Participating Institutions

University of California, Los Angeles

Contact: Anne Gilliland, Professor

Archival Program: http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/agilliland/program.html

The specialization comprises a range of courses, experiential components, and research opportunities. Courses explore the full spectrum of archival materials (e.g., paper and electronic records, manuscripts, still and moving images, oral history); the theory that underlies recordkeeping, archival policy development and memory-making; and the historical roles that recordkeeping, archives, and documentary evidence play in a pluralized and increasingly global society. Advanced seminars and an outstanding array of internship opportunities prepare students to play leadership roles in archives and manuscripts administration, records management, archival education and training, preservation, digital curatorship, recordkeeping policy development, archival systems design, electronic records management, and digital asset management. In addition, students may select electives from individual areas such as American Law, Anthropology, Ethnic Studies, History of Science, and Museum Studies, as well as from the interdisciplinary studies programs that are offered in other UCLA departments and schools.

 

University of Michigan

Contact: Elizabeth Yakel, Associate Professor

Archival Program: http://www.si.umich.edu/phd/default.htm

The Archives and Records Management (ARM) specialization at the University of Michigan School of Information features six courses covering all aspects of archival theory and practice. The recently developed Preservation of Information specialization complements the ARM track and is open to all students. The Michigan program is particularly strong in the areas of digital preservation and access.

 

University of Maryland

Contact: Bruce Ambacher, Visiting Professor

Archival Program: http://ischool.umd.edu/programs/phd.shtml

The Archives, Records, and Information Management specialization at the University of Maryland’s College of Information Studies (CLIS) is broadly focused, allowing students multiple options for pursuing archives as part of their MLS degree. The university believes that this broad, generalized approach best suits the unparalleled variety of public and private institutions and organizations in the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area in which CLIS is located.

 

University of Texas, Austin

Contact: Patricia K. Galloway, Associate Professor

Contact: Ciaran B. Trace, Assistant Professor

Archival Program: http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/programs/phd.php

From its foundation in the 1980s, Texas’s program was designed to provide a thorough grounding in the theory and practice of archival enterprise in both administrative and collecting environments, emphasizing both the administration of archival programs and the marketing of the necessity for archival preservation. From 2000, a third emphasis on digital archiving has been added, including a suite of courses to cover major aspects of its theory and practice and a revision of the teaching of appraisal to accommodate the theoretical impact of digital archiving.

 

Simmons College

Contact: Jeannette Bastian, Associate Professor

Archival Program: http://www.simmons.edu/gslis/academics/programs/doctoral/

Although the Simmons archives program is comprehensive, offering twelve archives and archives-related courses overall, its strengths may lie in the areas of manuscripts and personal papers. This strength, encompassing all aspects of manuscripts and personal papers is supported by our Dual Degree History/Archives program, the range of internship offerings in historical societies, universities and special collections, our curriculum emphasis on Appraisal, digital preservation and society/memory concerns, and the practical experience of our adjuncts, who are primarily drawn from university archives.

 

University of Pittsburgh

Contact: Richard J. Cox, Professor

Archival Program: http://www.ischool.pitt.edu/lis/degrees/phd.php

The University of Pittsburgh’s School of Information Sciences is a dynamic environment offering a wide array of courses bridging archival theory and practice. Students enrolled in the program gain a thorough understanding of archival and records management theory, principles, and practices; learn to utilize research methods; and discern how archival repositories and recordkeeping organizations are laboratories for research. Graduates become experts in records and recordkeeping systems, the evolution of new technologies, and the interdisciplinary nature of research about records and recordkeeping systems. The program is designed to help students understand that archivists and records managers work to administer records as evidence rather than only as information or cultural artifacts. The graduate program is constantly expanding and changing in order to keep pace with the dynamic nature of modern records systems. The archives and records management specialization can be taken as part of both the MLIS and Ph.D. degree.

 

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Contact: Helen R. Tibbo, Professor

Archival Program: http://sils.unc.edu/programs/phd/index.html

The School of Information and Library Science at UNC-CH is currently listed as the top LIS program in the U.S. in US News and World Reports’ most recent ranking (tied with the University of Illinois). While exact positioning on such a list is always debatable, such national recognition and continuous seven-year accreditation of both the MSLS and MSIS degrees from the American Library Association speak to the overall excellence of the program. SILS offers several courses that are relevant to archival studies from a comprehensive introduction through digital curation seminars for those interested in digital asset longevity. Additionally, a strong information science program with extensive web, networking, and database courses bolster any other specialty, including archiving, which a student may select as a focus. A notable strength of SILS is digital curation. SILS is currently developing an IMLS-funded international digital curation curriculum in partnership with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.

University of Oklahoma

        Contact: Kelvin White, Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator

        Program: http://slis.ou.edu/


OU’s School of Library and Information Studies specialization in Archival Studies and Records Management (AS&RM) program is designed to produce information professionals that are equipped with theoretical and practical knowledge needed to identify, develop, analyze, and maintain recordkeeping systems in a variety of traditional and non-traditional environments, preparing graduates for a competitive job market as well as the challenges of the 21st century. The AS&RM specialization is unique in that it emphasizes and prepares students to be both socio-culturally aware and sensitive to diverse recordkeeping environments, activities, and the implications they have for marginalized or underrepresented communities. Archival courses include Archival Concepts and Traditions, Archival Appraisal, Archival Representation and Use, Preservation of Information Material, Documents and Records Management, Community Relations and Advocacy, Service Learning Opportunities, and numerous Internships.