Creating a Front Door to Archival Knowledge in the United States: Guidelines for a Master of Archival Studies Degree

Abstract

The author explores the need for the Master of Archival Studies (M.A.S.) degree in the United States and its expression through the Society of American Archivists' Guidelines for the Development of a Curriculum for a Master of Archival Studies. He contends that the substantial and distinct body of archival knowledge, coupled with the emergence of new information technologies that have changed the way archives are created, maintained, and used, make an autonomous two-year degree curriculum necessary. The article examines SAA's history in educational guidelines development, the Canadian experience with educational guidelines and twelve years of M.A.S. degree programs, the growth of U.S. graduate archival education during the 1980s, and major features of the 1993 draft M.A.S. guidelines.