E. Keathley “I also can't believe that in this whole conversation no one has brought up the fact that SAA issued some standards for a program in Archival Science just a few years back.  I wonder how many schools have implemented those?  I'd be interested to learn.”  

Good point.  SAA issued education guidelines in 1977, 1988, 1994, and 2003.  The 1977 guidelines were little more than a brief (very brief) description of the old three course model of what existed.  The 1988 guidelines were a considerable expansion, still built around the three course sequence but describing content unlikely to be accommodated in only a few courses.  The 1994 guidelines provided the basis for more comprehensive graduate education, as well as the foundation for a separate masters degree (taking inspiration from the Canadian guidelines and experience).  The most recent guidelines backed away from separate degrees, stating: “These guidelines recognize that there are a number of appropriate venues for archival studies programs, which may or may not offer a separate degree in archival studies. Archival education programs have traditionally been established in both history and library science environments. The guidelines encourage this diversity of institutional !
 homes f
or archival programs as well as variety in the emphases or specializations available within individual programs.”  In effect, the SAA has backed away from being an advocate for graduate archival education, and, as well, a number of programs far exceed anything the SAA has promulgated.

What discourages me is that some of the comments expressed on this listserv reflect a continuing lack of support for or understanding of graduate archival education.  Graduate educators work on their own, often facing a situation where they need to be advocates for their programs in their own schools as well as in the profession.  They generally don’t look to SAA for leadership in educational issues, although they have tended to be quite active in this association.

I hope this helps explain why there has been no comment on SAA educational standards; besides, they are not standards – they are guidelines.

--
Richard J. Cox
Professor
Department of Library and Information Sciences
School of Information Sciences
University of Pittsburgh
Editor, Records & Information Management Report
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Voice:  412-624-3245
FAX:    412-648-7001
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homepage: http://www2.sis.pitt.edu/%7Ercox/

"What we would like to do is change the world - to make it a little simpler for people to feed, clothe, and shelter themselves as God intended for them to do. And we can change the world: we can work for the oasis, the little cell of joy and peace in a harried world.  We can throw our pebble in the pond and be confident that its ever widening circle will reach around the world." - Dorothy Day 

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