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Archival certification myths



The board of the Academy of Certified Archivists occasionally discovers
inaccurate information about archival certification circulating within the
archival community. In the hope that misunderstandings can be corrected
before they become urban legend, we offer the second in a series of "Reality
Checks" that compare myths to simple, straightforward, and verifiable facts.

MYTH: "The Archival Certification Examination tests only a small portion of
the work archivists perform."

FACT: The Academy tests subjects derived from the Role Delineation. Created
by a team of archivists and archival educators, the Role Delineation is a
series of test specifications describing seven major "domains" (or areas) of
archival practice. Each domain contains a series of tasks and related
knowledge statements. Together, these elements encompass more than one
hundred commonly accepted duties and responsibilities that professional
archivists perform in the course of their work. The Academy reviews and
revises the Role Delineation as needed to ensure it conforms to current
practice.

Many archivists work in archives that require, in addition to archival
knowledge, a subject specialty like music, archaeology, or local history.
Does the archival certification examination test knowledge of those fields?
Of course not. It is not a music or archaeology exam. Because it is an
archival certification examination, it tests only archival knowledge as
defined by the Role Delineation.

While written by archivists and archival educators, the Academy's Role
Delineation is the only description of archival work whose creation was
overseen by experts from outside the archival field. These outside experts
imposed a rigorous, professional, systematic, validated process, free of
political influence and personal bias. The Role Delineation is unique in
being an independent and objective description of what archivists need to
know and be able to do to perform archival work. To learn more about it and
to read the Role Delineation's text, go to Section 3 of the Handbook for
Archival Certification.


2002 Deadlines:

May 15: Deadline to apply for the archival certification examination.

June 1: Deadline to submit certification maintenance petitions for the
classes of 1989, 1992, and 1996

August 21: the next archival certification examination will be given in
Birmingham, Alabama; New York, New York, Salt Lake City, Utah; Seattle,
Washington; and "You Pick Your Site" locations around the world.

To uncover more myths or to learn more about archival certification, visit
the Academy's website at www.certifiedarchivists.org.



==--00--==

Leon C. Miller, Manuscripts Librarian
Special Collections, Jones Hall, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library
Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118
Ph: 504-865-5685, Fx: 504-865-5761
Leon.Miller@tulane.edu
http://specialcollections.tulane.edu


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