ARCHIVES HERITAGE MANAGEMENT

The aim is to deepen the fundamental concepts of Archival Science, methods of management and conservation of archival heritage, as well as the transmission and communication of archival information and archival description.
Particular attention is paid to: application of IT techniques to the archives; automation and communication in historical archives; national and international archival standards; archival information systems.

Knowledge about:
Archival Science basic concepts. How to set up a research on archival sources using existing tools on the Net and traditional ones.
Italian Archival information systems, their context of origin and main features. Comparison with some similar systems in other countries.
Function and aims of international archival descriptive standards; guidelines for drawing up the different archival research tools.

Students are asked to have taken the Archival Science exam, or to guarantee a preliminary study of the suggested texts.

The application of IT techniques to the Archives. Some examples will be analyzed:
- the data structure and communication logic in some traditional tools;
- the evolution over time of the way of setting the tools for historical research in relation to documentary sources;
the stratification over time of data acquired with IT tools over a few decades ('historicization of descriptive data'). How to recognize and distinguish data acquired and processed with the first IT tools, later merged into the information systems currently in use;
- the main software for archival description, their peculiar aspects, some comparison with similar experiences in other countries;
- Archival information systems; the organization of information, including those relating to the context, of an institutional historical nature, and in connection with the international archival descriptive standards ISAD (G) and ISAAR (CPF). A mention will be made also to ISDF and ISDIAH standards. Reference will be made to the Encoded Archival Description (EAD) and Encoded Archival Context (EAC). We will briefly mention the most recent texts of the international standard Records in Contexts (RiC-CM) and the corresponding draft on the ontology (RIC-O).
- Archival description systems and their integration with other sectors of cultural heritage.

It is suggested to choose from the beginning the topic of the written exercise, which will be a part of the final evaluation. The topic will be agreed directly with the teacher.

The exam will focus on the topics covered in the lessons and deepened in the texts indicated. A written test will form a part of the exam, in the first session and for attending students. For attending students who do not take the test on that date, the exam will consist of an interview in which similar questions will be asked to ascertain the knowledge acquired.
For non-attending students there is the possibility of taking the exam by agreeing the program directly. It is suggested to specify - also by email - the course of study, the experiences acquired in relation to Archival Science and any proposals for further study, to allow, as far as possible, to customize a part of the program.
For all, whether attending or not, an individual exercise is required, as indicated above, to be delivered at least one week before the exam, on topics that will be agreed directly with the teacher.

Font lesson. Guided visits to archival institutions. Direct participation of students with short contributions

Italian

written and oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "International cooperation" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development