Hi everyone,
It's easy to find out which universities in Australia offer accredited degrees in Archives and Recordkeeping, but no one seems to be discussing the relative advantages and disadvantages of each course. I find it hard to believe that they are all of the exact same quality and cover the exact same things! I've been going around the various uni websites looking at the degrees they offer but I'd like to get beyond the sales pitch to the nuts and bolts of completing the degree.
Here's my situation:
I'm 24, graduated in 2011 with a BArts in Sociology and Psychology and have been working in retail since. I live in Sydney's Inner West.
Experience in Archives: I volunteer at two local archives (one pre-1950, the other 1950-present) for a total of 8 hours a week.
My course: I started Charles Sturt's Master of Info Studies last semester by distance part time.
What I like about it:
- The subject matter is interesting for the most part.
- We get our assignments back in a fairly timely manner and the administration seems "on the ball" generally.
- It's challenging but not impossible.
- We do a study visit to local archives in addition to a professional placement.
- It seems like a diverse group of students, some with library or archives experience and some without.
What I don't like about it:
- I don't like the online study interface, especially the forums. I find it clunky and in the forums you end up having to read every single post to find the interesting/useful ones. I don't find it conducive to building relationships with other students or faculty.
- I'm not interested in working in a library but most of the core units (at least based on the ones I'm doing and the descriptions in the handbook) seem to be highly skewed towards the library perspective. Like I said before it is interesting but I'm not sure how useful this will be in the long run.
- So far there hasn't been much practical instruction within the units and I don't know how much more there will be in the future based on the unit descriptions. Given that whenever I talk to someone about career development in Archives they say "get as much practical experience as you can" this is concerning.
So what about you? I would love to read perspectives from people doing other degrees (or even people at CSU who think I'm totally wrong). Our collective experience is a great resource for the students of today and tomorrow!
Replies
Hi everyone,
Thought I would add my learnings into what is becoming a really good resource for students.
I'm currently enrolled at Curtin in a BA-Internet Communications with plans to begin the Masters of Information Management in 2016. My long-term goal is to work in the US for which a Masters level librarianship is a requirement (I recognise that a US masters is actually a post-grad but I don't want to risk it for just a years extra study).
I originally hoped some of the courses in the Librarianship would act as my electives but as Linda has discussed they are the same classes for undergrads and postgrads, so taking them as an undergrad I learnt would mean I would be ineligible to take them at a Masters level.
The Internet Comms stream however is pretty fabulous! It focuses on the sociology of the internet as well as some website development. Hopefully as Dr Brogan suggests, this will provide a multi-disciplinary foundation.
As a side note, Curtin are currently changing their course structure for the Masters in Info Management, from 2016 it will become a 2 year course (currently 18 months) and graduates will come out with a Librarianship(ALIA) and registration with RMA and ASA.
Hope this info helps other budding archivists!
Jess
Hi,
I'm doing the Grad Dip in Information and Knowledge Management at Monash. All I can say is that I'm definitely going to have to do masters. I might try through ECU or Curtin. The online study interface isn't too bad, it does fall down however with the chat room function for distance ed students. I did one class distance last semester and trying to have tutes through the chat room was all but pointless with users being constantly booted from the room. It just made it impossible to have a proper conversation.
I find for my classes where it is actually archival based the teachers are really on the ball. Some of the other classes however the teachers can be very vague and elusive. I'd make comment about your dislike of the lack of practical experience your course provides; I don't really think that's the point of any of the archival/librarian courses. It's more a matter of developing your conceptual thinking and an understanding of archival and recordkeeping practices and issues within the field; rather than 'this is how to save a paper based record form mould' sort of thing. But that's just my take on it.
Like Sigrid, I also will admit an interest - I coordinate an equivalent course at ECU, another accredited provider. My points are a little different from those raised so far, and concern higher education and the nature of the industry in which graduates expect to find employment:
Dr Mark Brogan
Senior Lecturer, School of Computer and Security Science, Edith Cowan University
[m.brogan@ecu.edu.au]
what an excellent post.
I'm an external student at Curtin University studying the BA Library and Corporate Information Management. You'll note there is no mention of Archives in that title but that is also part of the degree. Our degree is highly focused on the practical. The LIS100 Intro to Library unit involves a 2 week placement in a library. All the records units also require site visits and placements and last semester I completed LIM205 Archive Concepts and Practice which involved a 30 hour placement within an archive. In third year there is a three week project placement in either a library, or RM. Much of our course work for each unit involves writing reports and working with software.
Library units dominate our course as well. Initially this is ok because as undergraduates many of us don't have a definite career path in mind. However in my 2nd year I and the rest of my fellow students are beginning to know where we want to work in the future. Many of us are headed into libraries, some are more interested in the RIM sector while a few (like me) want to work in Archives.
As external students we study alongside post grad and master students doing the same units who often express frustration having to study units not directly relevant to their career path. Personally I'm still interested in the library units because this is what got me interested in the degree to begin with. As a mature age student I'm very conscious of keeping my job options as wide as possible. That said and given I would love to work in archives I'm going to use your suggestion and do any extra research in the archives field.
We are using Blackboard (BB) as well. I think it's OK but it is still only a facilitator of and repository for information dissemination. It is easy to navigate but depending on how the Unit Coordinator chooses to structure the BB there is sometimes confusion about where information is stored. The discussion board is only ever as good as the group of people actively using it. It still doesn't encourage active participation because (in an external student perspective) not everyone is working at the same time. My best experiences with the discussion boards have involved a highly structured set of instructions from the lecturer on when and how posts should made. In units where these instructions are not given or are less specific the boards are often deserted or filled with questions about the coursework.
Thank you for bringing this issue into the light. Hopefully more of us will weigh in with their thoughts.
All the Best
Lynda
Hi Lynda,
Thanks for your response, that's very interesting! I was really surprised to hear that you are actually studying with post grad and masters students. I just took a quick look at the Curtin website and saw that the course description for Library and Information Services Management 301 is exactly the same as the description for Library and Information Services Management 531. So in your experience were those classes actually taught together as one class? What is that like?
I think you have a great point about online learning systems generally. Like a face to face class, in the end it's only as good as the lecturer and the students.
Cheers
Robin
Hi Robin,
yes we do have the same course work but depending on the unit the assessment requirements differ from undergrad to post-grad and masters. For example in LIM202 Enterprise Content Management discussion board posts are required to be between 300 and 350 words, with intext referencing. The difference between undergrad and post/masters comes in the number and quality of references required; undergrads a minimum of one reference; post grads and masters have to include a minimum of four references 2 of which have to be after 1999. In past units the post grads have been required to research topics and set questions on the discussion board for the undergrads to answer. So although the topics being studied were the same the method of assessment was changed to fit the study level of the student.
It can be intimidating studying with more advanced students because they are often already working in the profession and have knowledge outside of the academic which makes some of their contributions online hard to digest. That said it also helps because you constantly have real life examples (and help) to draw on inside your unit group.
Lynda
Hi Robin
I will declare my interest upfront - I coordinate the Records & Archives Management specialisations (bachelors and masters levels) at CSU. I have worked there for four years now, but I come from a long background in the profession, mostly in university and government archives. I have also been a CSU student by distance, having undertaken a qualification in education since I started in this job.
Before I go on to the sales pitch, I will respond to your 'don't likes'.
1. Yes, the online study interface is difficult and especially the forums. We are always looking for improved ways to communicate with students. One of these is the School's Facebook page - SISCSU.
2. Re the library-skewed content. This is useful feedback - I would be interested in some more precise examples because I regularly point this out to my colleagues. It is not ill-will or prejudice on their part, it's just that they come from a different background. Having said that, I have learnt a lot that I find exciting and stimulating about libraries from leading our study visits. I think archives have something to learn from the positive 'customer service' focus found in many libraries.
3. Practical instruction - we try to make the records and archives management assessment tasks 'real world' ones and our specialisation subjects feature plenty of podcasts from archivists and records managers talking about their work. I know that the subject descriptions are very brief, but that's CSU policy!
Now for the positive stuff.
1. We are introducing more online lectures and seminars into our classes next year and in 2015 CSU will complete the changeover from its current online interface to Blackboard. This change should make a big difference.
2. Our courses are based on the philosophy that a broad information profession exists. We would like our students to be able to appreciate the breadth of the work done and the diversity of the collections managed by information professionals.
3. You are always welcome to contact the staff about your career development - we have plenty of knowledge to share. In fact, on Wednesday next week there is an information evening in Sydney which you would have received information about. I will be there. Bob Pymm, Associate Head of School and I will be at the Australian Society of Archivists conference in Canberra next month. Our School is a major sponsor of that conference.
Sigrid McCausland (smccausland@csu.edu.au)
Lecturer, School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University
Hi Sigrid
I was right, the admin and lecturers at CSU are pretty on the ball!
In regards to specific examples, I'm currently enrolled in INF405: The Digital Environment. Overall the module content is ICT focused and refers to libraries as examples. In module 4 which discusses Web 2.0 technologies there are a few sections specifically about Web 2.0 use in libraries and businesses but no other contexts. The textbook is a library-related text and the reference lists for most of the modules list resources from either IT or library studies. The exceptions are Modules 5 and 6 which cover Information and Knowledge Management and Information Services, respectively. So although the modules vary to what extent they focus on libraries, and most modules are fairly neutrally ICT focused there aren't many mentions of other information services except briefly and in very general terms.
That being said the first assignment did incorporate technology use in business and health contexts as well as libraries and that was well done I thought. In our second assignment we also have the option to choose a scenario besides libraries but based on the content presented to me in the unit I personally feel more confident writing about technology use in libraries than in any other information-related scenario. Other students with more experience in non-library environments probably wouldn't have the same problem.
My other unit is INF406: Information Sources and Services which is entirely about libraries. The modules cover such topics as the reference interview, creating subject guides, reference service models and effective searching. While I can certainly see that these topics have relevance to other contexts besides libraries the unit itself is entirely from a library perspective. I try to apply what I'm learning to the archives and recordkeeping context but it is difficult considering that beyond what I have researched independently and observed during my volunteering I know nothing about the subject. If I could do the semester over I would have been doing extra research each week to find out more about these topics in the archives context and I certainly will be doing that in future units. Live and learn!
I'm glad to know that there is more practical instruction coming up in other units and that the online study interface will be changing. I already have next Wednesday's event in my diary and I'm looking forward to it!
This post wasn't meant to be an attack on CSU and I hope it didn't seem like I was just whinging passive-aggressively. I was really just hoping to spark an open conversation about the study options in Australia amongst students at many different institutions and I hope that other students reading this feel comfortable sharing their honest opinions about their institutions. I think it's a shame this group isn't more active and I hope we can continue to have discussions on these topics.
Anyway I really appreciate your response Sigrid and look forward to meeting you next Wednesday.
Robin