What is a Graduate Academic Certificate in Archival Management?

The Graduate Academic Certificate in Archival Management is a 15 hour certificate that will provide students with the theoretical and practical background necessary to undertake careers in a variety of archival settings such as corporate archives, government archives and collecting repositories.

Because archivists approach the field from a variety of backgrounds this certificate will appeal to students in many of the humanities disciplines as well as students in the College of Information.

Core courses in the certificate are tailored to archival knowledge domains as outlined by the Academy of Certificated Archivists. Upon completion of the certificate, students will be    eligible to become provisionally certified through examination by the Academy of Certified Archivists.

Who should consider earning the Archival Management Certificate?
  •  Library and Information Science Professionals: Master's degreed professionals or degree seeking students who want to develop expertise in the management of archival materials for use as a practitioner, manager of an archival repository or administrator who oversees archival functions. 
  • Other Professionals: Master's degreed individuals or degree seeking students who want to develop or enhance their knowledge of archival studies through graduate coursework, or supplement their academic studies by preparing for a possible career in Archival Management.
  • Students interested in preserving history in all its recorded formats through a career as an archivist, manuscript curator, digital archivist, special collections librarian, or archival repository manager
  • Future leaders in archival, digital and preservation related research
  • Librarians and archivists who want to update their archival skills
  • Anyone seeking to supplement their graduate education with valuable professional skills
Why is this Certificate so Valuable?
  • Core courses have been reviewed for conformance to the Academy of Certified Archivists' Role Delineation Statement. Students who complete the required courses will be prepared to take the Certified Archivists examination.
  • Core courses are taught by archivists with a variety of experience, including research libraries, historical societies, non-profit organizations and presidential libraries.
What do I need to know about completing this Certificate?
  • Admission is required to the certificate program for the certificate to be awarded. 
  • It can be completed entirely online, but some courses are offered in specific semesters. 
  • Students have 4 years to complete the certificate from when the first course for the certificate was completed.
  • Students must earn a 3.0 or higher GPA in their certificate courses.
  • Once all courses are completed, you submit the completion form so that it can be awarded. 
  • Certificates are awarded 3 times per year, on the same schedule as degree programs, so May for spring, August for summer, and December for fall.

Admission Information

1.) Applicants should first apply to the University of North Texas Toulouse Graduate School by completing the Application for Admission via UNT Graduate CAS and pay the application fee. Applicants will also need to submit transcripts from previous institutions attended to the Graduate School. Transcripts can be mailed (see mailing information below) or sent via email to Gradadmissions@unt.edu.  

By U.S. Postal Service:

Toulouse Graduate School
1155 Union Circle #305459 
Denton, TX 76203-5017

By UPS/FedEx:

Toulouse Graduate School
1147 Union Circle, ESSC 354
Denton, TX 76203-5459

2.) Complete the Department of Information Science GAC Application Form and attach a current resume to the application.

Students who are awarded Graduate Academic Certificates and later apply for admission to the M.S. in Library or Information Science program or the will be required to submit any additional documents required by the specific program. 

UNT Graduate Students seeking Concurrent Enrollment

Students MUST be admitted to an academic certificate program in order for the certificate to be awarded.

If you are a current UNT student, email: ci-advising@unt.edu with your 8-digit ID number and the advising office will assist you with having the certificate set up.

If you do not complete this process - in having the certificate set up on your academic record, prior to your graduating semester, the Toulouse Graduate School will not accept your request to have the certificate awarded.

Once You Are Admitted

Once admitted, contact the advising office for assistance with enrollment in courses by emailing: ci-advising@unt.edu with your 8-digit ID number.

Courses Required for Archival Management Certificate

3 Required Courses:

INFO 5371 - Archives and Manuscripts. 3 hours. 
This course examines the major organizing concepts which guide modern archival and manuscript practices. Students utilize archival history and theory to understand the purpose of archives in society. Practices such as appraisal, arrangement and description, preservation, outreach, ethics, and management are examined in an archival context.

INFO 5240 - Archival Arrangement and Description. 3 hours. 
This course provides an overview of the theoretical and methodical principles of archival arrangement and description. Emphasis is placed on practical issues related to arrangement and description of physical and electronic records, in addition to best practices. Includes mock arrangement and description exercises, review of professional literature, and relevant technology instruction. (Pre-requisite- INFO 5371).

INFO 5375 - Archival Appraisal. 3 hours. 
Appraisal theory and techniques are used by archivists to determine the “archival value” of records, manuscripts and photographs. An archivist's determinations in the appraisal process significantly affect what materials are kept or discarded by archival repositories. Explores the history of archival appraisal, the factors that archivists use to determine the value of records, how appraisal decisions are influenced by institutional missions and the long-term effects of different appraisal methods on the historical record.  (Pre-requisite- INFO 5371)

Students must Choose 2 from this list:

INFO 5090 - Practicum and Field Study. 3 hours. 
Supervised practice work and field study (120 clock hours minimum) in a cooperating library, learning resources center or information agency, plus seminar conferences and summary report. For students without prior field experience. The Practicum or Field Study must pertain to Archival Management. 

INFO 5230 - Records Management. 3 hours. 
Operations in preparation, dissemination, organization, storing and retrieval with emphasis on records control and utilization. Preservation and security problems; retention, transfer and disposal. Planning and supervising records management programs. Departmental functions and organization. Data-processing applications and online systems.

INFO 5290 - Special Collections and Archives. 3 hours. 
Selection, acquisition, preservation and use of special materials of all kinds, including special subject and form materials, rare materials and manuscripts, archival materials and other materials requiring special control and handling. Organization and administration of special collections and archives.

INFO 5295 - Preservation. 3 hours. 
Introduction to preservation management and techniques. Lectures and discussions of management practices, including stack management, collection development decisions and disaster preparedness. Laboratory work, including identification of book structures and hands-on experience with such basic preservation techniques as paper cleaning, paper mending and protective housing.

INFO 5841 - Data curation and management. 3 hours. 
Introduces fundamental concepts, practices, procedures, processes, and vocabulary for the entire curation lifecycle of data, from creation through appraisal, ingest, and storage, to access and reuse. Covers history and background; concepts and principles; community standards and practices; challenges and issues; and tools and techniques for curating and managing data.

INFO 5960: - Collections Conservation. 3 hours.  
*INFO 5960 courses vary by topic. The course must be Collections Conservation in order for the course to count towards the Archival Management certificate.

INFO 5900: - Special Problems. 3 hours. 
This course must be negotiated with the instructor and your advisor. 

Additional course options approved by the IS department are as follows: 

INFO 5223: - Metadata for Information Organization and Retrieval I. 3 hours.
Representation and organization of textual information resources and pictorial works and images, as well as collections of these resources, using key item-level and collection-level metadata schemes (Dublin Core DCTERMS, MODS, VRA Core, Dublin Core Collections Application Profile), data content standards, data value standards (various controlled vocabularies, etc.), and data encoding standards (with the focus on XML). Introduction to various other metadata schemes, tools, and technologies for representing and organizing information resources and collections in the digital environment. Exploration of metadata implications for retrieval of information resources and collections.

INFO 5297: - Introduction to Special Materials Preservation. 3 hours.
Introduction to the processes, standards and best practices governing special materials preservation work in a present-day special library setting. Provides the opportunity for direct, hands-on training and experience through the process of assessing the preservation needs of collection materials and performing preservation treatments on-site in the Library’s preservation studio. The types of items and materials typically found in the collections of special libraries (such as recorded sound, moving images (film and video), electronic devices, photographs, artifacts, paper dolls, maps, etc.) are examined, along with the methods used for preserving them, and the supplies, tools, and equipment commonly used in preservation work. The historical implications of legacy media formats and the manufacturing processes that went into their production are considered along with a basic knowledge of how these histories influence the decisions made, the priorities established, and the supplies used.

INFO 5381: - Cultrural Heritage Stewardship. 3 hours.
Students engage with the topic of cultural heritage stewardship from several different perspectives. We speak to local artists, museum archivists, collection curators, researchers, and others engaged with this work. Students read case studies and watch documentaries on various aspects of cultural heritage stewardship which are discussed as a class. As a final assessment, students create a grant proposal for a cultural heritage site of their choosing to ensure that students are equipped with a key skill needed to work at a cultural heritage institution.

INFO 5450: - Rare Books. 3 hours.
Introduction to principles and practices of rare book librarianship. Bibliography and its applications to identification and evaluation of rare materials. History of printing and illustration. Administration of rare book or special collections, including bibliographic and physical access, reference, evaluation techniques, cataloging, public relations and personnel.

INFO 5742: - Web Archiving. 3 hours.
The web is a fundamental component of nearly all modern interaction. Preserving content from the web and providing long-term access to preserved content presents an interesting set of challenges for Information Scientists. Develop knowledge and skills related to the standards, tools, and processes of web archiving. Learn the mechanics of web archiving and its relation to familiar concepts like collection building and appraisal, access and use, and ethics. This course provides hands-on experience working with different projects and tools, and is designed for anyone interested in the topic without any need for prior experience in web archiving.

 

Academic Certificate Completion Form and Request to Receive Your Certificate

Once you complete your course work, please submit the Request for Graduate Academic Certificate of Completion form to receive your certificate.


Contact Information

Title Contact E-mail
Coordinator Ana Roeschley Ana.Roeschley@unt.edu 
Asst. Dir., Academic Advising Rachel Hall CI-Advising@unt.edu
Interim Department Chair Dr. Yunfei Du LIS-Chair@unt.edu