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Management and Marketing for archivists



The management topics that Peter mentioned *are* being taught in at least
some of the archives graduate schools, and I have seen this trend increase
in recent years. At Western Washington University, I devote more than half
of the class sessions in our Advanced Seminar in Archives and Records
Management to management issues. Our readings come from the business
management literature (Peter Drucker, Tom Peters, et al.) and from the
library and information science field, as well as a smattering of
archives-related articles. The course includes strategic planning,
budgeting, personnel, project management, leadership and vision, and
organizational structure, among other management topics. (For the syllabus
for this course and others in our graduate program, visit our website:
www.wwu.edu/~history/archives.html.

I have advocated strategic planning and managerial expertise for 20 years,
and presented several workshops on strategic planning for SAA and other
archival audiences, starting in 1982. And yes, I was one of the participants
in Kevin Flood's excellent workshop on marketing for archives at Amherst,
Mass. in the mid-1980s. Kevin's presentation was the inspiration for an
article I wrote in THE AMERICAN ARCHIVIST, "Redefining Archival Identity:
Meeting User Needs in the Information Society."

I say this not to boast of my valiant efforts, but just as one example of
the many archivists who have expressed interest in management issues.
Several archivists, such as my former colleague Daria D'Arienzo of Amherst
College, even have obtained MBA degrees. Daria and Hal Keiner (Biltmore
House Archives) have organized a series of management sessions at SAA annual
meetings in the past several years, which have been well attended. Many
other archival educators are also pursuing these issues in their curricula.
And SAA also sponsors a management roundtable, which is a good place to
learn more about these concerns.

Do we need to do more? Yes, of course. But there are some foundations on
which we can build. And another good sign is that Tom Wilsted and Michael
Kurtz are rewriting the SAA manual on managing archival and manuscript
repositories.

Rand Jimerson
Western Washington University
Bellingham, WA

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