SGA Newsletter
Volume 39, Issue 2, Summer 2007
A Publication of the Society of Georgia Archivists
2007 SGA Board
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Education Special: Archival Education in the Southeast
Introduction
The American Archivist published its findings from the A*CENSUS survey in the Fall/Winter 2006 issue and revealed archival education and generational shifts in those performing archival work as some of its focal points. 28 percent of all archivists surveyed expect to retire within 10 years and, while the number of replacements is steadily growing, the shift of knowledge to the next generation is a growing concern. Facilitating the passing of knowledge from one generation to the next is an integral part of our work, but is passing knowledge about our own archives from one generation of archivists to the next a priority? Graduate archival education is one of the greatest boons to our profession in the 21st century and there are a growing number of young, eager archivists who have the classroom and textual knowledge to do their jobs well. Yet A*CENSUS reports that without mentors and guides to pass on both explicit and tacit information about individual archives and their nuances, the brain drain caused by retirement will leave a gap in our professional historical record. Who are the next generation of archivists looking for jobs and what is their educational background? What follows are profiles of graduate archival education programs in the Southeast in order to give those in a position to hire a basis of reference and to present some educational options to individuals who may be contemplating furthering their archival education.
Audrey Cook, a student from Michigan, attends the Public History program at the University of
West Georgia. Audrey will graduate from UWG in May of 2008 and hopes to pursue a career in archives.
Photograph by Steven Broome, University of West Georgia, 2007.
Auburn University
The Auburn University Archival Studies Program has been educating archivists since the History Department began offering archival courses in 1973. Auburn University students currently hold professional archival positions at a wide variety of historical repositories, including the Baldwin County Department of Archives and History, The Alabama Department of Archives and History, The U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxwell Air Force, and the Tuskegee University Archives, for a few examples.
The Archival Studies Program at Auburn University is composed of a concentration of archival courses within the graduate history program. The program allows students to combine the specialized archival courses increasingly required for employment in professional archival positions with traditional historical training. Most students in the Archival Studies Program enroll in the archives concentration while pursuing either an M.A. or a Ph.D. in history. Students that already possess a history graduate degree (or a Masters of Library and Information Science) are able to enroll in archival courses through general graduate school admittance without matriculating toward a further graduate degree.
The Archival Studies Program concentration is a four course sequence. All archival studies students are required to take the introductory course (Fundamentals of Archival Theory and Practice) and an internship. The practicum can be taken at a variety of archival repositories. Auburn University students have recently conducted internships at the Auburn University Archives and at the Alabama Department of Archives and History. Auburn archival studies students have access to a wide variety of specialized archival courses from which to select their two electives classes through our participation in the Southeast Archives Education Collaborative (SAEC). (SAEC is described elsewhere in this issue.) The elective courses include Oral History, History of Archives and Record Keeping, Archival Appraisal and Selection, Electronic Description of Archival Materials, Management of Electronic Records, Public Programming for Historical Organizations and Archives, and Audio/Visual Archives.
Students interested in the studying archival management or learning more about Archival Studies Program at Auburn University should visit:
http://media.cla.auburn.edu/history/gs/archival_program.htm, or contact, Dr. Joseph Turrini (334-844-7638; turrijm@auburn.edu). For more on admission to the graduate program in the History Department at Auburn University , students should visit:
http://media.cla.auburn.edu/history/gs/index.htm . For more on general admittance to the graduate school, students should visit: http://www.grad.auburn.edu/prospective.html .
Joseph M. Turrini
East Tennessee State University
Students interested in archival studies can further their education at East Tennessee State University . The Master of Arts in Liberal Studies offers both a full master's degree with a concentration in archival studies and a graduate certificate in archival studies. The degree program consists of a forty-credit cross-disciplinary program of study that is consistent with the recommendations of the Society of American Archivists, while the certificate program consists of an eighteen-credit course of study. Both programs are cross-disciplinary.
In the degree concentration program, students take core courses in both liberal studies and archival studies. Elective courses come from three categories: library science; management; and subject fields. A practicum at a local repository is an elective option. The core archival studies courses consist of archives history and issues; archives theory and practice; conservation; and information and records management. The core liberal studies courses consist of foundations in liberal studies; introduction to interdisciplinary study; seminar in interdisciplinary research; thesis research or project research; and either information networks-resource sharing or managing content on the internet.
The four archival core courses are all offered online, with the exception of one week of sessions (three sessions) for the conservation course. The conservation course is offered during the three-week Summer presession that falls between the end of Spring semester and the beginning of the first Summer term.
The graduate certificate is designed for individuals who need or want archival education, but for whom the full degree program is not necessary. Employees of a historic site, a museum, or business, may benefit from the certificate program, as may those who have responsibility for maintaining family or church records, for instance. Certificate students must take the three archival studies courses, as well as three courses selected from an approved list. Included as course options are management, computer science, information and records management, and history courses. The archival practicum also may be taken as an elective course. The graduate certificate may be pursued as an online program or as a mix of online and on-ground courses. An online student may pursue a practicum at a repository located near the student.
For more information on both programs, please contact Dr. Marie Tedesco, Director, Master of Arts in Liberal Studies. Email is best: tedescom@etsu.edu.
Marie Tedesco
Kennesaw State University
Public History programs, at the certificate, undergraduate, or graduate level, are often housed within schools of humanities and are hidden gems within universities. The most effective programs build goodwill in the communities they serve, generate revenue for the college or university, and prove to be a fertile training ground for the next generation of museum, archives, or preservation professionals.
The certificate program that I coordinate at Kennesaw State University helps students develop the skills to think critically about the preservation and public presentation of history and culture. Classroom and fieldwork deliver theoretical and practical understandings of memory and history, preparing them for careers in historic preservation, community documentation, museums, and cultural program development. Students take 18 hours of coursework in public history, including courses such as “Historic Preservation,” “Documentation and Interpretation,” “Museum Studies,” “Oral History,” and “Fundraising in Non-Profits.” Under the category of “Special Topics,” additional courses, such as “Collections Management” are often available. Students in each class engage in hands-on projects that might include curating an exhibition, documenting the history of a neighborhood, helping to catalog an archive, creating a radio documentary, or writing grants. The typical student that enrolls in KSU 's certificate program is a history major, who sees the program as helping them define their career paths. When they complete the program, they are well trained in both theory and practice and qualified for an entry-level museum job or further graduate training. As a faculty member, I rely on partnerships on and off campus to get them there.
One of the first partnerships I developed involved the newly organized Kennesaw State University Archives. Under the able leadership of Tamara Livingston, students enrolled in my “Museum Studies” class began researching and curating an exhibition entitled “Student Life at Kennesaw.” Over a fifteen-week period, the students spent much of their time in the archives, researching photographs, documents, and artifacts that would help illustrate the story they wanted to tell about their university. Though KSU does not yet offer an “Archives Management” course, Dr. Livingston provided an excellent overview of the policies and procedures that make an effective archive accessible to researchers. The students opened the exhibition in April to much fanfare. As a result of this partnership, numerous Public History students have completed internships at the campus archives, as well as other facilities in the Atlanta area. The hands-on experience they gained in the course helped inspire several to consider graduate work in archives and records management. The key to a successful partnership is good planning. Universities need to determine which local museums or cultural resources are engaged in a project that could easily involve students. Museums, archives, or historic sites need to find faculty members at the university who are engaged in historical research that is focused on local history and community outreach. Finding the right project can be a rewarding experience, one that often promises long-term benefits for everyone involved.
For more information about KSU 's Public History Program or developing effective partnerships, please contact her at clewis1@kennesaw.edu or visit http://www.kennesaw.edu/history/public_history/PublicHistoryWebsite/intro.htm
Catherine Lewis
University of Kentucky
The School of Library and Information Science at the University of Kentucky offers two core courses in the area of archival education on an annual basis: Archives and Manuscripts Management (LIS 643) and Preservation Management (LIS 653). In addition, students considering professional careers in archives or special collections often take Professional Field Experience (LIS 675) and Independent Study (LIS 695). Students participating in these courses have been placed in special collections, historical societies, museums, special libraries or corporate archives throughout the state. Recent projects have included conducting oral history interviews involving a dispute over land use, designing and devising an information data base for primary source materials at a small museum, studying solutions for digitizing a large historical society's manuscript collection's finding aids, and the creation of a preliminary inventory for a collection of personal papers housed in a museum dedicated to the history of the horse. The University of Kentucky also participates in the SAEC-- a consortium of five institutions ( Indiana University , Auburn University , Middle Tennessee State University , and Louisiana State University ) which cooperate in offering archival and records management education classes across all campuses through compressed video. Courses offered through SAEC include electronic description of archival materials, the management of electronic records, oral history, the history of archives and record keeping, audio-visual archives, advanced archival appraisal, management of archives and museum collections, and public programming for archives and museums. The Society of American Archivists also has a student chapter at the University of Kentucky . For further information, please contact Dennis Carrigan, Assistant Director of the School of Library and Information Science, at (859) 257-3316 or at carrigan@uky.edu.
William Marshall
Middle Tennessee State University
Usually when I write about what sets the archives program at Middle Tennessee State University apart I talk first about the breadth of the courses we can offer because of our membership in SAEC. However, readers of this newsletter will learn about SAEC elsewhere in these columns, so I will focus instead on the unique educational opportunities that we can make available as an archives curriculum within a public history program in a history department.
All public history students receive a solid grounding in an academic discipline by taking the same core courses as master's students in history and a course in the theory and practice of public history. The archival curriculum consists of a comprehensive course in archives management complemented by six hours of practice-based courses designed to prepare students for work in a variety of specialties and professional settings.
An MTSU master's degree in history with an emphasis in public history can be broad or focused, technical or humanistic, depending on the needs and interests of an individual student. Some of our courses like collection management for archives and museums cut across practice fields. Others like administration of historical agencies focus on skills needed in all areas of public history. Through SAEC we offer in-depth study of archival topics as varied as electronic records and advanced appraisal. All students gain professional experience through project-based practica and internships.
The MTSU doctoral curriculum in public history combines coursework in four fields of public history (archives, historic preservation, museum studies, and cultural resources management) with study in a student-defined field of history and an interdisciplinary minor. This curriculum culminates in a professional residency in which students undertake a research or service project under the guidance of a professional mentor.
Masters and doctoral students are eligible for departmental assistantships at two on-campus special collections, the Rutherford county archives, and the University's Center for Historic Preservation, which administers the state-wide Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area. Master students may also serve as teaching assistants in history classes.
For more information about either of these programs visit our website at http://www.mtsu.edu/~pubhist/ or contact me at egarriso@mtsu.edu.
Ellen Garrison
North Carolina State University
The Public History program at NC State University is among the oldest and most successful in the nation. In the late 1960s, the Department of History initiated an M.A. “minor” in archival management as a joint enterprise with the North Carolina Department of Archives and History. In 1982, the program expanded into a full M.A. degree in archival management. Today, complimented by a track in museum studies, the track in archival management produces leaders in the Public History field. With an alumni employment rate of over 80 percent, the program has a proven record of placement and success.
The department offers two annual assistantships in the university archives. The program also offers a dual M.A. program with the School of Information and Library Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and shares courses with the School of Library and Information Sciences at North Carolina Central University . Students perform internships at institutions across the nation; for example, recent graduates performed practica at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.
A real strength of the Public History and archival program for NC State is its location, benefiting by the close proximity of the State Archives, the NC Museum of History, and other components of the Office of Archives and History such as Historical Publications and Historic Sites. Students have opportunities to do research at the Archives and have the potential for internships providing hands on experience in these archival and historical programs. Likewise, the existence of the Southern Historical Collection and the NC Collection at UNC-Chapel Hill and the rare books, special collections, and Center for Documentary Photography at Duke University creates unique opportunities and resources for students at NC State. Students in the archival courses, for example, visit the Special Collections shop, have discussions about manuscript program administration with the staff at Duke, and engage historical photography and photograph preservation.
The State Archivist of North Carolina leads a team of instructors drawn from the North Carolina State Archives and archives at Duke University , the University of North Carolina , and NC State University. Their research interests range from historical photography to history of paper and printing to archival automation.
Craig T. Friend
Southeast Archives Education Collaborative
The Southeast Archives Education Collaborative (SAEC), founded in 2002, now consists of five graduate programs in library science or public history: Auburn University (AU), Indiana University (IU), University of Kentucky (UKy), Louisiana State University (LSU), and Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). The SAEC partners share faculty and students in archives management. Through compressed video (like closed TV) the instructor and students at one of the partner schools interact with students at the other four sites in live audio and video exchanges that come very close to the traditional classroom experience. The collaborative offers three courses each semester. The courses offered include electronic records, oral history, EAD, advanced appraisal, public programming, history of archives and records keeping, AV archives, and records management. Each of the courses is taught by a specialist in the topic, some with national and international reputations for their expertise.
IU, LSU and UKy's archives programs originate in their schools of library and information science, providing an MLIS; AU and MTSU programs originate in the Department of History, providing a history degree. By combining the SAEC courses with on-campus courses each partner school offers a very different program from the others. If a student enrolls in one partner school, he or she can attend all partner schools through compressed video, but the savvy student will choose which school to enroll in by the total program each partner offers. SAEC courses cost the same as home-campus courses, and earn home-campus credit.
Here's what some students and graduates have said about the program.
“Through SAEC I have access to material and professors that I would otherwise not be able to take advantage of, thereby expanding my archival education."
“I found communicating with persons from different schools an asset to my learning. The other students had different perspectives that contributed to my education.”
“[Compared to a web-based course, the compressed video class] had a lot more information.”
Find out more about the SAEC by going to www.archiveseducation.info or contact Dr. Elizabeth H. Dow at edow1@lsu.edu.
Elizabeth Dow
University of West Georgia
Begun in 1998, the Public History program at the University of West Georgia is a graduate program that specializes in museum studies, archival training, and general public history. We are currently the only program in Georgia that
offers a graduate Museum Studies Certificate, a program jointly sponsored by UWG and the Atlanta History Center. Students may come to West Georgia to pursue an M.A. with a concentration in public history or to add a fifteen-
hour graduate certificate in Public History or Museum Studies to a graduate degree.
Our archival training includes several courses, including Introduction to Archives, Archives Arrangement and Description Practicum, and a Public History Internship in an archival setting. Students pursuing this track must also take the Introduction to Public History and one additional elective, such as Administration of Museums and Historical Organizations, Museum Exhibits, Museum Collections Management, or Oral History and Community History Research Methods. Other electives from our program may be substituted based on the interests of the student.
The program offers excellent opportunities for students to gain practical experience. Graduate Research Assistantships provide hands-on learning experiences for students to work on archival and other public history projects at the Annie Belle Weaver Special Collections, the Center for Public History, and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, among others. In exchange for working fifteen hours a week in one of these settings, students receive a tuition waiver and monthly stipend. Our classes also provide a blend of theoretical discussion and practical experiences, requiring students to perform many of the activities and tasks that they need to know to be successful in an archives or public history career. We are fortunate to be close to Atlanta and to have access to a wide variety of archival settings for internships.
Students pursuing an M.A. with a concentration in public history must complete either a thesis or an applied thesis project and essay. Those interested in archives have completed archival projects, ranging from organizing and creating a finding aid for a video collection at the Jimmy Carter Library to creating and archiving oral history collections at the Center for Public History to developing on-line exhibits on archival collections.
West Georgia graduates have pursued archival positions at the National Archives; state archives in Georgia and Alabama; university archives such as Delta State University and the University of Mississippi; historical organizations, including the Atlanta Historical Society; and in records administration for local governments. Even those who do not work in an archive have found their positions involve some aspects of archival work.
Program faculty include Drs. Ann McCleary and Joe Anderson, public historians on the UWG history department faculty; archivists at the University of West Georgia Ingram Library; and professional staff from the Atlanta History Center.
Ann McCleary