Archival Studies

Course Overview

The Graduate Certificate in Archival Studies provides a specialization in an area of growing interest within the Library and Information Science field as well as an opportunity to learn more about archival practices as they affect the composition and meaning of cultural artifacts and the historical records. In addition, this certificate program offers advanced continuing education opportunities to practitioners working in libraries and archives, especially on the challenges posed by the emergence of digital record keeping. The program is designed to give students foundational core knowledge of the archives profession. The curriculum is structured around the guidelines for graduate programs set by the Society of American Archivists, ensuring that students have a comprehensive understanding of professional archival standards that may not otherwise be acquired without an archives concentration in their graduate level education. The Graduate Certificate in Archival Studies is designed to give students a solid grounding in the core knowledge of the archives and records management profession. The curriculum is structured around the guidelines for graduate programs set by the Society of American Archivists, ensuring that students will be competitive for jobs in a range of institutions possessing archival collections. Student Outcomes: This program is built around the official guidelines of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) for graduate archival studies programs, which call for a minimum of 18 credits as a foundation for archives and records management professionals. Upon graduation, students will have a thorough grounding in the core knowledge of the profession, focusing on the nature of records and the basic archival functions of records appraisal, acquisition, arrangement, description, preservation, reference, access, outreach, and archives administration. Students will also gain essential contextual knowledge of the organizational, legal, and cultural factors shaping archival records as they are created and managed over time.