This class will generally be run like a seminar, with discussions focusing on the assigned readings, assigned student presentations on recent technology items, and tasks carried out outside of class. There will be lectures and discussion in class on key areas of interest in digital records throughout the course. Course requirements consist of class attendance and participation, including active contributions to class discussions, a recent technology presentation, the preparation of a personal digital records management plan, and the preparation of a digital records business plan as a member of a small team.

Class participation (15% of grade)

Class attendance is expected for all students barring illness or religious holy days; multiple absences will affect a student's final grade for the course. Each student is expected to complete the required readings on a weekly basis and be able to discuss them in class, to demonstrate that the reading has been done and understood. This is a serious requirement and can make a letter grade's difference (do the math if you are concerned about grades). We have fourteen class meetings; the first class meeting will be taken up with a preliminary discussion of the topic of the course, while the last will include presentations of the team business plans; during the remaining classes we will discuss readings, current developments in the information realm that affect the creation and management of digital objects, and, once the semester has begun, progress on both your digital preservation business case and your personal digital archive management plan.

Recent technology report (15% of grade)

For most of our discussion classes, we will have a presentation on a new technology that has emerged relatively recently. Students will be assigned a topic relating to a new technology to research (find out if it is legitimate, find out how successful it is, test it out if appropriate, then seriously figure out what kind of digital objects are created by or otherwise concerned in its use, what happens to them, who keeps them, etc. etc.) and all students assigned to each technology report will present in class. You will talk about the subject for ten minutes (ppt presentations are not required [though you can use them], but you do need to present the technology in some way--talk, call up pages from the Internet, and/or stage demonstrations if appropriate) and then you will lead the class in discussing the impact of the technologies on recordkeeping--your own and that in other settings (so you'll need to prepare some questions about the technology to spark discussion--okay to borrow from discussions you may have seen online and also to come up with issues that occur to you). Students will also provide a "documentary package" to be added to the Resources page for other students to have access to (for example, a copy of the ppt presentation you gave, a set of URLs linking to websites relating to the topic, relevant readings you have found, etc.).

Recent technology reports will be assigned on September 7, to begin on September 21.

Digital Preservation Use Case Project (35% of grade)

Each student will be part of a team working on a business plan for a project of digital preservation. You will use a modified version of the questionnaire that will guide you in your own personal management plan (see below) and there will be some assigned readings about business plans for preservation to go along with this project. The projects for this semester will be announced at the first class. Potential projects include a plan for the capture of 150+ 5.25-inch floppy disks for the Texas State Library and Archives Commission; a plan for the arrangement and description of documentation and digital media from the defunct Goodwill Computer Museum for the UT Libraries; and a plan for the preservation of an old email server for the Alexander Architectural Library.

Digital Preservation Use Case Reports are due December 7.

Personal Digital Archive Management Plan (35% of grade):

Each student will write a report outlining a personal digital archive management plan for themselves developed during the semester. The framework for this plan will be discussed in class and a handout will be provided early on. We will also discuss your progress and we will workshop some of the elements of the plan in class as the semester progresses.

Personal Digital Management Plans are due November 16 (before Thanksgiving holiday).