About Consortium Members

The following list provides brief information about and contact persons for the education and research programs of our consortium members. If any school wishes to be listed as a consortium member and have its program information included in this list, please contact AERI Director, Anne J. Gilliland ([email protected]).

Kent State University iSchool, Contact: Karen F. Gracy, Associate Professor

University of California, Los AngelesDepartment of Information Studies
Contacts: Anne J. Gilliland, Professor; Jonathan Furner, Professor; Michelle Caswell, Assistant Professor; and Shawn VanCour, Assistant Professor

Two Master’s specializations in Archival Studies and Media Archival Studies at UCLA encompass an extensive range of courses, experiential components, and research opportunities. The Department also offers an extensive Ph.D. curriculum. Courses explore the full spectrum of archival materials in all formats and in all settings; the theory that underlies recordkeeping, memory-making and identity formation; and the historical roles that recordkeeping, archives, and documentary evidence play in a pluralized and increasingly global society, with a particular emphasis on social justice, human rights and community engagement. Advanced seminars and an outstanding array of internship opportunities in California as well as in several locations around the globe prepare students to play leadership roles in professional practice and scholarship. In addition, students may select electives from individual areas such as Anthropology, African American Studies, American Indian Studies, Asian American Studies, Chicanx Studies, Gender Studies, History of Science, Latin American Studies, Law, and Museum Studies, as well as from the interdisciplinary studies programs that are offered in other UCLA departments and schools.

University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa School of LIbrary and Information Studies. Contacts: Robert Riter, Assistant Professor and Tonia Sutherland, Assistant Professor

University of Maryland: College of Information Studies
Contact: Ricardo L. Punzalan, Assistant Professor

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 MichiganSchool of Information
Contact: Elizabeth Yakel, Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs and Professor of Information

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 North Carolina, Chapel Hill: School of Information and Library Science
Contact: Helen Tibbo, Alumni Distinguished ProfessorThe 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, with an IMLS-funded international digital curation curriculumdeveloped in partnership with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.

University of Oklahoma: School of Library and Information Studies
Contact: Kelvin White, Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Community.

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.

University of Pittsburgh: School of Information Sciences
Contact: Stacy E. Wood, Assistant Professor

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 Texas, Austin: School of Information
Contact: Patricia Galloway, Professor; Ciaran Trace, Associate Professor

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: School of Library and Information Science
Contact: Jeannette Allis Bastian, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Professor, and Director, Archives Management Concentration

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.