Programme in Archival Studies (72419)
Programme in Archival Studies (72419)
Duration: One year full time or two years part time
Target group:
Any person with a National Diploma or Degree interested in archives and records management.
Admission requirements:
Candidates in possession of any degree or any other national diploma.
Registration periods:
December and January
Course leader details:
Prof Tony Rodrigues
Tel: 012 429 6568
E-mail: trodriqu@unisa.ac.za
Programme administrator:
Admin Officer
Unisa Centre for Lifelong Learning
360 Lillian Ngoyi Street, Pretoria Central
Solomon Mahlangu Building 2nd floor
Tel: 012 352 4288
Email address: UCL@unisa.ac.za
Application Link: www.unisa.ac.za/applyslp
Purpose statement:
This programme is offered to candidates in possession of any degree or any other national diploma (an NQF level 7 qualification with 360 credits)
Modules:
AIS301A - Archival Information Sources and Services
Syllabus/Content Topics:
The module for Archival Information Sources and Services covers a wide range of topics which are of interest to prospective records managers and archivists. The module includes information on the various types of archives services offered in South Africa and the rest of the world, and the types of information sources that can be found within these archives. To better understand these archives, this module provides students with the reasons archives are established.
The legal environment in which archives operate is also discussed.
APP301A - Archival Principles and Practices
Syllabus/Content Topics:
This module aims to provide a frame of reference for the development of the theory of systems of arrangement and classification of records.
Practical guidelines are given concerning the arrangement of paper-based archives and collections. The different stages of sorting are explained so that they can be applied in practice. Arrangement and intellectual control by means of description are explained with regard to audiovisual material. Finding aids, with special reference to the inventory and the catalogue and their defined structures in archives, are also set out.
Records management and its implementations and value in the business sector are detailed. The major methods used and the steps taken with regard to the compilation of records inventories and the disposal of records are explained in the section on records management. Modern or present-day requirements regarding the inventory of electronic records are examined. The module also focuses on the arrangement of official records as prescribed by legislation and implemented by the National Archives of South Africa.
PCA301A - Preservation & Conservation of Archival Materials
Syllabus/Content Topics:
This module deals with some of the most fundamental aspects of archival studies and of archives. If there were no need for the communication of information from the past to the future, it would not be necessary to record externalised knowledge, or to invent a social agency to collect evidence of transactions, make them accessible to users and preserve them. Without this social need of remembering the past, archives would never have existed in contemporary or past societies.
This module has been compiled with the aim of introducing the student to the various types of archival records, their characteristics, and potential use by archives and preservation.
RMA301A - Introduction to Records Management and Archival Studies
Syllabus/Content Topics:
This module forms the basis of the course in Archival Studies. It contains the basic information needed to familiarise oneself with archives. Some of the principles introduced here are discussed in detail in other modules. This module can be regarded as a framework for Archives and Records Management. The text has been compiled with the aim of helping the student to master the content of this course as easily as possible. This course therefore aims to give the student, a prospective archivist, the theoretical information and practical skills needed for executing tasks in archives effectively.