Pedagogue in the Archive

Reorienting the Archivist as Educator

  • James Roussain

Abstract

Emerging over the last 10 years, the concept of the archivist as educator has begun to redefine the professional identity of the archivist. This reorientation demands that archivists be not only the keepers of records but also the ones able to aid others – by way of teaching – in the interpretation of the records under their care. However, despite a growing literature supporting the role of archivists as teachers, there remains a hesitancy within the profession to self-identity as such. Presenting an overview of recent scholarship on the topic, this article discusses the concept of the archivist as educator and its implications. Drawing on and recontextualizing the seminal work of Hugh Taylor and consciously viewed from the perspective of an archivist, this expository article presents a call to action for archivists to self-identify as instructors.

After an overview of the literature on primary source education, the role and unique knowledge of the archivist, and the development of critical thinking skills through source interpretation, this article will present a practical approach for archivists to engage with students in the classroom. To offer a springboard for future discussion, it presents a case study, using a for-credit semester-long course taught by the author, an archivist, as an example of engaging students in active learning with the express goal of improving both their primary source literacy and their archival literacy.

RÉSUMÉ

Émergeant au cours dix dernières années, le concept d’archiviste éducateur a commencé à redéfinir l’identité professionnelle de l’archiviste. Cette réorientation nécessite que l’archiviste soit non seulement le gardien des documents, mais également qu’il aide les autres – par le biais de l’enseignement – à interpréter les documents qui sont sous leur responsabilité. Toutefois, malgré les publications de plus en plus nombreuses portant sur le rôle de l’archiviste comme enseignant, les membres de la profession hésitent à s’auto-identifier comme tels. En présentant un survol des publications récentes sur le sujet, cet article aborde le concept de l’archiviste éducateur et ce qu’il implique. Puisant dans les travaux fondateurs de Hugh Taylor tout en les recontextualisant, et adoptant la perspective d’un archiviste, cet article explicatif met de l’avant un appel à l’action aux archivistes afin qu’ils s’auto-identifient comme enseignant.

Après un aperçu de la littérature portant sur l’éducation par les sources primaires, le rôle et les connaissances uniques de l’archiviste, ainsi que le développement des facultés de raisonnement critique par le biais de l’analyse de sources, cet article présentera une approche pratique pour que les archivistes s’impliquent auprès des étudiants dans les salles de classe. Comme point de départ à une discussion future, il présente une étude de cas, soit celui d’un cours crédité donné sur une session complète par l’auteur, un archiviste, comme exemple de participation des étudiants à une expérience d’apprentissage actif dont le but avoué était d’améliorer à la fois leur capacité d’analyse de sources primaires et leur littératie archivistique.

Author Biography

James Roussain

James Roussain currently is the Archivist, Outreach and Instruction, at the John M. Kelly Library at the University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto, a position he has held since 2016. Previously, James worked at Scotiabank, where he was involved in the maintenance and deployment of the corporate records management program. In his current role, James assists students with their research, exposes students to the treasures in the Kelly Library’s Special Collections, and teaches in the college’s Book and Media Studies program. James is a past president of the Archives Association of Ontario (AAO) and the Toronto Area Archivists’ Group (TAAG). He has served on committees with the Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA) and is a dedicated member of the archival community. In his spare time, James is pursuing a Master of Education in Higher Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). He holds a Master of Information from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information. Recently, James co-authored a book chapter, “From Research to Curator: Reimagining Undergraduate Primary Source Research with Omeka,” in Quick Hits: Teaching with the Digital Humanities, ed. Christopher J. Young, Michael Morrone, Thomas C. Wilson, and Emma Annette Wilson (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2020).

Published
2020-11-22
How to Cite
Roussain, James. 2020. “Pedagogue in the Archive: Reorienting the Archivist As Educator”. Archivaria 90 (November), 70-111. https://archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/13757.
Section
Articles