San José State University
SCHOOL OF LIBRARY & INFORMATION SCIENCE
The Master's Degree in
Archives and Records Administration (MARA)
- Webcasts: Presentations by archivists and records management experts-guest speakers invited to share their expertise with our MARA students. Topics include "Where do you want to go today? Leadership, Motivation, and Career Planning", "Understanding and Applying the Records Continuum" and "Archiving the US Elections Websphere: An Historical Perspective".
- Why a Masters degree in archives and records administration?
- The San José Solution
- Webcast: Lori Lindberg discussing the San José Solution [36 minutes; Requires RealPlayer]
- Hear what current MARA students have to say about the program by listening to the interviews at students look to advance careers with skills learned in the MARA program.
Why a Masters degree in archives and records administration?
The San José Master of Archives and Records Administration program, the first in the world to be taught totally online will begin in Fall 2008. Each Fall a new cohort will begin.
It may be the program designed with you in mind.
Administrative memory, corporate decision–making, legal compliance and patent protection have all contributed to greater attention in the past ten years to the management of electronic records in addition to the maintenance of cultural heritage.
New legislation, cultural sensitivities and pluralization, forms of technology, speed of networks and proliferation of recordkeeping media and copy capability is changing the way we look at digital rights and copyright, technological obsolescence, the concept of the original, human–computer interaction, and delivery of services to users.
In recent years, major news media, professional and business journals, and market studies have devoted much attention to the archives and records management field. Both in the United States and abroad, articles and reports about the need for compliance with new laws, particularly for electronic records and electronic records management (ERM), which is related to and sometimes subsumed under the term "Electronics Content Management" (ECM), has struck a deep chord with CEOs and government officials. AIIM, the Association for Information and Image Management [www.aiim.org (opens a new window)], defines Enterprise Content Management (ECM) as the technologies used to capture, manage, store, preserve, and deliver content and documents.
According to a white paper based on a survey co–sponsored by two of the major nonprofit professional organizations in the field – ARMA International and AIIM:
"Business and government are in the midst of a sea change regarding how records – which many consider the most important asset of any organization – are managed. To fully understand the enormity and significance of this change, both in its present context as well as what it purports for the future, the foundation on which organizations have historically relied first must be understood.
The Heritage: For centuries, (paper) records have been managed on a media–centric basis – in accordance with the operational model now called "materials management," which is applied to all types of other business assets. Because these paper records were, in essence, a physical commodity, their management was driven largely by need and space: the time period for retaining them was based on need, and the location for storing them was determined by the availability of space. Accordingly, records were kept where they were readily accessible for as long as space permitted. Over time, they typically were transferred to another location where there was more (and usually less costly) space – where their continued accessibility could be ensured for as long as they were needed. This methodology provided the necessary controls to ensure both the authenticity and availability of the records within its domain. For as long as records have been created, media–centric records management practices successfully served the needs of government and business."
"Now consider the sea change at hand: the transformation of records management – from the paradigm of media–centric records, where management was based on observable physical location controlled by humans, to the age of digital information and content–centric records management, where the management process is based on invisible logical location controlled by computers. This sea change is grounded in the radically different nature of electronic records and has resulted in exponentially greater complexity in the process of managing records over their lifecycles. It also has created extraordinary new capabilities for improving that process – achieving unprecedented levels of control, effectiveness and automation. Content–centric records management is a revolution in more than just a conceptual context. It is revolutionary in every aspect of how records... are managed: from identifying and understanding new types of records to where records are located and how they are accessed... to dependence on technology... to higher performance standards... to new skill sets required for records and IS/IT managers... to the need for a cross–functional records management team... and so much more."
As a result, there is a significant new twist: graduate education must expand to meet demanding challenges posed by complex technologies that deliver solutions for the sometimes mind–boggling high–level management and technical job opportunities that currently exist or soon will be created for the new generation of information professionals who must collect, preserve, and disseminate information – and our cultural heritage. In the private and public sectors archivists and records administrators and mangers will ensure that governments and corporations maintain and disseminate records to fully comply with laws now in place and still emerging – and generated because of recent societal events. Indeed, much of the most current archives and records management literature is devoted to discussions about recent laws and compliance, plus activity related to the development of standards, methods, best practices, and technologies in how to manage records.
The San José Solution [Top of Page]
The Master’s degree in Archives and Records Administration is a totally online program run in the cohort model. New cohorts form each fall and students progress through the program together, completing fourteen, three-credit courses in just under three years.
Students who lack experience, obtain real world experience through professional projects and internship placements. Those who come with a significant amount of professional experience can engage in more challenging Organizational Consulting Projects in place of the professional projects and internship courses.
Significantly, a Master's in Archives and Records Management will increase mobility in the field. MARA graduates will work in a variety of settings worldwide, including corporations, government agencies, libraries, museums, historical societies, and non-profit organizations, as well as in the entertainment and education sectors.
Lori Lindberg Presentation on the San José Solution [Top of Page]
Lori Lindberg's April 2, 2008 presentation: A New Frontier for Recordkeeping Education:
the San José Master of Archives and Records Administration [36 minutes; RealPlayer required].
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Phone: 408-924-2490
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