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Creating Classes To Promote Your Collections and Connect With Faculty

Nicole Feeney, Associate University ArchivistMoakley Archive and Institute at Suffolk University

nfeeney@suffolk.edu

www.suffolk.edu/moakleywww.slideshare.net/MoakleyArchive

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Talking Points

• Get out of the archives and into a classroom• Addressing faculty and archivist expectations• Using email to connect with faculty• Structure of the classes• Assessment of the class periods• On the horizon

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Venture Out Beyond The Reading RoomVenturing out takes on different shapes but

for the Moakley Archive it looks like this:• Developing reusable lessons that:

– Showcase our department and collections – Include a wide variety of primary sources– Teaches students how to research– Increase collection usage and patrons – Improve campus-wide recognition and visibility– Create opportunities to teach in other classes

• Sending emails• Attending trainings and talking up our

programs• Hosting eventsVenturing out has led to:• Reinforcing our role as a necessary and

vital department• Being more than “the office you can get

old pictures from”• Becoming a better bridge (to research)

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Faculty and the Ivory Tower• Faculty experience:

• Pressure from administration

• Departmental climate/challenges

• Publication/research quotas• Students

• Concerns are valid and shape expectations and career

• Faculty are not difficult to work with!

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Expectations:

Faculty Archivist

•Students who are engaged and critical thinkers•Dynamic and innovative courses and content•Feathers for cap

•Exposure for our collections and services•Increased usage of collections•Feathers for cap

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Expectations: The Overlap

Facu

ltyArchivist•Faculty use archival materials in addition to or instead of textbooks•Students become experienced researchers•Collections used more

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The Process: Baptism by Fire • What do I want to communicate?• Who can I present this class to?

• Match collection strengths to specific academic depts.

• Look for courses or depts. with a research component

• Figure out who is teaching what and when

• How do I want to present my class period?• Blackboard• Power point• Hands-on Exercise

• Dummy boxes• Class guide

• Background info on documents• “Digging Deeper” Questions• Additional collection information

• How will the class function and flow?Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrstphre (accessed 7/8/2011)

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The Process: Initial Contact• Direct email to faculty

• Timing is everything• Jargon• Emphasize benefits: “what we can do

for you”

• Emails:• Provide links to Web site resources• 1st batch of emails sent Jan. 2007

• Primary source research class• 2 government ‘Research Methods’

course (same prof.)

• Current: 2010-2011• 13 emails

• 11 Faculty (through OneSource)• 2 Staff (through events)

• 13 classes• 9 semester long• 4 government research methods Photo from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cosmorochester/

(accessed 7/8/2011)

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The Products: Primary Source Research Methods Class and Semester Long Course

• Highlight our collections and services• Teach students about:

• Information literacy and how to do research• Archives (primary) vs. libraries (secondary)• Understanding and Using Archival Collections• “The Process” of Doing Archival Research

• Connect students to:• Archive resources• Primary sources/not a textbook• Documents that are fun and mundane• Complex concepts through Exciting class discussion• “Responsible historical empathy”

Primary source research

methods class is discipline

neutral!

Can be recycled!

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Research Methods Class: Joe Moakley and the Garrity Decision

• Power point: (20 min)– Info literacy and research skills– Archive resources– Moakley overview– Garrity Decision context/history

• Hands-on class exercise with study guide (40 min)– Class divided into groups– Pass out the guide– Review and connect info literacy skills (5

min)– Students read the guide (10 min)– Pass out document cases– Groups review and discuss documents (10

min)– Groups answer questions in guide (5 min)– Reconvene as class for discussion (10 min)

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Semester Long Course: Gvt 347 Legislative Politics Joe Moakley Case Study

2nd iteration used Moakley and Dick Armey as case studies:• Collaboration between Moakley Archive and Carl Albert Center

of OSU• Access to Paper, audio/visual, photographs via black board• Readings from primary sources and 1 textbook• Students required to write paper on any topic of their choosing

from Moakley Papers• Archivists

• Selected documents to replace textbooks• Taught classes• Created power points and questions to guide class discussion • Reference interviews and research help

1st iteration used Joe Moakley as a case study:• Access to Paper, audio/visual, photographs via black board• Readings from 6 textbooks and primary sources• Students required to write paper on any topic of their choosing from Moakley Papers• Archivists

• Selected documents to correspond with text• Taught classes• Created power points and discussion questions• Reference interviews and research help

This faculty member is our greatest advocate. We have presented our unique partnership at several on-campus symposiums and brown bag lunches.

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Evaluation and Assessment is InformalStudents are typically vague but positive: “thanks”, “that was neat”, “I didn’t know that”

“Nicole,I just wanted to send you a quick email thanking you for your help a little over a month ago in the Moakley Archives. I ended up getting an A in the course, and I have you to thank for the success of my paper because if I did not have the assistance you provided I would have been very lost. Thank you again for your help, it is very much appreciated!”

Faculty enjoy the partnership because content is informative and the diverse types of materials on sensitive topics and lead to thought provoking discussion.

"[This class] provides students with a praxis between the legislative studies literature and the day to day reality of life in Congress… Without the willing partners at the Moakley Archive this class wouldn’t work.”

“Working with the Moakley Institute has greatly enhanced the quality of the class and the quality of my teaching in it… [and] enhanced the quality of the ideas studied and end products produced by the students.”

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Final Thoughts

Looking Back:“increase”

• More faculty members request our research skills class

• Research skills class runs multiple times per semester

• More students use our collections

• Our services and collections are more visible to faculty and administrators• Water cooler talk• Departmental meetings• End of the year reports

Looking Forward: “share”

• Create a ‘Digital classroom’: a Web presence that allows us to dynamically deliver current and future classes

• Create stipend as an incentive for Suffolk faculty to develop course using our collections

• Create survey for students and faculty and use stats to advocate for our involvement with other departments