About Us

The Archival Education and Research Initiative represents an unprecedented and exciting collaboration among the leading archival education programs in the U.S. and worldwide to train and support future archival faculty and enhance the education of archival professionals.

Our goal is to stimulate the growth of a new generation of academics in archival education who are versed in contemporary issues and knowledgeable of the work being conducted by colleagues. The initiative seeks to nurture and promote the state-of-the-art in scholarship in Archival Science, broadly conceived, as well as to encourage curricular and pedagogical innovation in archival education across the United States and worldwide.

This project was initially developed with the support of two four-year grants (2008-2014) from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services – Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program. It was directed by a consortium of eight U.S. universities with doctoral specializations in archival studies. Considerable support was also received from several international institutions whose faculty and students have been integral to the development of the initiative. Faculty and students from outside of the U.S. have received  support from their own institutions to participate in this initiative. Since 2016 AERI has been self-supporting based upon registration costs. We also welcome contributions towards scholarships and bursaries to encourage and assist with attendance by from diverse backgrounds and regions of the world. Please contact Anne Gilliland ([email protected]) for further information or to be added to the AERI Listserv and mailing list.

AERI Interim Board and Provisional By-Laws

Currently, the AERI organization is managed through an Interim Board while the future path forward for the initiative is collectively determined. This group has been meeting regularly since 2020 and has laid the groundwork for a set of paths forward. Most recently, the board generated a proposed set of Bylaws (link here) to define the governance structure of the organization in the years to come.