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Report on the proposal for a European project for archival training:
E-term
Elizabeth Shepherd
University College London, United Kingdom
Introduction
The European project, E-term,
seeks to develop a common European framework model for electronic records
training, to produce a core curriculum and to pilot the model in three
EU regions. It will identify a European core body of knowledge for electronic
records training and develop and test innovative approaches to training
delivery. It will also promote vocational training through co-operation
between universities and employers. The project partners are the Netherlands
Archiefschool, University College London, the University of Northumbria
at Newcastle, the Fachhochschule, Potsdam, Germany, the University of
Tampere, Finland, Universidade do Porto, Portugal and Ufficio Centrale
per i beni archivistici, Italy. Funding is currently being sought from
Leonardo and other sources.
As has been described in Mr Laeven’s
paper, E-term seeks to continue, extend and adapt the five day
seminar cycle on digital archives that is currently and successfully being
executed in the Netherlands Archiefschool. That is one of several complementary
activities in the field of electronic records management training in universities
and professional bodies within the EU member states. E-term, the
European Training programme in Electronic Records Management for administrators
and archivists, provides an opportunity to build on existing experience
and develop a Europe-wide training course.
This paper outlines the goals
and the genesis of the proposal.
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Enthusiasm and new challenges
An experts’ meeting held in the Hague, Netherlands in June 1997 [1]
was followed up by a Forum held at the Public Record Office in London
in June 1998 [2].
Both meetings devoted time to training and education and reported on the
development of core competencies for electronic record keeping and electronic
records education projects in Europe. A key European project is RECPRO.
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Complementary activities: RECPRO project
Over the two years 1997 to 1999, the Netherlands Archiefschool co-operated
with the University of Northumbria at Newcastle in the UK, the Fachhochschule,
Potsdam, Germany and the University of Tampere, Finland on a Socrates-funded
project, RECPRO, which has developed curriculum materials for university
teaching in electronic records management.[3] The project’s
objectives are, first, to develop archives and records management programmes
by revising existing and creating new course modules which take into account
developments in IT and digitization of information and, secondly, to seek
ways to integrate the curriculum development into current university programmes
in both archives and records management and information and library studies
departments. The outcomes will be new course modules in electronic records
management and a more coherent curriculum in which records management
and information and library studies are integrated. The idea originated
in the University of Tampere, Finland, during the planning of a new records
management programme in conjunction with the Finnish National Archives
Service. A draft curriculum has been developed and is currently being
evaluated on primary professional education programmes in the four partner
institutions.
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Post-vocational training
In March 1999, representatives
of several European archives schools and related institutions, including
the RECPRO partners, met in Amsterdam to exchange experiences of education
and training in electronic records management and to discuss how to give
a wider, transnational audience to post-vocational training which aims
to change the perspective of archive professionals. The meeting also discussed
how to embed the training into an open and virtual learning space, as
a means of enabling individual and distance learning. This could be a
good way to share the expertise already being developed in individual
European states, and in transnational projects, and to transfer it to
a great number of workers in the field. The initiative will challenge
them to share their experiences with colleagues in a wider network of
archivists, records creators, information technologists and administrators.
The European meeting gave birth
to a European project proposal.
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The European project: E-term
E-term brings together five universities and
one public authority from five countries to develop the European dimension
in vocational training and to work towards a European-wide standard in
training for archivists, information managers and administrators in digital
records. The project partners include Potsdam, Tampere, Northumbria and
the Archiefschool, together with University College London, Universidade
do Porto, Portugal and Ufficio Centrale per i beni archivistici, Italy.
In addition, professional bodies and employers with special expertise
will be asked for advice.
The partners have come together
because of a common interest in vocational training and professional development
of archivists and records managers, recognizing that the study of digital
records management must be incorporated into research and teaching activities.
For example, it must be included in professional development programmes
and life-long learning objectives for archivists as well as for the managers
and administrators who create records and who ensure their retention and
proper management for legal and administrative reasons. E-term
seeks to enable managers, administrators and archivists to acquire new
skills in the management of electronic records by adapting the methods
and content of existing vocational training in records and archives management
to incorporate new technological developments. It provides an opportunity
for the partners to research the European dimension of digital records
management and work more closely together in a Europe-wide network of
academic and professional expertise.
The project will seek to develop
a common European framework model for electronic records training, to
produce a core curriculum and to pilot the model in three EU regions.
It will identify a European core body of knowledge for electronic records
training and develop and test innovative approaches to training delivery.
It will also seek to promote vocational training through co-operation
between universities and employers.
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First stage
The first stage of the project
involves analysis and assessment of the Dutch seminar model in the context
of other existing materials by partners in Germany, UK, Finland, Portugal
and Italy. The partners, acting as a core group on European electronic
records training, will propose the elements of a transnational core curriculum.
The project will thus bring together the existing body of knowledge and
skills needed to manage digital records. Based on this, a generic European
model will be drawn up. In the second stage of the project, the generic
core will be complemented by regional materials which reflect the specific
components dictated by regional requirements, such as national statutory
frameworks. These regional materials will be developed around a standard
core in an attempt to ensure that the training programme can be successfully
disseminated throughout member states. Funding to develop these activities,
perhaps from Leonardo, is being sought.
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Pedagogic outcomes
Following evaluation, regional
versions of the training programme, including teaching materials, basic
texts, case studies and explanations of concepts, will be drafted. The
revised seminar package will be piloted in three countries (Germany, the
Netherlands, the UK) and evaluated by the partners, practitioners and
professional bodies including the International Council on Archives, Section
on Archival Education.
In particular, the pilots will
hope to develop the pedagogic framework, embedding theory in practical
case studies, and considering a variety of delivery mechanisms and approaches.
For example, the Dutch model runs as five single days of seminars, offered
at intervals of two to three weeks. In between, delegates must read and
prepare assignments. The whole package takes about three months to complete
and requires attendance in Amsterdam for the training. In a geographically
larger country such as Germany, it may be impractical to require delegates
to travel long distances on five separate occasions. Thus, a variation
might be proposed which offers two periods of two or three days training,
linked together with guided reading and work based assignments. A possible
alternative model might be tried in the UK which combines a few days of
face to face teaching with some materials delivered by open and distance
learning, to meet the needs of working practitioners better. Remote support
of delegates through web-based learning space will also be considered.
This might provide a solution to the problem of retaining the enthusiasm
and commitment of delegates who are inevitably distracted from study by
work demands between seminar days. The five topics might even be tried
separately as single modules, rather than requiring delegates to attend
all in a particular sequence. This would provide flexibility but risks
losing coherence and depth. Whatever the format, the learning methods
will combine group learning with a trainer, self-study and the application
of theory to practical cases taken from the students’ own work places,
thus ensuring the relevance of the programme.
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Future developments
If successful, the course will
be translated and published for wide dissemination and use. It is hoped
that the outcomes will include a model training programme, adaptable to
Europe-wide and to regional requirements; materials which can be used
for short courses and training for archivists and administrators in public
and private sectors; and learning resources in print and electronic formats
in more than one language, some of which will be suitable for open and
distance learning. At present, no Europe-wide training in electronic records
management is available and many regions do not have access to local training
in this field, whether at first professional qualification level or for
life-long learning and continuing professional development. It is hoped
that the E-Term project will begin to change perspectives and ensure
a new role for the records manager and the archivist in managing digital
records.
[1] European Experts’ meeting on electronic records: Proceedings
18 June 1997 (The Hague: Rijksarchiefdienst, 1997) Thijs Laeven,
‘Change of perspective — towards a new role for the records manager
and the archivist’, 25–33
[2] Electronic Access: Archives in the New Millennium: Proceedings
3-4 June 1998 (London: Public Record Office, 1998) especially Michael
Wettengel, ‘Core Competencies for Electronic Record-keeping’, 96–101
and Peter Horsman, ‘International Implementation of Training’, 111–115
[3] Marjo Valtonen, Catherine Hare, Peter Horsman and Volker Schokenhoff,
‘RECPRO — developing a European records management programme’ Records
Management Journal 8: 3 (December 1998): 55–61
Extended abstract :: Full text :: Powerpoint show [65 Kb]
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