The future of the past: A survey of graduates of master's-level archival education programs in the United States

American Archivist

Volumn 63, Issue 2, 2000, Pages 301-321

  Yakel, Elizabeth ^a  

^a NONE

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0007157873     PISSN: 03609081     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.17723/aarc.63.2.p8843508857g69v5     Document Type: Conference Paper

References (37)

1. Richard J. Cox, Elizabeth Yakel, David A. Wallace, Jeannette Bastian, and Jennifer Marshall, "Archival Education in North American Library and Information Science Schools: A Status Report." Forthcoming in Library Quarterly (April 2001). Our research indicates that in 1985 there were 9 fulltime archival educators in LIS schools, in 1999 there were 20. This represents more than a 100% growth in 15 years.
2. Society of American Archivists, Guidelines for the Development of a Curriculum for a Master of Archival Studies Degree, 1994. Available at: (hereafter MAS Guidelines).
3. Society of American Archivists, MAS Guidelines. These guidelines state, "SAA believes that programs of the extent and nature outlined in these guidelines are the best form of pre-appointment professional education for archivists.
4. Examples of the program development literature are: Richard J. Cox, "The Master's of Archival Studies and American Education Standards: An Argument for the Continued Development of Graduate Archival Education in the United States," Archivaria 36 (Autumn 1993): 221-31
5. Terry Eastwood, "Nurturing Archival Education in the University," American Archivist 51 (Summer 1988): 228-51
6. Jacqueline Goggin, "That We Shall Truly Deserve the Title of 'Profession': The Training and Education of Archivists, 1930-1960," American Archivist 47 (Summer 1984): 243-54
7. and Robert Sidney Martin, "The Development of Professional Education for Librarians and Archivists in the United States: A Comparative Essay," American Archivist 57 (Summer 1994): 544-58.
8. For example see Paul Conway, "Archival Education and the Need for Full-Time Faculty," American Archivist 51 (Summer 1988): 254-65
9. and James M. O'Toole, "Curriculum Developments in Archival Education: A Proposal," American Archivist 53 (Summer 1990): 460-66.
10. Among these studies are: Luciana Duranti, "The Archival Body of Knowledge: Archival Theory, Method, and Practice," Journal of Education for Library and Information Science 34 (Winter 1993): 8-24
11. James M. O'Toole, "The Archival Curriculum: Where Are We Now?" Archival Issues 22, no. 2 (1997): 103-13
12. J. Michael Pemberton and Christine R. Nugent, "Information Studies: Emergent Field, Convergent Curriculum," Journal of Education for Library and Information Science 36 (Spring 1995): 126-38
13. and Tyler O. Walters, "Rediscovering the Theoretical Base of Records Management and Its Implications for Graduate Education," Journal of Education for Library and Information Science 36 (Spring 1995): 139-54.
14. Cox, et al., "Archival Education in North American Library and Information Science Schools."
15. Megan Sniffin-Marinoff, "Looking Back: Student Populations in Graduate Archival Education Programs, 1982-1992," unpublished paper originally presented at the Society of American Archivists annual meeting, Montreal, Canada, 1992. Paper in possession of the author.
16. Salary surveys include the ARMA International, 1998 Salary and Compensation Survey, (Prairie Village, Kan: ARMA International, October 1998
17. and the Society of American Archivists, Society of American Archivists 1996 Salary Survey (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1996).
18. An analysis by Richard Cox of entry-level job advertisements also yielded some salary information. Richard J. Cox, "Employing Records Professionals in the Information Age: A Research Study," Information Management Journal 34 (January 2000): 18-33.
19. Anne J. Gilliland-Swetland, "Trends in the Placement of Graduates of Archival Education Programs," paper presented at the Conference of Graduate Archival Educators and Researchers, San Diego, California August 27, 1996
20. revised and published as "Graduate Archival Education and the Professional Market: Perspectives on Data and Data Gathering," Archival Issues 23, no.2 (1998): 91-115.
21. David A. Wallace, "Survey of Archives and Records Management Graduate Students at Ten Universities in the United States and Canada," in this issue of the American Archivist.
22. Paul Conway, "Membership Survey Results," Archival Outlook (January 1992): 3.
23. Brenda Banks, "SAA Beyond the Year 2000," Archival Outlook (November 1995): 3.
24. Kathryn M. Neal, "The Importance of Being Diverse: The Archival Profession and Minority Recruitment," Archival Issues 21, no. 2 (1996): 145-58.
25. David Bearman reported in the 1982 Survey that 2.8 of the respondents identified themselves as other than white. While this does represent a 100% increase in 18 years, it is still a poor record. David Bearman, "1982 Survey of the Archival Profession," American Archivist 46 (Spring 1983): 238..
26. Society of American Archivists, 1996 Salary Survey, Exhibit II, 5.
27. Wallace, "Survey of Archives and Records Management Graduate Students.
28. In the Society of American Archivists, 1996 Salary Survey 33% of respondents were college and university archivists. (Exhibit II, 1).
29. In "Employing Records Professionals in the Information Age," Cox also reports that one in two of the 1996-97 job advertisements for archivists were in the college and university environment (28).
30. Given the preliminary results of the 1998 ARL survey of special collections reported by H. Thomas Hickerson in Archival Outlook (November-December 1999), it appears that colleges and universities will remain a strong sector for archival employment for the next few years.
31. Bearman, "1982 Survey of the Archival Profession."
32. Comparing the salary data from this survey of graduates with other salary surveys, particularly those in the past, is difficult. Bearman did not measure the starting salary of a first job, as done here. He measured archivists with less than three years of experience. The results of a 1989 membership survey are reported by Paul Conway, "Membership Survey Results," SAA Newsletter (January 1992): 3. Conway only reported the average salary of all respondents, which was $31,967 ($44,764 in 1998 dollars).
33. Cox "Employing Records Professionals in the Information Age," 25.
34. Constance B. Schulz, "Analysis of the Marketplace for Educated Archivists: State Archives as a Case Study," American Archivist 51 (Summer 1988): 324.
35. Bearman, "1982 Survey," 238.
36. Society of American Archivists, 1996 Salary Survey, 11, 19, 35, 43.
37. Individual schools may find the salary data interesting. For example, the University of Wisconsin- Madison notes in a report on placement of its 1997 graduates, that "The median salary for females was: $29,400. The median salary for males: $29,007. The overall average salary was: $29,225, a 5% increase over the average salary in 1996, which was $27,991." accessed 11/30/00 at: . This survey found a slightly higher average salary for those Wisonsin graduates employed as archivists, at $30,055.