History 491/691: Introduction to archives
Syllabus, Fall 2010
Sept. 7 Introduction to the course, assignments, etc.
14 Records
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O’Toole and Cox, Understanding Archives and Manuscripts, 1-43.
Hirsch, Rebecca, “The permanence of provenance: The ‘two
traditions’ and the American archival profession,” Journal of Archival
Organization 8 (2010): 54-72.
Schwartz, Joan M., “’Having new eyes’: Spaces of archives,
landscapes of power,” Archivaria 61 (2006): 1-25.
Shepherd, Elizabeth, “Culture and evidence: or what hood are the
archives?” Archival Science 9 (2009): 173-185.
21 Organization
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Roe, Arranging and Describing Archives and Manuscripts, 1-71, 119130.
Boles, Frank, “Disrespecting Original Order,” American Archivist 45
(1982): 26-32.
MacNeil, Heather, “Archivalterity: Rethinking original order,”
Archivaria 66 (2008): 1-24.
28 Appraisal
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Boles, Frank and Julia Marks Young, “Exploring the black box: The
appraisal of university administrative records,” American Archivist 48
(1985): 121-140.
Doylen, Michael, “Experiments in Deaccessioning: Archives and Online Auctions, American Archivist 64 (2001): 350-362.
Greene, Mark, “I’ve deaccessioned and lived to tell about it:
Confessions of an unrepentant reappraiser,” Archival Issues 30 (2006):
7-22.
Shilton, Katie and Ramesh Srinivasan, “Participatory appraisal and
arrangement for multivcultural archival collections,” Archivaria 63
(2008): 87-100.
Wojcik, Caryn, “Appraisal, Reappraisal and Deaccessioning,”
Archival Issues 27 (2002): 151-159
Oct. 5 Description
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Greene and Meissner, “More Product, Less Process,” American
Archivist 68 (2005): 208-263.
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Cox, Robert S., “Archivist on a pale horse,” in press
Assignment due (7p. paper):
Examine the websites of three archives or special collections libraries:
compare and contrast. How do these sites reflect the missions, values,
collecting scope, commitments, audience, and home institutions? What is
good and bad about each? What would add or subtract to improve?
12 No Class (Bill Cosby Appreciation Day)
19 Finding aids
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Roe, Kathleen D., Arranging and Describing Archives and
Manuscripts, 71-100, 111-118, 131-174.
Cox, Richard J., “Revisiting the archival finding aid,” Journal of
Archival Organization 5,4 (2007): 5-32.
Pitti, Daniel V., “Encoded Archival Description: The Development of
an Encoding Standard for Archival Finding Aids,” American Archivist
60 (1997): 268-283.
26 Memory
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Bastian, Jeannette A., “In a ‘House of Memory’: Discovering the
Provenance of Place,” Archival Issues 28:1 (2003-2004): 9-20.
Millar, Laura, “Touchstones: considering the relationship between
memory and archives,” Archivaria 61 (2006): 105-126.
Swain, Ellen D., “Oral History in the Archives: Its Documentary Role
in the Twenty-first Century,” American Archivist 66 (2003): 139-158.
Tucker, Susan and Svanhildur Bogadóttir, “Gender, memory, and
history: In one culture and across others,” Journal of Archival
Organization 6 (2008): 288-310.
Nov. 9 Reference
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Duff, Wendy M. and Catherine A. Johnson, “Where is the list with all
the names? Information-seeking behavior of geneologists,” American
Archivist (2003): 79-95.
Mary Jo Pugh, Providing Reference Services for Archives and
Manuscripts, (Chicago : SAA, 2005): 33-73; 111-143.
Stark, Bruce P., “The archivist as detective; or, the case of Ledyard v.
William Morgan,” American Archivist 67 (2004): 269- 292
Huvila, Isto, “Participatory archive: towards decentralised curation,
radical user orientation, and broader contextualisation of records
management,” Archival Science 8 (2008): 15-36.
Adams, Margaret O’Neill, “Analyzing archives and find facts: use and
users of digital data records,” Archival Science 7 (2007): 21-36.
16 Preservation
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O’Toole, James, “On the Idea of Uniqueness,” American Archivist (Fall
1994): 632-658
more coming!
23 Privacy
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Danielson, Elena S., “Privacy rights and the rights of political victims:
Implications of the German experience,” American Archivist 67
(2004): 176-193.
Gaudet, Marybeth, “Playing fair with the right to privacy,” Archival
Issues 28 (2003-2004): 21-34.
Hodson, Sara S., “In secret kept, in silence sealed: Privacy in the
papers of authors and celebrities,” American Archivist, 67 (2004): 194211.
Rubel, Dejah T., “Accessing their voice from anywhere: analysis of
the legal issues surrounding the online use of oral histories,” Archival
Issues 31 (2007): 171-187.
30 Ethics
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Dingwall, Glenn, “Trusting Archivists: The Role of Archival Ethics
Codes in Establishing Public Faith, American Archivist (2004): 11-30
Kaplan, Diane E., “The Stanley Milgram Papers: A Case Study on
Appraisal of and Access to Confidential Data Files,” American
Archivist 59 (1996): 288-297.
Herrada, Julie, “Letters to the Unabomber: a case study and some
reflections,” Archival Issues 28 (2003-2004): 35-46
Maher, William, “Between Authors and Users: Archivists in the
Copyright Vise,” Archival Issues 26 (2001): 63-75.
Stanley Kurtz, “Chicago Annenberg Challenge Shutdown?” in
National Review Online found at: <a href="http://
Stanley Kurtz, “Chicago Annenberg Challenge Shutdown?” in
National Review Online found at:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MTgwZTVmN2QyNzk2MmUx
MzA5OTg0ODZlM2Y2OGI0NDM=
Dec. 7 The Future
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Kruse, Magia Geta and Elizabeth Yakel, “Interaction in virtual archives:
The Polar Bear Expedition digital collections next generation finding
aid,” American Archivist 70 (2007): 282-314
More coming!
Assignments due
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Paper (7p., plus or minus) on any topic related to your collection
(one paper per person)
Finding aid for your collection, fully edited and ready for the public
(one finding aid per group)