College of Information Studies, University of Maryland, Room 4105 Hornbake Bldg, South Wing, College Park, MD 20742 | Tel: (301) 405.2038, Fax: (301) 314.9145
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Archives Practicum Institutions
Coordinating Field Study Institutions
Welcome!Many students in the Archives and Records Management specialization at Maryland’s iSchool decide to complete field/practical experiences in association with their coursework. Field work is generally required as part of LBSC 605 and LBSC 703. Finding an institution and setting up these experiences is the student’s responsibility. This site is designed to help identify institutions that have worked with students in the past or have expressed an interest in working with students to complete these requirements.
The site attempts to categorize institutions in a couple of ways in order to guide the student in selecting a location that will best suit their needs and interests. Location and hours are often important to students in choosing a field study, especially for those that have employment and other obligations to schedule around. The type of archives is also very important to consider. For many the practicum or field study will be the first experience in the world of archives and will help to shape career paths. It is important to find one that meets both practical needs and interests. A museum collection will be different than a library. Work in a large government archives will provide a very different look into the archival profession than in a small, private archives.
One of the biggest frustrations for students and for the archivists being asked to supervise a practicum is knowing the requirements. Each field study or practicum set up should be a project that can be basically completed within the allotted number of hours (50 or 140 based on the class). At the end of the project students are expected to complete a written assignment detailing the work completed. Each project should also have appropriate professional supervision within the institution. For more specific information about each class requirements, students and archivists can see the class syllabi from previous offerings of the course. Basic requirements do not generally change from year to year.
For Archives:
This list is a general list of institutions that have expressed an ongoing interest in participating with students. Institutions seeking students for specific projects may email a description of the project to the Archives Program Director to be distributed to students.
Additionally, if your institution is not on the list and you would like to be added or if the contact information for your institution is not correct on this list, please contact us so that we may keep the list up to date.
A Few Hints for Students:
It is your responsibility to find a site. If you really want to work in a specific archives, get in contact with one of the men or women on this list as soon as possible.
Start early. Most students work, all have school demands and the semester goes by fast. That usually leaves not much time per week to give to the practicum/field experience. Once you have chosen a site and have been accepted, get going. Make sure your supervisor is aware of the time requirements. There are students who have been asked to continue a project after semester's end. That is a personal choice, which may or may not lead to a job after graduation. But remember, the requirement is to bring a project to completion and write a paper detailing the end product.
There is a lot of archival work that is not glamorous. It can be dirty, monotonous work. It might require lifting heavy boxes or hours of removing staples and paper clips. We are student workers, free labor. Go in knowing that you might not be doing all of the fulfilling, intellectual work that is also a part of the profession. If there is something specific you want to experience, ask about the project they have in mind before you commit to it. And keep in mind that every archivist, at just about every level, has to get down into the trenches with the collections they're in charge of.