16919 - Modern and Contemporary Archive Administration for Special Purposes

Learning outcomes

Private archives of individuals and families, company archives and archives of ecclesiastical institutions will be considered. Historicizing the problems associated with this kind of archives, we intend to reach an advanced understanding of the problems and a preparation not only methodological, but also practical, providing theoretical, methodological and technical skills to the students of the course.

Course contents

Definition and classification of special archives.
Social relations that, by giving rise to archives, condition their arrangement, preservation and use.
Transformation of the concept of document: interdisciplinary contributions.
Models of archival organisation. Authors.
From the paradigm of custody to that of post-custody
Examples and problems of contemporary archival typologies:
a) The architectural archive
b) The photographic archive
c) The art archive
Methodologies of reorganisation and archival description.
New archives for new documents: the Internet phenomenon.

Readings/Bibliography

a. Institutional part (manual)

1. Isabella Zanni Rosiello (a cura di), Intorno agli Archivi e alle Istituzioni - Scritti di Claudio Pavone. Ministero per i beni e le attività culturali - Dipartimento per i beni archivistici e librari - Direzione generale per gli archivi 2004. *Le pagine obbligatorie per la verifica sono: da p. 43 a p. 93 / da p. 185 a p. 224.

For students attending, a choice of one of the following texts:

1. Roberto Navarrini, Gli Archivi privati, Civita, Lucca 2018.
2. Myriam Trevisan, Gli archivi letterari, Carocci, Roma, 2009

In addition to the textbook (a) and the chapters in (b), non-attending students should prepare both texts by Navarrini and Trevisan for the examination.

Other material will be inserted on Virtuale

Teaching methods

Lectures. Discussions and in-depth studies with consolidation material provided during the course (on Virtuale)

Assessment methods

The test consists of an oral interview to assess the knowledge of the topics discussed during the lessons (for those attending) and of the bibliography indicated, and the critical and methodological skills acquired by the student. The following will be assessed: mastery of the contents, ability to synthesise and analyse themes and concepts, ability to express oneself adequately and in language appropriate to the subject matter. The final grade will be based on the overall assessment.
The exam will begin with a presentation of a topic of your choice from those covered, and the exam will continue with at least two other questions set by the teacher.

Two different assessment parameters will be adopted, for attending students and for non-attending students.
Attending students
Attendance will influence the final grade by 30%.
In particular, the student's ability to participate actively in the lessons will be assessed; these abilities, added to the achievement of a thorough understanding of the subject matter covered in the lessons, with the demonstration of a critical sense and with adequate means of verbal expression, will be evaluated with the maximum marks excellent = A (27-30 with honours).

Attendance coupled with predominantly mnemonic acquisition of the course material and not fully satisfactory verbal expression and logic skills will be assessed as good (B = 24-26) to satisfactory (C = 21-23).
Attendance combined with minimal acquisition of the course subject matter and inadequate verbal expression and logical ability will be scored sufficient (D = 18-20).
Lack of minimal acquisition of the course subject combined with inadequate verbal expression and logical ability will be assessed as insufficient (E), even with good attendance.

Non-attending students
Non-attending students will be assessed mainly on their ability to use the bibliography indicated to expound appropriately on the course content. Demonstration of critical thinking and appropriate means of verbal expression will be assessed with maximum marks excellent = A (27-30 with distinction).
A predominantly mnemonic acquisition of the course material, with verbal expression and logical skills not fully satisfactory, will be assessed with marks between good (B = 24-26) and satisfactory (C = 21-23).
A minimal acquisition of the course subject matter, with inadequate verbal expression and logical ability, will be assessed with a score of sufficient (D = 18-20).
The absence of a minimum acquisition of the course subject combined with inadequate verbal expression and logical ability will be assessed with an insufficient score (E).

Teaching tools

Power Point examples and further study; educational visits. Audiovisual materials available on the Internet.

Office hours

See the website of Giulia Crippa