LIS 647: Introduction to Archival Organization
Online, Summer 2008
"To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.
For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?" - Cicero

Instructor
Teresa Welsh, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
The University of Southern Mississippi
School of Library & Information Science
Cook Library, Room 206H
Phone: 601.296.0528
Teresa.Welsh@usm.edu
http://ocean.otr.usm.edu/~w146169/

Description
This three hour course focuses on basic introduction in handling materials of archival significance, and on the development of the archives-library relationship.

Online class discussions are scheduled on Wednesday evenings, 6:30-8:00pm Central time.

Drop Dates
The last day that this course may be dropped with refund is June 6th.
The last day to drop full-term classes without academic penalty is June 24th.

Required Text may be ordered from BarnesandNoble or SAA.
Arranging & Describing Archives & Manuscripts
by Kathleen D. Roe, 2005


Additional text is available online at NetLibrary
Preservation: Issues and Planning
Edited by Paul N. Banks and Roberta Pilette, 2000


Course Objectives

After completion of the course students should be able to demonstrate a basic knowledge of:

  1. The role archives have played in the development of human culture
  2. The philosophical and practical differences between archives and libraries
  3. Arranging and describing archives and manuscripts
  4. Issues related to preservation and digitization.

Weekly Schedule
Subject to Revision

Week 1
Early Repositories

Week 2
Archives & Archivists

Week 3
Archives Management

Week 4
Arrangement & Description

Week 5
Arrangement & Description

Week 6
Midterm
Book Review Due

Week 7
Preservation

Week 8
Digitization

Week 9
Final
Final Paper Due


Course Requirements

  1. Book Report (30%)

  2. Archive paper (50%)

  3. Class Participation (20%)
    • Students are expected to read the online material and required texts in order to participate in discussion board postings and chats.
    • Students are expected to attend each chat for the entire time of the session. All absences from chats will be recorded. Points will be deducted from the final grade for missed chats or failure to post responses to questions on the Discussion Board.

Grading

A95-100
A-93-94
B+91-92
B86-90
B-84-85
C+82-83
C75-81
C-73-74
D+71-72
D66-70
D-64-65
F0-63

Course Policies
Students are responsible for reading syllabus content and becoming familiar with course policies and procedures

Students will not be granted an Incomplete for this course for failing to complete assignments. A student who receives an Incomplete will have only ONE semester in which to complete the work, and will not be eligible to receive an A.

If a student stops attending class and does not complete the appropriate withdrawal papers or procedures with the registrar, that student will be assigned an F. If this is the only class a student is taking then the student must call the USM graduate school to properly withdraw.

If a student commits plagiarism, that student will receive an F in the course.

A student may not self-plagiarize or submit work done in another course unless receiving prior permission from the instructor. Any assignment that is self plagiarized without prior permission from the instructor will receive zero points.

Virtual classroom attendance and participation is expected. Participation is a large part of the grade and consists of the virtual classroom participation and discussion board postings.

Students are required to subscribe to lisnews, the LIS listserv. Subscribe to lisnews by sending an email to: Majordomo@usm.edu with nothing in the subject box and the following command in the body of the email message: subscribe lisnews

All assignments should be saved in .doc or .rtf format and posted to the Digital Drop Box. Work not turned in on time will be assessed a penalty of 10% per week without prior approval from the instructor.

Failure to follow specific instructions for content and formatting of assignments will result in lower grades.

Writing skills: All work must be in standard English; inappropriate grammar, punctuation, and/or spelling will result in lower grades.

Academic Code of Conduct
Students are expected to follow the Academic Code of Conduct, which includes mutual respect and academic honesty.

"When cheating is discovered, the faculty member may give the student an F on the work involved or in the course. If further disciplinary action is deemed appropriate, the student should be reported to the dean of students. In addition to being a violation of academic honesty, cheating violates the Code of Student Conduct and may be grounds for probation, suspension, and/or expulsion. Students on disciplinary suspension may not enroll in any courses offered by The University of Southern Mississippi." USM Graduate Bulletin, p. 30.

"Plagiarism is scholarly theft, and it is defined as the unacknowledged use of secondary sources. More specifically, any written or oral presentation in which the writer or speaker does not distinguish clearly between original and borrowed material constitutes plagiarism. Because students, as scholars, must make frequent use of the concepts and facts developed by other scholars, plagiarism is not the mere use of another's facts and ideas. However, it is plagiarism when students present the work of other scholars as if it were their own work. Plagiarism is committed in a number of ways:

  1. Reproducing another author's writing as if it were one's own.
  2. Paraphrasing another author's work without citing the original.
  3. Borrowing from another author's ideas, even though those ideas are reworded, without giving credit.
  4. Copying another author's organization without giving credit.
Plagiarism is a serious offense. An act of plagiarism may lead to a failing grade on the paper and in the course, as well as sanctions that may be imposed by the student judicial system." USM Graduate Bulletin, p. 30; USM Student Handbook, p. 73.

Disability Statement
If a student has a disability that qualifies under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and requires accommodations, he/she should contact the Office for Disability Accommodations (ODA) for information on appropriate policies and procedures. Disabilities covered by ADA may include learning, psychiatric, physical disabilities, or chronic health disorders. Students can contact ODA if they are not certain whether a medical condition/disability qualifies.
Address: The University of Southern Mississippi, Office for Disability Accommodations, 118 College Drive, # 8586, Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001
Voice Telephone: (601) 266-5024, or (228) 214-3232; Fax: (601) 266-6035
Individuals with hearing impairments can contact ODA using the Mississippi Relay Service at 1-800-582-2233 (TTY) or email Suzanne.Hebert@usm.edu.



Note: This is an abbreviated version of the course syllabus. The complete syllabus is posted on the Blackboard LIS647 course site.

Webpage Design
Teresa S. Welsh
e-mail: teresa.welsh@usm.edu
Updated 5/15/2008