Monmouth College
Department of History
Dr.
Stacy A. Cordery
HIST 190: Introduction to Archival Work
This course is not a typical class; instead it’s more like an internship. Its purpose is twofold: to teach you the basic practices and procedures of archival work and to give you practical experience that will assist you as you look toward a career in library science, archival management, or other related fields.
Note: You may not be enrolled in this class simultaneously with Historiography.
Course content:
Primarily, the assignments will be hands-on. You'll
start by meeting with your 290 supervisor, should there be one. They,
or we, will start with
a preliminary discussion of the purposes and basic organization of the
Archives, then you’ll spend the next hour or two
getting acclimatized on your own. Then
you'll get started on basic filing which
will help you learn where things are and the importance of putting things
back exactly where they go. You will need this information because part of
your job will be to assist
researchers with the
archival material they will need for their projects. As the semester
progresses, we’ll move into specific projects, suited to your interests when
possible. Along the way, I may have reading material for you, and we’ll meet
together and talk about topics like preservation and storage, organization,
acquisition, and so forth.
Time expectation: I expect you to spend three hours a week in the Archives working, from the second week of the semester on. The librarian on duty when you ask for the key to the Archives will sign you in and out, and I’ll check the attendance weekly. The meetings to discuss reading material or to file together will count as part of your three hours’ work per week.
Grading: In this class you will earn an A, a C, or an F. Here’s how:
To earn an A, you do three things consistently: show up when expected for your three hours per week, do the assigned work, and have a good attitude.
To earn a C, you will have sporadic attendance, do mediocre work, and display a poor attitude.*
In extreme
circumstances, it would be possible for you to earn an F. To do so, you
will have to avoid all of my attempts to contact you to tell you that
you should drop the course. If you don’t respond to my e-mails or phone
calls in a timely fashion, then you earn an F.
Here’s the rationale for this grading
system. An internship is like a real job. If I were your boss and
you were an employee of the Monmouth College Archives, I’d expect
you to show up on time, do your best, and have an attitude conducive
to getting the work done. If you did none of those things, I’d want
to fire you. Because this is a class, I can’t fire you; instead you
will earn a C. If you earn a C in this course, I will not write a
letter of recommendation for you now or in the future for any
archives-like job.
At the
end of the semester, if you have a 290 supervisor, s/he will write up a report with a
recommended grade for you, based on the above expectations which I will
take into consideration when I assign the grade you earned.
The Future: The History 290 course is a continuation of this course with the additional task of supervising the 190 students, and the pleasure of working with off-campus researchers. If you enjoy this course and do well in it, HIST 290 may be a good choice for you. History 290 will give you more autonomy and provide more of a sense of the profession.
IMPORTANT LINKS FOR THIS CLASS AND/OR FOR A CAREER AS AN ARCHIVIST:
Society
of American Archivists: Directory of Archival Education
U.S. Department of Labor's
website on archivists and curators
Federal governmental jobs--search for
"museum" or "archives" or "archivist." This is a good site to check
for the qualifications needed for the jobs you might want. This site
will have postings for jobs at the Smithsonian and other federal
repositories.
American Association of Museums--click
on "Job HQ" on the left side of the page
Association of Midwest Museums--click on the "jobs" link at the top of the page
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