MARA 200-10
The Record and the Recordkeeping Professions
Fall 2011 Greensheet

Lori Lindberg
E-mail

Students will be automatically enrolled in the D2L site for this course. The course will be automatically available to students on August 24th, 2011.

Course Description

The role of records and recordkeeping in society; history, definitions and important concepts related to records and recordkeeping; contexts and critiques of records and recordkeeping; significant scholars and recordkeepers throughout history. Not repeatable.

Prerequisite: Demonstrated computer literacy through completion of required new student online technology workshop.

Satisfactory completion of all written assignments in this course fulfills the university’s "Competency in Written English" requirement.

Course Objectives

Student Learning Outcomes
At the completion of the course, students will be able to:

1. evaluate and explain the significance of records to society and the history of archives and recordkeeping in the Western tradition
2. articulate and employ fundamental recordkeeping concepts, such as authenticity, reliability, context, and the role of records in institutional and public accountability
3. describe and assess the dominant recordkeeping philosophies and models and their advantages and limitations
4. locate, critically evaluate, and use literature and resources provided by the publications and associations that support the recordkeeping professions
5. demonstrate the written and oral skills required of the recordkeeping professional

This course satisfies the following MARA Core Competencies:

• Articulate the ethics, values, and foundational principles of archives and records management professionals and appreciate the important role recordkeepers play in social memory and organizational accountability
• Recognize the social, cultural, and economic dimensions of records, recordkeeping, and records use
• Know the legal requirements and ethical principles involved in records management and the role the recordkeeper plays in institutional compliance and risk management

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Course Requirements

Course Assignments
This course requires a number of assignments designed to introduce students to the concepts, institutions, and seminal theorists of archives and recordkeeping, along with the predominant literature of the profession. Details for the assignments listed below will be posted under your Course Administrative Documents module on D2L. Students accumulate 100 points to determine the course grade.

All assignments are due by submitting via the D2L dropbox created for each by 11:59 PM on the Friday of their respective week. No assignment is due on a holiday or short week.

• Journal / association analysis (10 points, due week 3). Describe and critically assess the focus, content and value of one professional journal and one significant professional association.
• Article critique (10 points, due week 5). Locate, read, analyze, and respond to two articles on the values, ethics, or social roles and responsibilities of the recordkeeping professions.
• Institutional Assessment and Review (10 points, due week 8). Select an archival or records repository and, using criteria provided, evaluate its mission and goals, holdings, services, clienteles, and the professional theories and methodologies used to select and manage collections.
• Annotated bibliography and literature review (25 points, due week 11). Locate and evaluate 12-15 sources relevant to your research paper topic and create an annotated bibliography of those sources (in APA style). The introduction to the annotated bibliography will consist of a short literature review in which you critically assess what has already been written on your topic and the contribution your research will make.
• Research paper (30 points, due week 15). Write a formal research paper in which you analyze a significant issue confronting the recordkeeping professional today. Paper topics may be selected from the areas covered in class, including but not limited to the history of records and recordkeeping throughout the world, major archival theorists and their theories, archives and social memory, the role of records in institutional accountability, changing archives clienteles, the rise of social media and its impact on recordkeeping and the recordkeeping professions and other social issues that impact records and recordkeeping. The text of your paper should be 15 to 20 pages in length; the reference list should include at least 20 citations. You will be graded on the extent of your research, your description and critical analysis of the topic, the evidence you provide in support of your argument, and the clarity and quality of your writing. Your references and formatting should adhere to the rules established in the APA Publication Manual.
• Participation (15 points). A portion of the overall grade is allocated for class participation. For the purposes of this class, participation includes thoughtful contribution to class discussions and the presentation of your research paper findings during Week 14 or 15. Your participation should demonstrate that you are making an effort to master the material covered in the course and contributing to the learning of your peers.

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Course Calendar

Each week will be conducted on a Monday - Friday basis of 5 days (with the exception of Week 1 and holiday weeks; see dates below) and consist of a recorded lecture, accompanying slides, associated reading and weekly discussion.  You will be graded on your discussion as part of your overall participation grade. With a course of this type, you should expect to perform between 9-12 hours a week of work.

Always check the weekly D2L course module first for any readings listed here.

Week 1 (8/24-26): Introduction to course; the record throughout the ages.

Overview of course expectations and outcomes, text, readings, assignments. Orienation to archives + records management = recordkeeping. History of the record and recordkeeping, Part 1.

• Duranti, L. (1993). The odyssey of records managers. In Tom Nesmith (Ed.), Canadian Archival Studies and the Rediscovery of Provenance (pp.29-60). Metuchen, N.J., & London: SAA and ACA in association with The Scarecrow Press.
• Cook, T. (1997). What is past is prologue: A history of archival ideas since 1898, and the future paradigm shift. Archivaria, 43, 17-63.
• Gilliland, A. (1998). The development of archivology in the Western World.
• Kaplan, F. (). We Are What We Collect, We Collect What We Are: Archives and the Construction of Identity. The American Archivist. 63, 126-151.
• Lubar, S. (). Information Culture and the Archival Record. The American Archivist, 62, 10-22.

Week 2 (8/29-9/2): More history - Part 2; overview of the professions: professional associations, professional literature, listservs, blogs, other social media.

• Hill (Ed.), Chapter 1 - Lane/Hill

Browse:

• The Society of American Archivists. "SAA History," located online: http://www.archivists.org/history.asp.
• ARMA International. "About ARMA: Overview," located online: http://www.arma.org/about/overview/index.cfm.
• Institute of Certified Records Managers. "About the Institute," located online:
  https://db.icrm.org/crm/index.jsp?submit_menu=171.
• The Academy of Certified Archivists, "Welcome," located online: http://www.certifiedarchivists.org/html/greeting.html.
• The Australian Society of Archivists, located online:  http://www.archivists.org.au
• Records Management Society of Australia, located online: http://www.rmaa.com.au

Week 3 (9/6-9): Thoroughly modern archives; Journal/Association analysis due.

• Hill (Ed.), Chapter 2 - Breakell
  

Week 4 (9/12-16): Records management and archives: strange bedfellows or kissing cousins?

• Hill (Ed.), Chapter 10 - Convery

Additional reading:

• Myburgh, S. (2005). Records Management and Archives: Finding Common Ground. The Information Management Journal, 39(2), 24-29.

Week 5 (9/19-23): Setting the stage: Defining concepts. Article critiques due.

• Hill (Ed.), Chapter 4 - Duranti and Chapter 5 - Ketelaar
  

Additional reading:

• Duranti, L. (1995, Spring). Reliability and authenticity: The Concepts and Their Implications, Archivaria, 39, 5-10.
• Bearman, D. (1994). Electronic Evidence. Chapters 1-2.

Week 6 (9/26-30): Models of recordkeeping: the life cycle and the continuum

• Cook, T. (2000, August). Beyond the screen: The records continuum and archival cultural heritage. Paper presented at the Australian Society of Archivists Conference, Melbourne.
• McKemmish, S., Piggott, M., & Reed, B. (2005). Archives: Recordkeeping in Society. New South Wales: Centre for Information Studies. (Chapter 8)
• McKemmish, S. (1997). Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: A Continuum of Responsibility. Proceedings of the Records Management Association of Australia 14th National Convention, 15-17 Sept 1997, Perth: RMAA.
  

Week 7 (10/3-7): It’s all about context – the various contexts of records

Week 8 (10/10-14): What is an archivist? What is a records manager? Institutional assessment due

• The Association of Canadian Archivists. "What is an Archivist?" "What is an Archives?" PDFs posted on D2L
• Greene, M. (2009). The Power of Archives: Archivists' Values and Value in the Postmodern Age. The American Archivist, 72 (Spring/Summer), 17-41.

Week 9 (10/17-21): Recordkeeping and the social sciences.

• Hill (Ed.), Chapter 3 - Buchanan and Chapter 6 - Harris

Week 10 (10/24-28): Records and large social issues (access to government information, freedom of information, privacy, oral traditions, non-literate societies).

• Schwartz, J. & Cook, T. (2002). Archives, records and power: The making of modern memory. Archival Science, 2, 1-19.
• Whorley, T. (2005). The Tuskegee Syphilis Study: Access and Control over Controversial Records. Proctor, M. & Cook, M (Eds.).  Political Pressure and the Archival Record.  Society of  American Archivists.  pp. 109-117.
• Bastian, J.(2005).  Whispers in the Archives:  Finding the Voices of the Colonized in the Records of the Colonizer.  Political Pressure and the Archival Record.  Proctor, M. & Cook M. (Eds.) 25-43.
• Barry, R. (2005).  Ethics Issues for the Creators, Managers, and Users of Records.  Political Pressure and the Archival Record. Proctor, M. & Cook, M. (Eds.). 131-149.

Week 11 (10/31-11/4): The “new” history: records and collective memory. Bibliography/literature review due.

• Hill (Ed.), Chapter 7 - Theimer and Chapter 8 - Flinn

Additional reading:

• Bastian, J. (2009).  Flowers for Homestead:  A Case Study in Archives and Collective Memory.  The American Archivist, 72 (Spring/Summer), 113-132.

Week 12 (11/7-10): The ‘post-modern’ recordkeeper

• Hill, (Ed.), Chapter 9 - Cunningham

Additional reading:

• Cook, T. (2000). Archival science and postmodernism: New formulations for old concepts. Archival Science, 1(1), 3-24.
• Cook, T. (2001). Fashionable nonsense or professional rebirth: Postmodernism and the practice of archives. Archivaria, 51(Spring), 1-25.
• Nesmith, T. (2002).  Seeing Archives:  Postmoderism and the Changing Intellectural Place of Archives.  The American Archivist, 65(Spring/Summer), 24-41.

Week 13 (11/14-18): Profiles in courage: Significant recordkeepers, then and now. The future of recordkeeping in the digital age.

• Hill (Ed.), Chapter 11 - Cox

• Re-read Cook, T. (1997, Spring). What is past is prologue: A history of archival ideas since 1898, and the future paradigm shift. Archivaria, 43, 17-63.
• Lindberg, L. (2005). Margaret Cross Norton: Archival visionary. Unpublished paper for INFO STD 281 – Historical Methods in Information Studies. Los Angeles: University of California at Los Angeles, Department of Information Studies.

Week 14 (11/21-23): Research paper presentations and discussion

Week 15 (11/28-12/2): Research paper presentations and discussion; Research paper due

Textbooks and Readings

Additional Readings:
All additional readings will either be:

• Posted under their respective weekly module in D2L (as .pdf or web link)
• Available via King Library online article databases (full citation provided)

Required Textbooks:

• Hill, J. (2011). The Future of Archives and Recordkeeping: A Reader. Facet Publishing. Available through Amazon: 1856046664.

GWAR

This course satisfies the Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR).

INFO 200 gives students graduate-level writing experience, including a literature review and research paper. Graduate-level academic writing is formal and logical. It involves the avoidance of bias, the inclusion of evidence, and the development of strong arguments. Scholarly writing uses concise, precise, and clear language, is cohesive, and utilizes a logically organized flow of ideas. Successful completion of the research paper satisfies San José State University's Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR). If the instructor finds that a student's writing is unacceptable, the instructor will require the student to sign up for online writing tutoring. The student will ask the tutor to confirm with the instructor that he or she is attending sessions.

Grading Scale

The standard SJSU School of Information Grading Scale is utilized for all iSchool courses:

In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:

• C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
• B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work;
  For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA) — INFO 200, INFO 202, INFO 204 — the iSchool requires that students earn a B in the course. If the grade is less than B (B- or lower) after the first attempt you will be placed on administrative probation.  You must repeat the class the following semester. If -on the second attempt- you do not pass the class with a grade of B or better (not B- but B) you will be disqualified.
  
• A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.

Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

University Policies

General Expectations, Rights and Responsibilities of the Student

As members of the academic community, students accept both the rights and responsibilities incumbent upon all members of the institution. Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with SJSU's policies and practices pertaining to the procedures to follow if and when questions or concerns about a class arises. See University Policy S90-5 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S90-5.pdf. More detailed information on a variety of related topics is available in the SJSU catalog at http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/catalog/departments/LIS.html. In general, it is recommended that students begin by seeking clarification or discussing concerns with their instructor. If such conversation is not possible, or if it does not serve to address the issue, it is recommended that the student contact the Department Chair as a next step.

Dropping and Adding

Students are responsible for understanding the policies and procedures about add/drop, grade forgiveness, etc. Refer to the current semester's Catalog Policies section at http://info.sjsu.edu/static/catalog/policies.html. Add/drop deadlines can be found on the current academic year calendars document on the Academic Calendars webpage at http://www.sjsu.edu/provost/services/academic_calendars/. The Late Drop Policy is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/aars/policies/latedrops/policy/. Students should be aware of the current deadlines and penalties for dropping classes.

Information about the latest changes and news is available at the Advising Hub at http://www.sjsu.edu/advising/.

Consent for Recording of Class and Public Sharing of Instructor Material

University Policy S12-7, http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S12-7.pdf, requires students to obtain instructor's permission to record the course and the following items to be included in the syllabus:

• "Common courtesy and professional behavior dictate that you notify someone when you are recording him/her. You must obtain the instructor's permission to make audio or video recordings in this class. Such permission allows the recordings to be used for your private, study purposes only. The recordings are the intellectual property of the instructor; you have not been given any rights to reproduce or distribute the material."
  • It is suggested that the syllabus include the instructor's process for granting permission, whether in writing or orally and whether for the whole semester or on a class by class basis.
  • In classes where active participation of students or guests may be on the recording, permission of those students or guests should be obtained as well.
• "Course material developed by the instructor is the intellectual property of the instructor and cannot be shared publicly without his/her approval. You may not publicly share or upload instructor generated material for this course such as exam questions, lecture notes, or homework solutions without instructor consent."

Academic integrity

Your commitment, as a student, to learning is evidenced by your enrollment at San Jose State University. The University Academic Integrity Policy F15-7 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/F15-7.pdf requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. The Student Conduct and Ethical Development website is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/studentconduct/.

Campus Policy in Compliance with the American Disabilities Act

If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need to make special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible, or see me during office hours. Presidential Directive 97-03 at http://www.sjsu.edu/president/docs/directives/PD_1997-03.pdf requires that students with disabilities requesting accommodations must register with the Accessible Education Center (AEC) at http://www.sjsu.edu/aec to establish a record of their disability.

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