The syllabus for this course, including course readings, assignments, and schedule were created by Dr. Cal Lee, UNC-Chapel Hill.

Course Description

This course provides a survey of principles and practices that archivists and records managers apply, as well as issues that they confront. We will discuss the nature of documentation and recordkeeping in contemporary society and the different types of institutions with responsibility for records. We will also examine the archival profession, its internal diversity and its relationships with allied professions. It is designed with two types of students in mind:

• Students pursuing careers in archives administration or records management. This course will provide an introduction to the field; introduce terms and concepts that will be used in other courses; and explain how components of archives and records administration fit together.
• Students pursuing careers in related information professions. This course offers an overview of archives and records administration; helps students become conversant with archival and records management terminology; and explains how archives and records administration relates to other aspects of information management.

Prerequisites: master's or doctoral student status.

Course Objectives

• Understand why societies, cultures, organizations, and individuals create and keep records.
• Become familiar with the evolution of methods and technologies used to create, store, organize, and preserve records.
• Become conversant in the terminology and concepts used in records management and archival administration.
• Be aware of the ways that organizations and individuals use archives and records for research, ongoing operations, accountability, litigation, and organizational memory.
• Become familiar with the basic components of records management and archival programs including inventory, appraisal, disposition, acquisition, arrangement, description, preservation, access, use, and outreach. Understand the relationships among these program elements.
• Be aware of the various environments where records are created, managed, and used - from very informal settings to well-established records management programs and archival institutions.
• Understand how archival and recordkeeping practices differ from and relate to other information management practices.
• Be aware of the legal, policy, and ethical issues surrounding archives and records administration.
• Become familiar with the structure, organization, literature, and current issues in the archival and records management professions.

Resources

The three required texts for the course are available for purchase from the UNC Student Stores in the Daniels Building (two buildings south of Manning).

• Lee, Christopher A. ed. I, Digital: Personal Collections in the Digital Era. Chicago, IL: Society of American Archivists, 2011.
• Millar, Laura. Archives: Principles and Practices. New York, NY: Neal-Schuman, 2010.
• O'Toole, James M., and Richard J. Cox. Understanding Archives & Manuscripts. Chicago, IL: Society of American Archivists, 2006.

• Brown, Adrian. Archiving Websites: A Practical Guide for Information Management Professionals. London: Facet, 2006.
• Cox, Richard J. and David A. Wallace, eds., Archives and the Public Good: Accountability and Records in Modern Society. Westport, Connecticut: Quorum, 2002.
• Daniels, Maygene F., and Timothy Walch, eds. A Modern Archives Reader: Basic Readings on Archival Theory and Practice. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Service, 1984.
• Ellis, Judith, ed. Keeping Archives. 2nd ed. Port Melbourne, Australia: Thorpe, 1993.
• Forde, Helen. Preserving Archives. London: Facet, 2007.
• Jimerson, Randall C., ed. American Archival Studies: Readings in Theory and Practice. Chicago, IL: Society of American Archivists, 2000.
• Jimerson, Randall C. Archives Power: Memory, Accountability and Social Justice. Chicago, IL: Society of American Archivists, 2009.
• Jurgens, Martin C. The Digital Print: Identification and Preservation. Los Angeles, CA: Getty Conservation Institute, 2009.
• Lee, Christopher A. ed. I, Digital: Personal Collections in the Digital Era. Chicago, IL: Society of American Archivists, 2011.
• Levy, David M. Scrolling Forward: Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age. New York: Arcade, 2001.
• Millar, Laura. Archives: Principles and Practices. New York, NY: Neal-Schuman, 2010.
• O'Toole, James M., and Richard J. Cox. Understanding Archives & Manuscripts. Chicago, IL: Society of American Archivists, 2006.
• Yates, JoAnne. Control through Communication. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989.

Assignments and Evaluation

The assignments for this course aim to develop your understanding of archives and records management.They include:

• Review of information about archives on the Web (25%). The purpose of this assignment is to analyze and critique the websites of several different archival institutions, comparing and contrasting their missions, programs, holdings, and services.
• Records and archives in the news (20%). In this assignment, you will evaluate several news stories that relate to archives and records management. The purpose of this assignment is to relate popular understandings of archives and records management with archival and recordkeeping principles.
• Class participation (20%). You are expected to be an active participant in this class by engaging with the course material, raising questions, and making positive contributions to classroom discussions. In order to fully engage with the course topics as a class, you are expected to complete all of the reading prior to each class meeting. For helpful tips on how to read academic texts, please have a look at How to Read a Book by Paul Edwards at Michigan's School of Information.
• Critical analysis: The impact of technology on archives and records management (35%). Your final paper will address the impact of information technology on some aspect of archives and records. The purpose of this assignment is to critically engage with issues and debates surrounding your topic.

In addition, your written work should be of high quality. Please visit the Writing Center on campus (in the Phillips Annex, two buildings East of Peabody) if you have any concerns about your writing. They are an extremely valuable resource.

Honor Code

The Honor Code, which prohibits giving or receiving unauthorized aid in the completion of assignments, is in effect in this class. Please familiarize yourself with the UNC-CH Instrument of Student Governance.

It is very important that you both attribute your sources and avoid excessive use of quotes (see separate handout called "In Your Own Words" in the "Resources/Assignments" section of Sakai). Be aware of the University of North Carolina policy on plagiarism. Your written work must be original. Ask if you have any doubts about what this means. All cases of plagiarism (unattributed quotation or paraphrasing) of anyone else's work, whether from someone else's answers to homework or from published materials, will be officially reported and dealt with according to UNC policies (Instrument of Student Judicial Governance, Section II.B.1. and III.D.2, http://instrument.unc.edu/).