Katie-

Last year at the SAA Annual Meeting, I attended a workshop that
discussed just this topic. Archivists at the American Heritage Center of the
University of Wyoming are very aggressively pursuing such collaboration,
and are working on a book that hopefully will be published soon. Two of the
workshop participants were: Carol Bowers and Leslie Shores, both Reference
Archivists at AHC. I would think they would be happy to chat with you.

I found the workshop very beneficial, and eagerly await their book.

Ann Mulfort, CA
Annarchivist
9 Heather Place
St. Paul, MN  55102
612.865.9544
[log in to unmask]


>From: Catherine Sherman <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Catherine Sherman <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Early Friday Funny
>Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 13:51:08 -0500
>
>Hi all,
>
>I'm a first-year archives grad student at the U. of Maryland, and I've been 
>watching this conversation with interest as it relates to a research 
>project I am undertaking.  I am examining the use of primary sources in 
>undergradaute teaching of history, and I'm discovering a disturbing lack of 
>discussion in the archival community regarding our role in that process.  
>Perhaps you all, who are more experienced and well-read than I, can offer 
>some thoughts on this.
>
>In my search for literature on this topic, I have found a good deal of open 
>discussion among educators about the use of primary sources in teaching.  
>In addition to general discussion, there are numerous presentations of 
>individual teaching methods that integrate primary sources.  However,
>collaboration with members of the archival profession often seems a novel 
>afterthought, if it is mentioned at all.
>
>Among archivists, undergraduates are relegated most often to a brief 
>mention as one of our many user populations in writings on reference or 
>user studies.  The research needs of graduate students is a vogue topic, as 
>is making history more "alive" for students (most often K-12) by having 
>more "face time."
>
>But to date, I have found next to nothing written in either field that 
>focuses specifically on collaboration between archivists and educators 
>(especially at the undergraduate level).  We seem to consider instructors 
>as just another user group who we are happy to assist when they come 
>through the door, but we never talk about seeking them out first.  There 
>are a very few articles highlighting individual cases of such 
>collaboration, but it is not a topic of general discussion at all.
>
>Why?  We can all agree that this is important, and even that it is occuring 
>here and there.  So why isn't it discussed?  And why does it seem to be 
>such a novel idea when it occurs to an educator at all?  Why do we care so 
>much about serving the users who come to where we are, but we don't want to 
>consider openly the possibility and importance of extending our role beyond 
>the repository door?
>
>These are my honest questions to you "veterans" as I enter the field.  I 
>have an image in my mind of The Archivist standing in the open door calling 
>people to come in, but refusing to step over the threshold and go lead them 
>in by the hand.  I'm hoping that the failings are in my search strategies, 
>and not in our focus as professionals.
>
>- Katie
>
>
>----Original Message Follows----
>From: "Laura A. Heller" <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: "Laura A. Heller" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: [ARCHIVES] Early Friday Funny
>Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 13:37:32 -0500
>
>True, true...
>I am a 1995 high school graduate, and the reason why I know
>much of the
>cultural and social histories of the '60s and '70s is simply
>because it
>was an interest of mine.  I know some of the things that
>happened in the
>'80s and '90s too, but I have to say there was a time (in
>high school) I
>paid very little attention to the news.  Some things I have
>to catch up
>on.  And my history classes, from high school through
>college, discussed
>events no further than Vietnam, and it barely even touched
>on that!
>Anything I know post-WWII is mostly because of personal
>interest and
>self-education.
>
>Its a shame there are not many young people who pursue
>historical
>information for their own education.
>
>- Laura
>
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A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org.
For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp.

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      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
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Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>