NOTE: This course will be held at an off site location. Please plan accordingly.
Fees: Advance / Regular SAA Members: $299 / $369
Employees of SAA Member Institutions: $339 / $409
Nonmembers: $399 / $459
Day One or Day Two (
Due to technical constraints, if you intend to register for one-day, please call the SAA office to register.):
SAA Members: $199 / $269
Employees of SAA Member Institutions: $229 / $299
Nonmembers: $259 / $319
Course Description On Day One: You’re introduced to processing strategies that are applicable to born-digital records, with an emphasis on basic concepts that archivists use to establish descriptive control over digital content. You’ll learn about standards and tools that can be used to implement an integrated processing strategy. You’ll also participate in a set of instructor-led exercises that arrange and describe some electronic records in ways that maintain the integrity and authenticity of the digital records.
A laptop is required to participate in this course, and you must have the ability to install and use open-source software on that laptop. In the morning, you’ll review the unique processing challenges posed by electronic records before undertaking a detailed discussion about how standards, protocols, and best practices can help you address those challenges. In the afternoon session, you’ll explore the applicability of
Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) to digital records and manuscripts. The instructor will demonstrate the use of basic tools that implement descriptive standards and best practices, leading you in a processing exercise that results in the generation of an archival information packet for some relatively homogeneous records. The day will conclude with a discussion of lessons learned and next steps to be taken in light of individual repository needs.
Upon completion of Day One you'll be able to:
- List the major processing challenges posed by electronic records;
- Suggest strategies to mitigate them;
- Identify the elements of an integrated arrangement and description program for electronic materials;
- Describe the major standards supporting the description of electronic materials; and
- Identify basic tools that will help you to arrange and describe born-digital records.
Who should attend? Repository managers, archivists, practitioners, and anyone responsible for the arrangement and description of electronic records.
What should you know? Registrants should have basic knowledge about digital preservation strategies. This course builds on others in the Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) Curriculum including
Basic Electronic Records.
This course is one of the
Foundational Courses in the Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) Curriculum and Certificate Program. If you intend to pursue the Certificate, you'll need to pass the examination for this course.
The DAS Core Competencies addressed in this course are: #1: Understand the nature of records in electronic form, including the functions of various storage media, the nature of system dependence, and the effect on integrity of records over time.
#3: Formulate strategies and tactics for appraising, describing, managing, organizing, and preserving digital archives.
#4: Integrate technologies, tools, software, and media within existing functions for appraising, capturing, preserving, and providing access to digital collections.
On Day Two: You’re introduced to advanced processing strategies that are applicable to born-digital and hybrid (i.e., mixed analog and digital) records, with an emphasis on hands-on work. We’ll use a variety of software tools to establish descriptive control over digital archives, focusing on arrangement and description at the collection and series levels. The instructor will demonstrate specific techniques, and you’ll practice them on a set of sample records and/or materials supplied by your repository.
A laptop is required to participate in this course, and you must have the ability to install and use open-source software on that laptop. In the morning, we’ll review the functional requirements that must be met by a program to arrange and describe heterogeneous digital materials, focusing on the implications that the OAIS Reference Model and DACS have regarding archival processing workflows. Then we’ll use open-source tools to process digital records at the collection level. In the afternoon session, we’ll undertake additional processing exercises, focusing on control at the series and file levels, resulting in the production of descriptive, structural, and preservation metadata that are stored in an archival information packet. We’ll conclude the course by discussing factors to be considered when selecting tools and developing processing services in light of repository needs, resources, and capabilities.
Upon completion of Day Two you'll be able to:
- Use standards and tools that support an integrated processing workflow for digital materials;
- Evaluate and use software to process electronic records in a way that preserves their identity, significant characteristics, evidential value, and utility; and
- Make implementation decisions to develop a processing workflow that is suitable for your repository.
Who should attend? Repository managers, archivists, practitioners, and anyone responsible for the arrangement and description of electronic records.
What should you know? Prerequisite: Students should have taken the course and/or passed the exam for
Arrangement and Description, Part I.
This course is one of the
Tactical and Strategic courses in the Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) Curriculum and Certificate Program. If you intend to pursue the Certificate, you'll need to pass the examination for this course.
The DAS Core Competencies addressed in this course are: #4: Integrate technologies, tools, software, and media within existing functions for appraising, capturing, preserving, and providing access to digital collections.
#5: Plan for the integration of new tools or successive generations of emerging technologies, software, and media.
#6: Curate, store, and retrieve original masters and access copies of digital archives.
These courses are designed to be taken separately or together. Choose the option that best me
