402 : Introduction to Archival Theory and Practice
State University of West Georgia
Fall 2003
Instructors:
Myron Wade House Ann McCleary
Special Collections Librarian History Department
Ingram Library TLC
770-830-2361 770-838-3031
mhouse@westga.edu amcclear@westga.edu
Meetings: Tuesday 2:00-5:00 p.m. in Special Collections Room, Ingram Library.
Office Hours: House– Usually in the Special Collections Room from Monday through Friday 1-3 p.m., but please make an appointment if possible.
McCleary– Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. and by
appointment.
Course Goals:
The goal of this course is to acquaint students with the principles of archival
management: its history, theory, and practice. This course is designed to suggest the range and limits of archives, but it is not intended to provide students with a formula for archives work. Class time will be spent in lecture, discussion, practicums, and visits to archive repositories.
Required Readings:
All of the required readings should be available at the SUWG bookstore.
Bradsher, James Gregory. Managing Archives and Archival Institutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989.
Ham, F. Gerald. Selecting and Appraising Archives and Manuscripts. Society of American Archivists, 1993.
Miller, Frederic. Arranging and Describing Archives and Manuscripts. Society of American Archivists, 1990.
Course Requirements
Attendance/Participation/In-class practicums:
Students are expected to attend class on a regular basis and to participate in class activities and practicums. This 35% of the final course grade will include
1. attendance in class and at field trips (15%)
2. an oral presentation on an assigned date and topic on preservation of archival collections (15%)
3. web-page assignment (5%)
Oral presentations and practicums may not be made up at a later date unless permission is given from the instructor. More than three unexcused absences may lower your course grade.
Examinations
There will be two examinations. The midterm will be worth 15% of the final course grade and the final will be valued at 20% of the final grade. The exams will cover material presented both in the class and in the readings.
Archives Practicum:
Each student will complete a practicum assignment that will be worth 30% of the final grade. Practicum assignments will be arranged with the instructors. These projects must be completed by Nov. 4. Some class time will be allocated for these assignments, but students will need to spend additional time in the Special Collections at the library to finish their projects.
Graduate Student Requirements
In addition to the above assignments, graduate students will complete the following work:
Practicum:
Graduate students will be assigned a more extensive practicum experience.
Research paper:
Graduate students will be expected to complete a research paper of 6 to 8 pages. All topics must be approved by one of the instructors by November 4. This paper may be one of the following:
1. A research topic using the materials used in the practicum experience.
2. A research paper related to some aspect of archives work.
All papers are due on Nov. 25. Papers must be word-processed and double-spaced. Notes and bibliography must follow the Turabian guide.
Tentative Course Schedule
Assigned readings must be read by the class date scheduled to facilitate discussion. For example, readings listed under August 19 must be read by August 19.
August 19: Course introduction and tour of Annie Belle Weaver Special Collections
August 26: Archives and archives history
Read: Bradsher, chapters 1-2
Records management
Read: Bradsher, chapter 3.
September 2: Field Trip:Tour of Regional Archives, East Point, Georgia
September 9: Introduction to appraisal
Read: Bradsher, chapter 4 and Ham, chapters 1-2
Acquisition policy
Read: Ham, chapters 3-5
September 16: Appraisal guidelines and criteria
Read: Ham, chapters, 6-8
Accessioning/Deaccessioning
Read: Ham, chapters 9-11
September 23: Arrangement
Read: Bradsher, chapter 5 and Miller, chapters 5-7
September 30: Description
Read: Miller, chapters 8-10
Personal Papers
Read: Bradsher, chapter 6
October 7: Midterm exam
October 14: Arrangement/description practicum
October 21: Arrangement/description practicum
October 28: Arrangement/description practicum
November 4: Maps and architectural archives
Read: Bradsher, chapter 7
Photographs and audiovisual materials
November 11: Field Trip: Tour of Carter Center
November 18: Oral History
Read: Bradsher, chapter 11
Reference, access, and ethics
Read: Bradsher, chapters 12-13
November 25: Preservation and archival security
Read: Bradsher, chapter 15
Oral Presentations
December 2: Public programs and exhibits
Read: Bradsher, chapters 16-17
Discussion of web-page assignment
Assignment due: Archival web-page report
Course summary and review for final exam
December 9: Final exam
There are also many conferences and meetings related to archives work. Consider attending! Your instructors will notify you of some of these as information about them becomes available. Georgia Archives Week is October 5-11.