Introduction to Archives, Archivists and the Preservation of Cultural Heritage

Catalog description

This course introduces students to the power and importance of archives in scholarship and in society beyond through reading and discussion as well as hands-on exercises in archival arrangement, description and access. Students will study issues in archival theory and practice. Class discussions will focus on the expanding role of the archivist in seeking out and recording cultural memory, and the responsibilities that attach to the preservation of heritage materials. Among the critical questions addressed are: what is an archive? What do archivists do? and what is the relationship between archivists, researchers, and the broader community of people concerned with the preservation of cultural memory and heritage materials? Students will process a portion of a collection within one of the CCNY Special Collections under the supervision of an archivist or curator. They will arrange the materials guided by a specific hierarchical schema or taxonomy, then describe the materials using a formal descriptive language convention. Students will work on these projects both during class and outside of class time. Finally, they will add the record they created to the archival collection finding aid or in the form of an Omeka presentation.