INTRODUCTION TO ARCHIVES
588-002
SUMMER, 2004
INSTRUCTOR: David B. Gracy II
512-474-2784 (home)
2313 Tower Dr.
Austin, Texas 78703
TEXTS:
James M. O'Toole, Understanding Archives and Manuscripts
Fredric Miller, Arranging and Describing Archives and Manuscripts
Jackie Dooley, ed., Encoded Archival Description: Context, Theory and Case Studies
F. Gerald Ham, Selecting and Appraising Archives and Manuscripts
Mary
Jo Pugh, Providing Reference Services for
Archives and Manuscripts
Thomas Wilsted, Managing Archival and Manuscript Repositories
Anne Gilliland-Swetland, Enduring Paradigm, New Opportunities. Available on line at: http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub89/contents.html
COURSE PACKET of selected articles and chapters to be read for class, and forms for use in class.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
1. To introduce students to the concepts of records information and to the theory and practice of archival administration.
2. To prepare students to operate in an archival environment.
COURSE ASSIGNMENTS AND WEIGHTS
1. (20%) Texas Brewers’ Institute Arrangement Exercise.
Preparation of an arrangement for the documents provided in a packet of documents selected from the Records of the Texas Brewers’ Institute. The records are contained in a packet provided by the instructor. You are to formulate an organization for the documents identifying the groupings into which you would segregate the material. Hand in an outline showing how you have [1] grouped the materials and [2] ordered the units to the subseries (or possibly sub-subseries) level. This is not to be an item list, though you may identify one or more subseries, or sub-subseries, that are composed of single items.
2. (20% Due June 25) Synopsis of Peter Hirtle, “Archival Authenticity in a Digital Age,” Authenticity in a Digital Environment available at: http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub92/hirtle.html. In your report, summarize in 2-3 pages the content of this piece, and in 2-3 additional pages reflect on the differences and similarities in working with archives in the hard copy and the digital/electronic environments.
3. (20% - Due Jun 29) An analysis of an inventory of a body of archives (fonds) housed in an American or Canadian archival repository that you visit on the World Wide Web. The purposes of this assignment are: (1) to sharpen your knowledge of the basic archival finding aid—the inventory, and (2) to familiarize you with the resources available electronically (so explore!).
Your analysis should focus on how effectively or poorly the inventory conforms to the generic format utilized in this class, the consistency with which the information in the inventory is presented, the ease with which you are able to learn about the content of the fonds from perusing the inventory, and the confidence you have that the information is accurate and sufficiently thorough. As this assignment is intended to deepen your appreciation of the nature and purposes of the inventory, study thoroughly the document you select. Archivists must be attentive to detail and careful to be as accurate as possible in the information they present about the documentation under their care. Be attentive to inaccurate dates, to misspelling, to an abundance of typographical errors, to poor English composition—be attentive, that is, to all aspects of the inventory that leave you as the reader uncomfortable in the accuracy of the information presented to you and that reflect sloppy application of archival principles.
You will be evaluated on the care and thoroughness with which you critique the inventory as a reflection of good archival practice. While the form of individual inventories will vary, the basic components of any inventory, clear distinction between categories of information, and accuracy and attention to detail in presenting information must be maintained. Be substantive in your comments.
To serve the purposes of this assignment,
the document (which may or may not be titled “inventory”) must (1) describe
one, and only one, body of material and (2) contain in some way at least the
three basic elements of every archival inventory.
Print out all of the textual components of the inventory you critique (e.g.: the creator sketch, the scope and content note, and the prefatory parts). If the inventory has a long physical description, you need print out only a half dozen or so representative pages. Turn in both a copy of this print out and your critique discussing how well and/or poorly the inventory follows the generic archival inventory format we have discussed in class. Your critique is to be double spaced and 500-750 words in length.
Your critique and the pages of the inventory are to be sent to the instructor in hard copy.
4. (30% Due July 2) Final Examination.
5. (10%) Class participation.
6. Papers received after the due date will be penalized 1/3 letter grade per day late.