University of Wisconsin-Madison

The School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) of the University of Wisconsin-Madison exists to educate professionals to bring together information in all its cultural forms and the people who need or want it, thereby contributing to individual and collective knowledge, productivity, and well-being; to create and disseminate knowledge about recordable information, its users and uses, the services, processes, and technologies that facilitate its management and use, and the economies and policies that impact access to it; to provide for the continuation and enhancement of the faculties of schools of library and information studies through an excellent doctoral program; and to help shape the future of the library and information professions.

 The Archives and Records Administration (ARA) specialization, begun in 1967, is designed to prepare graduate students, primarily in library and information studies and history, for professional archival and records administration positions. The Archives and Records Administration (ARA) track adheres to the curricular guidelines established by the Society of American Archivists (2002). It is administered through SLIS. Students who wish to complete a number of the ARA classes without committing to the archival and records administration specialization may do so.

The ARA track

• prepares students for positions in archives, manuscript repositories, special collections departments, and records management agencies,
• emphasizes archival theory and the fundamentals of practice, and
• offers students many venues for learning: lectures, discussions, research, exercises using records and archival materials, practicums, and independent study projects in area repositories supervised by professional archivists.

The basic ARA curriculum consists of a minimum of 18 credits.

Required:
616: Records Management
734: Modern Archives Administration
754: Archives User Services and Outreach
818: Archives Accessioning and Appraisal
977: Archival Description and Arrangement, including EAD
Practicum, which can be satisfied by taking LIS 620, completing a 40-hour practicum as part of a class, or completing an internship. 

One of the following courses is also required:
976: Special Problems in Archives-Manuscripts Administration
839: Special Collections
839: Preservation and Conservation
839: Digital Curation

Students can also extend their education by building archival content into other required and elective courses for their degree, and by selecting complementary courses outside of the SLIS curriculum.