Getting Undergrads into Archives: Educational Outreach Efforts of University Archives, Manuscript Departments, and Special Collections

by Dietz, Brian J.

This study presents the results of phone interviews conducted with representatives of twenty-three university archives, manuscript departments, and special collections at Doctoral/Research Universities—Intensive, as classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The purpose of the study is to attempt to portray the current state of educational outreach to undergraduate students.

With undergraduate students composing an increasing portion of their users, primary source material repositories at universities have the opportunity to become a more relevant part of student education, as well as increase their profile on campus. Yet, few formal studies have explored the strategies in use by university archives, manuscript departments, and special collections to reach and instruct undergraduate students. The study finds that educational outreach to undergraduate students is fairly successful but largely non-regularized. Formalizing strategies, where resources make it feasible, will help increase the relevance of primary source material collections on their campuses.