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Library, Archival, and Information Studies

Welcome! This research guide has been developed to help UBC iSchool students, faculty and researchers find and navigate academic and professional resources relating to the study of Library, Archival and Information Studies.

Overview

Records and archives play a vital role in society - they provide us with evidence of transactions, interactions, and as such serve as tools that support us in examining and upholding social and legal accountability. Archives and records also exist as the continuing memory of groups, communities, individuals, corporations or organizations - as illustrations of documentary and cultural heritage that can ultimately provide us with a better understanding of complex histories, systems and continuing practises and initiatives.

This section of the guide is intended for students specializing in practical and theoretical approaches to the study of archives, in areas including:

  • Managing records, from creation to preservation
  • Archival materials (oral histories, paper and electronic records, audio/visual materials)
  • Records systems and archival systems
  • Technology and archives
  • Selection of records and their acquisition
  • Intellectual control
  • Records, archives and the law
  • Ethical and professional responsibilities
  • The history of record-keeping and archives

Key Journals

American Archivist

  • Seeks to reflect thinking about theoretical and practical developments in the archival profession, particularly in North America; about the relationships between archivists and the creators and users of archives; and about cultural, social, legal, and technological developments that affect the nature of recorded information and the need to create and maintain it.

Archival Issues

  • Covers various facets of archiving and cataloging.

Archival Science

  • Promotes archival science as an autonomous scientific discipline.

Archivaria

  • Features articles devoted to the scholarly investigation of archives in Canada and worldwide.

Archives and manuscripts

  • Contains articles about the theory and practice of archives work, or relating to archives and recordkeeping.

Archives and Museum Informatics

  • Contains articles on current developments in information systems for archives and museums.

Journal of archival organization

  • Covers all aspects of the arrangement, description and provision of access to all forms of archival materials.

Further Resources

Archives Canada

  • Gateway to archival resources found in over 800 repositories across Canada. Use the interactive map to locate provincial archival network.

Archival Materials at RSBC

  • Resources and materials available in Rare Books and Special Collections at UBC Library.

MemoryBC

  • A database of archival descriptions from repositories across the province of British Columbia. Search by keyword, or browse by subjects, places, names or repository.