Archival Practice for CEU students at the Archivum

On May 13-17, students from the Department of History participated in a concentrated experiential learning session at the Blinken OSA Archivum on the Budapest campus of CEU. Officially entitled the Archival Practice (HIST5192), this 2-credit course allowed students to familiarize themselves with the various stages of the archival workflow and the “invisible” processes of creating archives. Assigned staff members and instructors, all experts in their own field, supervised the individual, firsthand discovery of archival processes, from acquisition and accession through physical and digital processing and preservation to records and information management, IT infrastructures and tools, as well as public outreach. There were several workshops to introduce students to the Archivum’s online catalog or archival practices of protecting personal data among others.

Students commuted between workstations and units, got acquainted with textual and audiovisual formats, library materials, and material objects, and learned the basics of digitizing text, photos, sound, and moving images. During guided tours of the building, including storage spaces, they could interact with archival equipment and materials, gained experience with research in situ, reference services, and reading room procedures and guidelines. The wrap-up session included a mock acquisition and processing of an archival collection, which allowed participants to recapitulate the archival workflow with the guidance of Blinken OSA Archivum staff.