COURSE DESCRIPTION
Seminar on Archival Theory and Practice
HIST 7720, Spring 2004
INTRODUCTION
This advanced archival studies seminar offers students an opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of one area of archival theory and practice. In Spring Semester 2004 the course will focus on appraisal and selection. According to the Society of American Archivists’ report Planning for the Profession (1986), the first responsibility of archivists is “selection of records of enduring value.” Unless archivists develop the “ability to select wisely,” the other archival functions are of little consequence. As F. Gerald Ham notes, “the quality and character of the historical record of the future depends upon the soundness of [archivists’] judgment and the keenness of their perceptions about what should constitute that record.” This course seeks to provide aspiring archivists with the tools they will need to fulfill their responsibility to identify records of enduring value for retention by archival repositories.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
By the end of this course students will be able to:
- Identify sources of archival records and papers by applying knowledge about subjects, individuals, organizations, and others that create, receive and accumulate records and papers appropriate for acquisition.
- Establish, maintain, and keep a record of communication(s) with creators and/or potential donors of records and papers.
- Identify and evaluate record characteristics used to make decisions regarding the acquisition of records and papers for a repository.
- Appraise records and papers for their long term retention.
- Implement disposition recommendations or decisions through legal instruments of transfer such as schedules, deed of gift, purchase contracts, and deposit agreements.
- Effectively use appropriate sampling methods in selecting records for retention.
- Promote cooperative acquisition and disposition strategies when appropriate.
METHOD
Students will read extensively and deeply in the archival literature relating to appraisal and selection. Their understanding of that literature will be evaluated through various written exercises, in-class discussions, and examinations. Additionally, students will prepare an original research paper on an aspect of archival selection and appraisal. Papers should be of sufficient originality and quality to warrant presentation at a professional meeting or submission to an archival studies journal for publication.
COURSE TOPICS
- Selection
- Appraisal theory and records values
- Acquisition policies
- Records management as an appraisal and selection tool
- Collecting programs
- Archival and records management surveys
- Sampling
- Reappraisal and de-accessioning
- Cooperative appraisal and documentation programs
- The appraisal process
- Appraisal guidelines and criteria
READINGS AND TEXTBOOKS
A substantial portion of the literature on appraisal and selection appears in professional journals such as The American Archivist, Archival Issues, Provenance, and Archivaria. This course will draw extensively on articles in these and other journals. For a comprehensive bibliography of periodical literature on selection and appraisal as of 1985, see Julia Marks Young, comp., “Annotated Bibliography on Appraisal,” American Archivist 48 (Spring 1985): 190-216.
F. Gerald Ham’s Selecting and Appraising Archives and Manuscripts (Society of American Archivists, 1992) will serve as the textbook for the course.
Several other book-length resources will supplement the journal literature and the course textbook. Examples follow.
- Joan K. Haas, Helen W. Samuels, and Barbara Trippel Simmons, Appraising the Records of Modern Science and Technology: A Guide (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1985)
- T. R. Schellenberg, The Appraisal of Modern Records, Bulletins of the National Archives, Number 8 (October 1956). Available online at <www.archives.gov/research_room/alic/reference_desk/archives_resources/appraisal_of_records.html>
- Frank Boles and Julia Marks Young, Archival Appraisal (Neal-Schuman Publishers, 1991).
- Nancy E. Peace, ed., Archival Choices: Managing the Historical Record in an Age of Abundance (Lexington Books, 1984)
- Karen Dawley Paul, The Documentation Of Congress: Report Of The Congressional Archivists Roundtable Task Force On Congressional Documentation (USGPO, 1992)
- Michael Stephen Hindus, et al., The Files of the Massachusetts Superior Court, 1859-1959: An Analysis and a Plan for Action (G. K. Hall & Co., 1980)
- Felix Hall, The Use of Sampling Techniques in the Retention of Records: A RAMP Study with Guidelines (UNESCO, 1980). Available online at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0004/000474/047452Eb.pdf
- John A. Fleckner, Archives & Manuscripts: Surveys (Society of American Archivists, 1977)