Class Visits and Instruction
Introductions to archives and archival research can now be embedded in courses without an in-person class visit. Research has found that one-time visits to Archives and Special Collections can be overwhelming for students new to archival research. Instead, students benefit from access to introductory materials that they can review on their own time before becoming researchers themselves. To meet the needs of our students, we have created multiple introductory videos, guides, and sample assignments that can be adopted and adapted by course instructors to meet their specific learning objectives and prepare their students to be well-trained archival researchers.
By providing these materials online, our archivists can now focus on intensive research assistance and embedded, multi-session instructional modules. We are eager to work with instructional collaborators to identify the best way to include archival literacy, primary source literacy, and archival research into their courses, and can consult with lesson plan and assignment design to ensure that they align with the resources available. We encourage instructors interested in developing embedded multi-session archival modules in their courses to contact us early in the planning process. In-depth topics covered by our archivists may include:
- Use of specific collections or subject areas
- Analyzing archival documents, photographs, and artifacts
- Citing archival collections in research papers and other publications
- Ethical issues in collecting materials and making them available for research use
- Preserving collections of archival papers and rare books
- Introduction to archival practices and career preparation
Archivists are available for research consultations with students, faculty, and staff who are interested in incorporating archival sources into research, learning, or course assignments.
Resources
- View How-To Videos – This playlist of videos includes guides to searching for and requesting archival collections and rare books, how to make an appointment, and how to request reproductions.
- Browse Digital Collections – This curated list of digitized and born digital collection materials includes highlights from the Purdue University Archives and Special Collections, Purdue Libraries Primary Source Databases, and repositories at other institutions. These materials may be used as the basis for class activities or assignments.
- View Sample Activities, Assignments, and Teaching Guides – This page offers examples and instructions for integrating archival resources into classroom activities and projects.
- Learn Policies and Procedures – This page explains everything you need to know about visiting Archives and Special Collections before your research visit.
- Review our Library Guide – This guide provides an overview of the resources available at the Archives and Special Collections, defines some key archival terms and concepts, and contains information on citing primary source materials.
Best Practices for Instructional Collaboration
- Requests should be initiated as early in the course development process as possible. Requests received after the start of a semester will not be accepted.
- Visits to the Archives should be included in the course syllabus at the time of its distribution to students and a copy of the syllabus should be shared with the collaborating archivist.
- Copies of any assignments or handouts related to archival research should be shared with the archivist.
- If requesting multiple class visits or an archival research module, include the faculty archivist as a co-instructor of record for the appropriate percentage of time.