Introduction
The Blinken OSA Archivum, an organizational unit of CEU based in Budapest, is an international archival, research and educational institution committed to collect, preserve, provide open access to, and actively interpret records on recent (post WWII) history, human rights movements and violations and social justice. The Archivum is also the records management provider for and the final repository of the historic records of the Central European University and the Open Society Foundations. The Archivum's holdings, coming from 40+ countries in over 30+ languages and in all media and formats, are frequently used in its public programs, including physical and virtual exhibitions, film screenings, artistic performances, as well as academic lectures, workshops, and seminars. It organizes yearly the Verzió International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival.
Course description
The two-credit Archival Practice course includes supervised practice in the Archivum’s professional activities. Students will spend 30 hours in the Goldberger House, the protected monument buidling of the Archivum on the CEU Budapest Site, where they will have the chance to familiarize themselves with the various stages of the archival workflow and the “invisible” processes of creating archives. It is conceived as a guided individual discovery of Blinken OSA Archivum under the supervision of assigned professional staff members. Embedded in contemporary archival theory, the journey will cover, among others:
- The archival workflow: from selection/appraisal to preservation and access
- Textual documents: physical preparation and arrangement, preservation, and processing
- Audiovisual materials: conversion and preservation, and processing
- Digitization: workflow, creation of digital collections, and digital curation
- The Archival Management System: cataloging, databases, metadata models and archival description
- IT infrastructure in archival context: database development and digital preservation
- Outreach: reference services, education, memorialization, curatorial approaches in exhibitions and other public programs.
The condition for pursuing the Archives and Evidentiary Practices Specialization (max. five students) is the successful completion of the Archives, Evidence and Human Rights and the Archival Practice courses. However, the Archival Practice course can be taken without necessarily opting for the archival specialization, as it is also available as a stand-alone archival training course for a limited number of students (max. five) university-wide.
- Instructor: Csaba Szilagyi