OVERVIEW

The teaching proposes a training course aimed at identifying entities, resources and dynamics for a proper information management in the construction of the research paths. Departing from general notions of bibliography and documentation intended as orientation tools within the infosphere, the archival information universe will be considered as a tangible trace of the administrative activity, a direct resource for the knowledge of the past and an instrument for the protection of the rights and for society organization.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to offer a complete framework of the theories and techniques of document information management in an analogue and digital environment, with particular regard to the formation, organization and preservation of archives as well as to the elaboration, implementation and use of finding aids.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The teaching of Archival Science and Documentation aims to provide students with basic coordinates on how to find and manage bibliographic, documentary, and archival information resources for research purposes through three degrees of progressive deepening corresponding to the scanning in modules.

• The first module (6 CFU) offers an organic and critical overview of the tools and methods for the correct management of bibliographic and archival information. At the end of the course, the student will be able to identify and select information resources and organize them independently.
• The second module (9 CFU) offers, in addition, an in-depth analysis of the peculiarities of archival information qualified as a tool and residual of an administrative activity that only a posteriori becomes a source for research. At the end of the course, the student will be able to independently identify archival fonds of her/his interest, to use traditional archival research tools and those present in Web 2.0, typical of the archival web and digital communication.
• The third module (12 credits) completes the framework by addressing the impact digital information and communication technologies have had and will have on contemporary archives. At the end of the course, the student will be able to critically evaluate the factual characteristics of computer management systems of documents and preservation systems concerning the problems posed by digital preservation, and implement simple strategies for properly managing small digital archives.

TEACHING METHODS

Lessons will be held in person. Attendance, although not mandatory, is recommended. The professor, at the specific request of the student concerned, allows, through the Teams platform, the remote use of the lessons and the related recordings.

Educational content will be made available through the AulaWeb platform.

There will be moments of self-assessment aimed at the timely identification of the issues to which to reserve moments of deepening.

Seminars will be proposed with the leaders of particularly significant institutions, with visits to their respective locations, where possible.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Main topics covered in the first module (6 CFU):

• General framework of the discipline and basic concepts.

• Editorial Information Ecosystem.

• Elements of bibliography.

• Catalogues and online research.

• Bibliography and Reference Management Software/Citation Management Tools.

• Scientific Information and Open Access.

• The life stages of the archive and the concept of record continuum.

• The curent record: tools and activities.

• The Intermediate storage: the appraisal.

• The historical archive: reordering.

• Archive, structure and related entities.

• Archives in Italy: dissemination and geography of conservation institutes.

• Archives as cultural assets: forms and methods of protection, enhancement and promotion.

• Use of archives and documentation: access and consultation.

• From finding aids to research tools: description, representation.

• Research tools: guides and inventories.

Main topics covered in the second module (9 CFU):

• From description to sharing: archival standards.

• The competences of the Archival and Bibliographic Superintendences.

• Archival Web.

• Historical Archives and Computer Science.

• Elements of Archives History.

Main topics covered in the third module (12 CFU):

• Basic elements of Archival Records Management: documents, information, data, metadata.

• The problem of technological obsolescence applied to the archives.

• Characteristics and classification of computer formats and related extensions.

• The problem of the reliability of digital testimony.

• Digital document transmission systems.

• Document and digital archive production.

• The hybrid archive.

• Digital preservation.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. F. VALACCHI, Diventare archivisti. Competenze tecniche di un mestiere sul confine, Milano, Editrice Bibliografica 2022.
2. Archivistica. Teorie, metodi, pratiche, a cura di L. GIUVA e M. GUERCIO, Roma, Carocci, 2014.
3. E. LODOLINI, Storia dell'archivistica italiana: dal mondo antico alla metà del secolo XX, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2013, con esclusione dei capitoli 1-3.
4. S. PIGLIAPOCO, Documentare archiviare conoscere. Formare e conservare la memoria nel contesto digitale, Torre del Lago, Civita Editoriale, 2022.

Students who regularly attend lessons can agree on an alternative program; those who find it difficult to obtain the texts will be able to contact the teacher to identify others accessible in digital format.

For those who take the exam for 6 CFU the following are excluded:

S. PIGLIAPOCO, Progetto archivio digitale: metodologia, sistemi, professionalità, Torre del Lago, Civita Editoriale, 2016;
e i capitoli 10-11, 14 del volume Archivistica. Teorie, metodi, pratiche, a cura di L. GIUVA e M. GUERCIO, Roma, Carocci, 2014.
 

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

STEFANO GARDINI (President)

SIMONE DRAGONE

SANDRA MACCHIAVELLO (Substitute)

ANTONELLA ROVERE (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

2023, 18 September 

Class schedule

ARCHIVAL SCIENCE AND DOCUMENTATION

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam takes place orally. The question leaves room for presenting a topic of the program chosen by the student and at least one further question formulated by the teacher. Further questions can be asked by the teacher to better ascertain the candidate’s level of preparation.

Attending students will have the opportunity to carry out ongoing tests, resulting in a reduction in the exam program.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The oral exam will focus on the topics addressed in class and covered by the bibliography. The preparation level assessment of the candidates will consider the adequate mastery of the basic notions of the discipline and the ability to critically re-elaborate on the themes and problems faced in class.

For not attending students, the exam will focus exclusively on the bibliography, without prejudice to the assessment criteria just stated.

Exam schedule