L-60. Introduction to Archives for Special Collections Librarians, Booksellers & Collectors

Alison Clemens Lisa Conathan

Course Length: 30 hours
Course Week: 4–9 June 2023
Format: in person, Yale University in New Haven, CT
Fee: $1,395

Libraries with special collections increasingly collect, curate, and provide access to many forms of rare and archival materials within one integrated environment. Managers, curators, catalogers, and reference librarians whose education and experience have focused on published materials must therefore be conversant with archival issues and collection management strategies. Similarly, booksellers and collectors commonly find themselves handling material that may best be managed using archival principles. This course, intended for those without significant archival education or experience, will explore archival approaches to appraisal, acquisition, description, and access to personal papers and organizational records. Challenges associated with digitization and born-digital materials will be addressed. The course will include lectures, readings, discussion, and practical exercises, including an introduction to ArchivesSpace, a commonly used archival management platform built on archival principles. The course also draws heavily on examples from special collections at Williams College and Yale University, the environments with which the instructors are most familiar. The use of ArchivesSpace and site-specific examples is not intended to be prescriptive.

In their personal statements, applicants should describe their professional education, work experience, engagement with archives, collecting experience, and any topics they would particularly like to address in the course.

Course History

2023–
Alison Clemens and Lisa Conathan co-teach this course in person at Yale University.
2021–2022
Lisa Conathan and Bill Landis co-teach this course online (22 hours) as "Introduction to Archives for Special Collections Librarians, Booksellers & Collectors."
2010–2014
Jackie Dooley and Bill Landis co-teach this course as “Introduction to Archives for Special Collections Librarians.”
2008–2009
Jackie Dooley and Bill Landis co-teach this course as “Introduction to Archives for Rare Book Librarians.”

Course Resources

  • Advance Reading List
  • Evaluations for this course:

Related Courses

Faculty

  • Alison Clemens
  • Lisa Conathan

Alison Clemens

Alison Clemens is the Access Strategist at Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University, where she identifies, initiates, and implements strategies and projects to provide seamless, meaningful, and ethical access to Yale’s special collections. She was previously Head of Processing at Manuscripts & Archives (MSSA), Yale University, where she managed MSSA’s accessioning and processing program. Alison is an MSIS graduate of the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Information and has a BA from Scripps College. She is particularly interested in user experience in special collections; literary and historical manuscripts; uniting technical services with front line user services; and the ongoing education, development, and support of special collections librarians.

Full Bio »

Lisa Conathan

Lisa Conathan is Head of Special Collections at Williams College, overseeing the Chapin Library of Rare Books and the College Archives. Before joining Williams, she worked at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, as Archivist and Head of Digital Services. Lisa’s research interests center on the creation and reuse of endangered language documentation, focusing on vernacular literacy and oral discourse in Native North America. She holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.L.S. from the University of Maryland.

Full Bio »