Archives Final Project / Presentation
Topics for Presentations - 50 Points
Undergraduate Students Presentations: Give a 10-minute presentation on 12/04/2025 during the last day of class about your topic. Include references/bibliography on slides at the end of your presentation.
Graduate Students
Papers: At least 10 pages (without bibliography, double-spaced, and with standard formatting. Citations should be in Chicago (footnotes count toward page count).
Based on the list below, identify an ongoing issue in archives, discuss a specific example or case study, and place it within the context of the archival management topics we’ve covered in this course. Using course readings and other articles/books, examine different opinions and draw lessons/conclusions for archivists and the profession at large from your case study.
- Digital records present unique preservation challenges. Find an example of lost digital records or media. What happened and what lessons might archivists learn from your example?
- How should underrepresented groups be best represented in the archival records? Are community archives an alternative to established archival institutions? Discuss an example of a community archive or outreach effort meant to capture the records of an underrepresented group.
- Discuss the challenges and ethical considerations pertaining to the archival documentation of underrepresented/marginalized groups. For example, does the definition of a “Record” in Western archives conflict with other understandings of cultural heritage?
- Give an example of thievery or forgeries in the archives. What happened and how did the archives/archivists handle the situation?
- Discuss a public uproar over laws/bills that restrict access to public records. Was the public opposed to these laws/bills and what does that say about public attitudes about restrictions on government documents?
- Discuss a case where archival material was deliberately destroyed in order to “erase” or influence history.
- How should archivists represent and describe controversial or challenging archival records? Find an example and explore what the archives did and if it was effective.
- (Undergrads) What are the challenges and opportunities of teaching K-12 with primary sources. Create a lesson plan for using primary sources to teach a specific historical topic and discuss opportunities and challenges with that topic.
If you have another idea for a paper or presentation come talk to Paul and Dan. Points 50
Source Categories
Founded in 1936, the Society of American Archivists is North America's oldest and largest national professional association dedicated to the needs and interests of archives and archivists. SAA represents more than 6,200 professional archivists employed by governments, universities, businesses, libraries, and historical organizations nationally.
(From the About page)
American Archivist is the leading publication in the archives field. Published semi-annually by the Society of American Archivists, this peer-reviewed, online journal seeks to reflect thinking about theoretical and practical developments in the archival profession; the relationships between archivists and the creators and users of archives; and cultural, social, legal, and technological developments that affect the nature of recorded information and the need to create and maintain it. In addition to articles, the journal includes resource reviews that critically engage with scholarship from the archival community and allied professions, as well as reviews of other resources that have implications for archives and archivists.
(From the About page)
Archivists in the western United States face a unique set of challenges related to the geography of the West, as well as its recent history. The Journal of Western Archives provides a venue where archivists working in the West can highlight their unique contributions to the archival profession.
(From the About page)
The Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies (JCAS) is sponsored by the Yale University Library and New England Archivists (NEA), and is hosted by Yale University Library’s institutional repository, EliScholar. JCAS is currently accepting submissions of original works of research and inquiry from professionals and graduate students in library science, archival science, and public history.
(From the About page)
Forgeries and Fakes:
Rosenblum, Joseph. Practice to deceive: the amazing stories of literary forgery's most notorious practitioners. Oak Knoll Press, 2000. (SpecColl 098.3 R723)
Sillitoe, Linda and Allen Roberts. Salamander: The Story of the Mormon Forgery Murders. Signature Books, 1988. (HV 6248 .H467 S55 1988, also in SpecColl)
Taylor, W. Thomas. Texfake: An Account of the Theft and Forgery of Early Texas Printed Documents. W.T. Taylor, 1991. (F381 .T22 1991)
Worrall, Simon. The Poet and the Murderer: A True Story of Literary Crime and the Art of Forgery. Dutton, 2002. (HV 6684 .U8 W67 2002)
Kirsten A. Seaver. Maps, Myths, and Men: The Story of the Vinland Map, 2004. (GA 308 .Z6 S43 2004)
O’Sullivan Donal. Fake: famous forged documents and their historical legacy, 2023. (Available Online)
Edited by John North Hopkins & Scott McGill. Forgery Beyond Deceit: Fabrication, Value, & the Desire for Ancient Rome, 2023. (Available Online)
Archival Practices & History of Archival Institutions:
Advocating Archives: An Introduction to Public Relations for Archivists. Edited by Elsie Freeman Finch. The Society of American Archivists and Scarecrow Press, 1994. (SpecColl 021.7 Ad96)
Burke, Frank G. Research and the Manuscript Tradition. Society of American Archivists and Scarecrow Press, 1997. (SpecColl 025.1717 B917)
Duckett, Kenneth W. Modern Manuscripts. American Association for State and Local History, 1975. (CD950.D8)
Grimsted, Patricia Kennedy. Trophies of War and Empire: The Archival Heritage of Ukraine, World War II, and the International Politics of Restitution. Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, 2001. (CD 1739.6 .G76 2001)
Jones, H.G. Local Government Records. American Association for State and Local History, 1980 (CD3024.J66)
Livelton, Trevor. Archival Theory, Records, and the Public. Society of American Archivists and Scarecrow Press, 1996. (SpecColl 025.1714.L747)
Lovett, John R. Guide to Native American Ledger Drawings and Pictographs in United States Museums, Libraries, and Archives. Greenwood Press, 1998. (E98.A7 L68 1998)
Negroponte, Nicholas. Being Digital. Alfred Knopf, 1995. (SciTech TK5103.7. N43 1995)
Posner, Ernst. Archives in the Ancient World. Society of American Archivists, 1972/2002. (SpecColl 027.03 P843)
Smithsonian Archives. Guide to the Smithsonian Archives. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1996. (Gov Docs SI 1.34:5 1996)
Importance of Documents, Information, or Primary Sources in Society:
A Culture of Secrecy: The Government Versus the People’s Right to Know. Edited by Athan G. Theoharis. University Press of Kansas, 1998. (JK468.S4 C85 1998)
Baker, Nicholson. Double fold: libraries and the assault on paper. Random House, 2001. (Z 695.655 .B35 2001, also SpecColl 025.2832 B175)
Beniger, James R. The Control Revolution: Technological and Economic Origins of the Information Society. Harvard University Press, 1986. (HM258.B459 1986)
Birkerts, Sven. The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age. Faber and Faber, 1994. (Z1003.B57 1994)
Bradsher, Greg. U.S. and Allied Efforts to Recover and Restore Gold and Other Assets Stolen or Hidden by Germany during World War II. U.S. Department of State, 1997. (Gov Docs S1.2:G 56/Prelim/App)
Clanchy, M.T. From Memory to Written Record. Blackwell, Oxford & Cambridge, 1993. (DA185.C42 1979)
Glantz, Stanton A., et. al. The Cigarette Papers. University of California Press, 1996. (HD 9135.C5 1996)
Greer, Germaine. Daddy We Hardly Knew You. Ballantine Books, 1989. (HQ1413.G74A3 1990) *An autobiographical account of uncovering family secrets through archival research.
Kutler, Stanley I. The Wars of Watergate: The Last Crisis of Richard Nixon. Random House, 1990. (E860 .K87 1990)
Mallon, Thomas. A Book of One’s Own: People and Their Diaries. Ticknor & Fields, 1984. (PN4390. M34 1984)
Sierakowiak, Dawid. The Diary of Dawid Sierakowiak: Five Notebooks from the Lâodâz Ghetto. Oxford University Press, 1996. (DS135.P62 L4434 1996)
Steedman, Carolyn. Dust: The Archive and Cultural History. Rutgers University Press, 2002 (CD 947 .S73 2002)
Innovative Historical Writing based on Primary Source Research:
Cronon, William. Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West. W.W. Norton, 1991. (F548.4 .C85 1991)
Eizenstat, Stuart. Imperfect Justice: Looted Assets, Slave Labor, and the Unfinished Business of World War II. Public Affairs, 2003. (D804.7 .E26 E59 2003)
Evans, Richard J. Lying about Hitler: History, holocaust, and the David Irving trial. Basic Books, 2001. (KD 379.5 .I78 E95 2002).
Merwick, Donna. Death of a Notary: Conquest and Change in Colonial New York. Cornell University Press, 1999. (KF 363 .I44 M47 1999)
Rickman, Gregg J. Swiss Banks and Jewish Souls. Transaction, 1999. (HG 3204 .R53 1999)
Slaughter, Thomas P. Exploring Lewis and Clark: Reflections on Men and Wilderness. Knopf, 2003. (F 592.7 .S58 2003)
Stegner, Wallace. Angle of Repose. Doubleday & Co., 1971. (PS3537 .T316 A5x 1971)
