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Introduction
Before You Begin

Course Structure

The course is divided into 13 three-hour classes, leaving room for the instructor to incorporate guest speakers, field trips, or expansion of particular topics. The curriculum is designed for adjuncts and existing faculty at MLS programs. Teachers may expand or condense the classes to accommodate their teaching strengths.

The course structure is as follows:

  1. Introduction
  2. Context for the Cultural Record
  3. Structure and Deterioration of Paper-based Materials
  4. Structure and Deterioration of Multimedia Materials
  5. Building-wide Concerns
  6. Collections Care
  7. Surveys and Assessments
  8. Treatment Options
  9. Preservation Reformatting
  10. Creating Sustainable Digital Collections, Part 1: Digital Issues
  11. Creating Sustainable Digital Collections, Part 2: Digital Preservation
  12. Disaster Planning
  13. Building a Preservation Program

Within the lesson plan for each class, information is provided under several standard headings:

  • Overview. A brief introduction to the topics covered, and a description of the structure of the lesson plan.
  • Learning Objectives. A list of general objectives (e.g., activities to carry out, knowledge to demonstrate) that students will be able to meet after the class.
  • Resources for the Teacher. A list of annotated resources to assist the instructor in preparing for the class, including books, journal articles, Web sites, videos, and so on.
  • Suggested Readings for Students. An annotated list of resources that students should read before the class. These resources are also listed in the Resources for the Teacher section. Note that suggested readings for students are not provided for the first class.
  • The Lesson. Each lesson is provided in outline form with accompanying narrative that gives suggestions for structuring the lecture and discussion. Within each lesson, In-Class Activity subheadings indicate suggested activities for students that complement the topics being presented. In some cases, more activities are suggested than could be undertaken in the time available, so it is expected that the instructor will pick and choose among the activities to create a balanced combination of lecture/discussion/activity within the lesson. Instructors may also choose to alter the activities as desired to better fit their approach to the lesson.
  • Suggested Graded Assignments. At the end of each lesson, suggested graded assignments relating to that lesson are provided. These are also included in the overall list of suggested assignments (see Student Assignments).
  • Taking It Further (for some lessons). For some classes, suggestions have been provided (in a Taking It Further section) for additional content that is of interest but not essential to the class topic. This content could be the subject of classroom discussion and activities if more time is available, or it could be incorporated into the primary lesson, depending on the instructor’s interests and background. For many of the classes, however, nonessential content could not easily be separated out because of the nature of the topics covered. In those cases, it is left to the judgment of the instructor which parts of the lesson plan to cover only briefly and which to spend more time on. Again, this will vary according to the instructor’s interests and background.