LIS 5463: Archival Presentation

Instructor: J.A. Pryse / Summer 2019

Student Learning Objectives:

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the theories and practices related to the processing of archival collections.
Understand and apply techniques, technologies, and tools relevant to the representation and usage of archival materials.
Develop a personal philosophy rooted in the professional standards and best practices regarding the ethical use of archival materials.

My experience:

This course was a key course in my learning of archival theory and processes. The class was assigned a project of processing, arranging, describing, and digitizing a collection that was gifted to the University of Oklahoma. The part of the collection that our class was responsible for was the photography.

Through instruction, readings, and lectures, I was able to walk beyond the classroom and assist in all the fundamental processes that are practiced in the archival field. The collection was received, an inventory created, sorting and arrangement decided upon, folders enumerated and assigned to each student, and metadata created for each photo. When these processes were completed, information was uploaded to the Omeka platform, and the result was the collection being available for public access.

The entire process gave me the experience and ability to make decisions on how to proceed in each step. One example of this, is the way the collection was received. There was no order to all the different items. It was ascertained through archival practices taught in class, that provenance would not apply to this collection. It was, therefore, best to proceed with sorting photos by gender, age, individuals, groups, and postcard photos. I was able to apply this entire experience to the current projects I am working with in my outside internships and in my final class internship as well.