Reflective Essay ACW

8/6/2019 Reflective Essay ACW

1/30

MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY

REFLECTIVE ESSAY

ON

MY EXPERIENCE WITHIN MTSU PUBLIC HISTORY PROGRAM

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the

Doctor of Philosophy Degree in

Public History

SUBMITTED TO

Dissertation Committee-

Dr. Lisa Pruitt, Chair

Dr. Ellen GarrisonDr. Brenden Martin

Dr. Dianna Rust

SUBMITTED BY

Albert C. Whittenberg

June 2011


2/30

Whittenberg2

In January 2003, I was about to step into my first history class in nearly fifteen years.

It was a Constitutional Law course by noted Lincoln scholar Phillip Paludan. The professor

was stern and obviously use to receiving a great deal of respect. To say that I was slightly

intimidated was an understatement. Class was a traditional lecture style with him relishing

being the sage on the stage. When we received our first test papers back, Dr. Paludan was

extremely critical complaining that most of us obviously have not kept up the readings and

should take a graduate course more seriously. He said that only one paper was worth his time

and then handed it to me. I was a little embarrassed to be singled out, but I left class feeling

for the first time that I had made the right decision.

What was that decision? That is a story in itself and the true basis for this reflective

essay. In late May of 1986, I was graduating high school in my hometown of Crossville,

Tennessee. My father, who had grown up during the depression and was a veteran of the

Korean War (it was never a conflict to him), had been a traditional hands off parent like

many of his generation. I had done all the research for potential colleges and universities

including even toying with the idea of joining the Air Force to help pay for it. After the

graduation ceremony, my father sat me down in those hard metal seats found in my high

school gym telling me how proud he was of me and then asking me what I planned on doing

next. I told him that I was interested in a career in history. He frowned slightly and then told

me firmly to forget about the past and focus on the future. My heart sank because I was

certainly not the rebellious type. I looked up to this man and took his guidance very seriously.

For over twenty years, I have been following his advice getting both a bachelors and masters

degree in technology fields and working as an instructional technologist. However, a move to

a job in Illinois gave me the opportunity to pursue a second masters in history (instead of a


3/30

Whittenberg3

technical field) at the University of Illinois at Springfield. Some advice from one of my UIS

mentors after graduation would lead both to another technology job at Middle Tennessee State

University and also applying for their public history doctoral program. I had honored my

fathers advice but I was finally able to make that fateful decision to pursue my dream that I

had left so long ago on the floor of my high school gym.

Along the way, I have had the benefit of three remarkable mentors. All three have

encouraged, pushed and never been afraid to tell me if I was wrong or being foolish. The first

would come after that semester with Paludan and the Constitution. Dr. Robert McGregor was

my opposite in nearly every way. He was rebellious by nature, a strong atheist and extremely

suspicious of computers and anybody who worked with them. In class, he thrived on those

which were as argumentative as he was. Dr. McGregor even told me that he really did not

know what to make of me when I came to his class. Why would a religious man put up with

him complaining about organized religion? Who from the IT department would put up with

his constant fussing about how the administration puts too emphasis on online learning and

that faculty should not have to learn how to do email? Gradually, we became friends. I never

pushed my beliefs on him and always respected his opinions. He eventually came to me for

help with technology while I was consistently asking him question after question about the

American Revolution (one of his specialties). I read everything he recommended and would

ask him to serve as chair for my masters thesis committee (even considering my topic was

comparing the work of two Methodist ministers in Georgia). He also gave me my first real

chance to teach history as a guest lecturer for his Colonial America course talking about the

Great Awakening.

My other mentor also is from my time at the University of Illinois at Springfield. The


4/30

Whittenberg4

university did not have a true public history program, and Dr. William Siles was their only

public historian. While his background was primarily in museums, Dr. Siles taught all the

public history courses. I took every course I could from him including his Archival

Management course (where he was assisted by university archivist Tom Woods). During the

Spring of 2005, I was able to hear from the archivists at the Illinois State Archives as well as

the recently opened Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. I can still recall the feel of

those white gloves as I got to hold letters signed by Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt

and countless Illinois politicians from the last two centuries.I was introduced to Schellenburg

and countless others (especially the first State Archivist of Illinois Margaret Cross Norton and

her influence on the profession). After graduation, I had gone to Dr. Siles and asked him

about job possibilities or seeking my doctorate. Knowing of my roots in Tennessee, he

encouraged me to look at the program at Middle Tennessee State University plus he heard

they had an opening in the Information Technology division. Both Dr. Siles and McGregor

would supply me with letters of recommendation, and I would create a rough but

comprehensive portfolio to send with my application. I actually found out about my job at

MTSU before knowing if I would be accepted into the Public History program. My family

and I took the chance (we wanted to get away from Illinois winters anyway) and moved back

to Tennessee. I had actually applied too late for entry in fall semester 2006 but got in for

spring 2007. I was on my way thanks to the help of these two good men.

Last (but certainly not least) is Dr. Ellen Garrison. When I first came to Middle

Tennessee State University, I encountered this wonderful historian and archivist at CampIT,

an annual two week training program that Information Technology offers every year free to

all faculty. She was, by far, the most vocal and curious of the small group of around twenty


5/30

Whittenberg5

professors. When I told her of my background, she immediately asked me if I would like to

teach for them as an adjunct. By next semester, I was teaching the Survey of American

History (HIST 2010) course online. Eventually, I would teach the HIST 2020 course as well

and usually average two sections a semester. I had taught before as an adjunct for Roane

State Community College, the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and the University of

Illinois at Springfield but always courses in either Computer Science or Management

Information Systems. For this chance, I would already owe Dr. Garrison a great deal, but her

help did not stop there. For the next four years, nobody would push me more. She introduced

me to the countless folks working in archives in this area like Dr. Lisa Pruitt, Jim Havron,

John Lodl and Lucinda Cockrell. She also sent out introductions for me to archivists outside

of Tennessee such as the exceptional faculty in the Archival Education Collaborative (AEC)

program: Philip Bantin of Indiana University, Amy Cooper Cary of University of Wisconsin-

Milwaukee and Dr. Elizabeth Dow of Louisiana State University. Besides introductions, she

would become my primary advisor introducing me to the fairly new field of digital curation as

well as encouraging me to attend the premiere conference, DigCCurr, at the University of

North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

I attended DigCCurr II on April 1st

through the 3rd

in 2009 (the first DigCCurr had

been held two years earlier). The title for the program was Digital Curation: Practice,

Promise and Prospects focusing on what professionals are currently doing in the field while

also taking a look towards the future. While the first DigCCurr had been small and mainly

been focused about defining this new field, the second had over a hundred presenters from

different fields, institutions and countries. Just selecting what to attend was overwhelming.

In a session on digital curation tools, I would finally get to meet face-to-face Dr. Richard


6/30

Whittenberg6

Pearce-Moses (formerly of the University of Arizona) whom Dr. Garrison had introduced to

me through email and over the phone as a pioneer not only in digital curation but online

education of archives. There was a track of sessions geared towards educational challenges

for bringing digital curation programs into a university which proved very informative and

fascinating. I also got to speak briefly to Dr. Helen Tibbo, who not only organized the event

but was one of the leaders in bringing a digital curation curriculum to UNC. It was an

exciting three days crammed with meeting leading archivists that looked to technology as not

a hindrance but an event that needed to be prepared for and taught to future archivists.

Along with studying this new field in public history, Dr. Garrison also recommended

to me to take Phil Bantins Electronic Records course through the AEC. Building on my own

background in databases, Professor Bantin encouraged me in the study of data warehousing

and specifically the new recordkeeping systems being developed for archives and other

institutions. Bantin not only had me research MTSUs own email system to its strengths and

weaknesses in terms of archives but also the popular DSpace digital asset system created and

used by MIT. DSpace was built for MITs faculty but did not stop there. According to the

official DSpace Wiki, there are 334 organizations currently using DSpace in 56

countries.1The Wiki further states that DSpace captures, stores, indexes, preserves and

redistributes an organization's research material in digital formats and that research

institutions worldwide use DSpace for a variety of digital archiving needs.2

Why look at

these vastly different systems? Bantin felt very strongly that any digital recordkeeping system

1DSPace Wiki, DSpace Instances (as of 01/12/2009), http://wiki.dspace.org/index.php/DSpaceInstances

(accessed April 2011).

2DSpace Wiki, What is DSpace, http://wiki.dspace.org/index.php/EndUserFaq#What_is_DSpace.3F(accessed

April 2011).


7/30

Whittenberg7

must have the samecharacteristics as a physical/paper-oriented system as well as the

following requirements identified in his bookUnderstanding Data and Information Systems

for Recordkeeping:

1. Capture records,2. Support classification scheme(s),3. Capture record metadata,4. Support audit control,5. Ensure records are usable,6. Manage security and control,7. Schedule records for disposition, and8. Preserve records3

Both through the more traditional classes taught by Dr. Garrison and now this course, I was

learning that the new electronic systems had to meet the same needs as the more classic

systems of paper. By such looking at the classical texts on archives along with modern

trends, Dr. Siles, Dr. Garrison and now Professor Bantin were helping me to truly link modern

technology (my current career) to the noble field of archives (hopefully my future career).

With Dr. Garrisons retirement, my primary concern of how to have a professional

residency while keeping my day job (which paid all the bills) was solved. With this gap, the

department needed a representative for the AEC as well as someone to teach both the History

of Archives AEC course (HIST 6620) in the fall and the Archival Managementcourse (HIST

6615) in the spring. It would take some creative paperwork if a doctoral student wanted to

take either class, but the department was willing to give me a shot at jumping from teaching

undergraduate to graduate. Along with this, I would also support their experiment this year

with the Elluminate software product to allow students in other states to attend remotely to

3Philip C. Bantin, Understanding Data and Information Systems for Recordkeeping (New York: Neal-Schuman

Publishers, 2008), 35-36.


8/30

Whittenberg8

traditional onsite classes. This was part of an initiative by History Chair, Amy Sayward, and

also the Ad Hoc Distance Education Committee (whom I also served as a member during the

2010-2011 academic year). Although I could not hope to fill Dr. Garrisons shoes, I was

grateful for the opportunity to teach graduate students as well as assist the department while

they tried to fill this open position.

My residency mentor was Dr. Dianna Z. Rust, who assisted me with relooking at the

design and structure of the courses especially in terms of classical teaching models as well as

distance learning. With the limited amount of time for research and the fall semester coming

quickly, I was unable to redesign the HIST 6620 course. Instead with the generous offer of

her materials and lecture notes, I relied heavily on how Dr. Garrison taught the course as well

as my personal memories from taking it from her. My primary additions were weekly

PowerPoint slides, some audio-visual downloads and using some research I had done before

at UIS on the problems with replacing paper with technology.

Also, I would be remiss in not mentioning the other assistance that Dr. Garrison gave

me for my fall course. She allowed me to view her personal notes/files plus gave me around

twenty books to browse through as possible textbooks for the course. In the end, I selected

five that I was very familiar with and had used in her course before (listed in the order used in

class):

1. Rosalind Thomas, Literacy and Orality in Ancient Greece2. M.T. Clanchy, Memory to Written Record: England 1066-13073. Daniel R. Headrick, When Information Came of Age4. JoAnne Yates, Control Through Communication: The Rise of System in American

Management

5. Abigail J. Sellen& Richard H. R. Harper, TheMyth of the Paperless Office

I used the other fifteen or so books to supplement my lectures. Besides the books, I also had


9/30

Whittenberg9

the student read a host of articles that I had also read during my several classes in the

program: Examples include focusing on the development of archival theory outside of North

America with such respected works as Maynard Brichfords The Origins of Modern

European Archival Theory, Nancy Bartletts Respect des Fonds: The Origins of the Modern

ArchivalPrinciple of Provenance and Michel Ducheins The History of European Archives

and the Development of the Archival Profession in Europe. Dr. Garrison reviewed my work

in D2L and gave me the go ahead to proceed. Little did I know that the content of the course

would be the least of my troubles.

The History of Archives course is one of two courses that MTSU regularly teaches for

the AEC. Since students register at their respective schools, the instructor frequently does not

know how many students he or she will have sometimes until the first class session (or how

many schools will be connecting in). I had three from MTSU, four from Indiana and one

from LSU. The students ranged from just starting their program to this being their last class

besides thesis hours. The problems started the very first class period in trying to get all three

campuses to be engaged. The MTSU students were easy but the other two schools were a

challenge. They wanted to keep quiet and watch class I assume like it was a television show

or class video popped into a DVD player or VCR. When I called their name, they responded

but rarely at first without my prompting. Ill admit I was not used to this. In all the graduate

courses I had attended before (including some through the AEC), it was often hard for the

professor to get everyone to stop discussing so he could move to the next point. Silence was

deadly to me because I thought no one was learning then. I started to ask more questions and

lecture less. I emailed students frequently on points they had brought up complimenting them


10/30

Whittenberg10

on their thoughts and comments. Slowly, the walls started to break down until unfortunately

the technology in the room decided to fail me.

First, I consider myself somewhat an expert on these two-way video rooms like the

one used in Peck Hall. When I worked at Roane State Community College in the 1990s, I

supported six of these classrooms (called IDEA rooms). The school had at least one in each

of their five campuses plus a secondary one on the main campus. These rooms ran close to 12

hours a day six days a week (including Saturday courses). When I moved to Illinois, I

supported two of these rooms primarily for meetings between the three University of Illinois

campuses and occasionally a course or two a semester. I had worked with the three main

vendors: VTEL, Polycom and Tandberg. I honestly did not find this equipment intimidating

and felt I was a strong advocate for teaching with technology in these types of rooms. In the

middle of the semester, I came early to class to get load my files on the instructor PC, and the

lights went out. For the next two hours, the power was out across campus. I scrambled to call

support at the other two universities and eventually got everyone on speaker phone. At one

point, I was talking to the Indiana students through one of the students speaker phone options

on their cell phone. It was a horrible night, but all of us got through it. That would have been

bad enough but the next class period we had an equipment failure which required the vendor

that installed the equipment originally to have to make a service call. Again, I ran class

mainly through speaker phone. The following week, I ran checks on the room several times

through another video conferencing room on campus to ensure that everything would be

working for the next class. To their credit, no students complained and were very supportive.

The only other technical hiccup was towards the end of the semester when LSUs connection

would mysteriously disconnect around 5:45 or 6:00. It would come back up in a couple of


11/30

Whittenberg11

minutes, but they never did figure out what exactly was happening to my knowledge. It is just

so ironic that as soon as the students started warming up to me that the equipment then

decided to fail me.

That semester was frustrating, but it was also exciting. Dr. Dow had warned me about

her lone student from LSU. He has been someone that had squeaked by, and his first papers

to me proved it. I tried to be supportive and complimentary when I could. I gave suggestions

with each paper and was pleased when he would follow my advice with each new submission.

He had been completely quiet unless I called on him (and then his answers were very short)

for most of the semester, but slowly that started to change. He began to ask questions

regularly in class and also would email me directly. In discussion postings in D2L, he seemed

very comfortable giving his opinion. I would often bring up student postings in class and

frequently brought up his to hopefully draw him more out of his shell. In the end, he got a

solid A- (which made me feel extraordinary considering most of his early papers were in

the B- range). Dr. Dow was certainly surprised when she heard the news.

It was also during the fall semester that I had the opportunity to represent MTSU at the

AEC annual meeting at Baton Rouge from October 8th

to the 10th. Those attending were Jeff

Jakeman (Auburn), Elizabeth Dow (LSU), Amy Cooper Cary (UWM), Reagan Grimsley

(Auburn), Phil Bantin (IU) and myself. A number of topics were discussed including

marketing the program, scheduling courses through spring semester 2015, reviewing

enrollment numbers and creating an AEC-specific faculty evaluation form. Looking back,

there was a great deal of work packed into those two and a half days with everyone eager to

make the program a continued success. Even though I was not the permanent replacement for

MTSU and still a student, all these archivists treated me as one of their own and respected my


12/30

Whittenberg12

opinions and comments. I tried to represent MTSU to the best of my ability and also felt I

had made some valuable new colleagues for the future.

One of the tasks that we worked on at the meeting was a review of what the team

called Archives 101 objectives. All AEC courses require you to have completed the first

essential class in archives. At MTSU, that course is Archival Management (HIST 6615)

which I was to teach in the spring. This gave me the opportunity to add a few items that had

not been covered when I took the 6615 class as a student such as oral histories (I wish I had

invited the departments expert Dr. Martha Norkunas to the spring class to present though

instead of talking about it myself, but I was happy to discuss concerns over various audio-

visual formats). Several of the AEC representatives offered to send me copies of their

syllabus for review as well. Using these 101 guidelines and syllabi were also useful in

creating my planning document for Dr. Rust as well.

For my spring course (HIST 6615), I had researched and selected the MDK (Morrison,

Ross and Kemp) instructional design model (this was requested by Dr. Rust during my

comprehensive exam defense and residency proposal review). This model includes nine main

steps/goals:

1. Identify instructional problems, and specify goals for designing an instructionalprogram.

2. Examine learner characteristics that should receive attention during planning.3. Identify subject content, and analyze task components related to stated goals and

purposes.

4. State instructional objectives for the learner.5. Sequence content within each instructional unit for logical learning.6. Design instructional strategies so that each learner can master the objectives.7. Plan the instructional message and delivery.8. Develop evaluation instruments to assess objectives.


13/30

Whittenberg13

9. Select resources to support instruction and learning activities.4In December 2010, Dr. Rust reviewed my planning document detailing how I would handle

each step for the upcoming course (this document is attached as an appendix to this essay for

the entire committees review). She encouraged me on several items and asked about the

possibility of attending class for at least one night. I encouraged her to do this plus added

both her and Dr. Garrison to my D2L site for the course (I had also added both of them to the

D2L 6620 course site in fall when I was teaching).

Unlike HIST 6620, the textbooks for 6615 are actually part of SAA guidelines. They

are the very practical Gregory S HuntersDeveloping andMaintaining Practical Archives: A

How-To-Do-ItManualand the more conceptual Understanding Archives &Manuscriptsby

James M. O'Toole and Richard J. Cox. I had used Hunters book in three classes and knew it

to be a solid introductory text. Having never taught doctoral students before, I once again

leaned on the best example I knew (being Dr. Garrisons thirty years of archival experience

and twenty years of teaching). She had supplied me with her scanned articles in a CD, and I

used them greatly. Most weeks would include one or more chapters from Hunter. An

example is the week the class spent on appraisal. They had to read the chapter in Hunter on

the topic and also the classic, The Appraisal of Modern Public Records by T. R.

Schellenberg. We discussed how the concepts of evidential and informational values had

changed. What were the flaws of Schellenbergs theories? What parts did modern archivists

still practice and what was now discarded? It was not unusual for students to have a chapter

in Hunter and three to four solid articles to review and write about before each class.

4G. R. Morrison, S. M. Ross &J. E. Kemp,Designing Effective Instruction (4th Edition).(New York: John Wiley &

Sons, 2004), 10.


14/30

Whittenberg14

Unlike the AEC course, all the students in HIST 6615 were from MTSU. There were

a total of nine students (including three doctoral students), and the discussions were lively.

Two of the students worked part-time at the Albert Gore Research Center, two worked at the

Center for Popular Music and one had worked for TSLA (Tennessee State Library and

Archives). This allowed me to question them on how each institution handled topics like

selection, accession, arrangement, description and reference. Because no institution did

things even close to the same way, the students began to understand the type of day-to-day

decisions archivists make to control and manage their collections. Decisions are not just

based on the vanilla steps offered by Hunter but a variety of influences including sometimes

politics and that always disturbing dollar sign. I was also able to partner with John Lodl at the

Rutherford County Archives to have each student process and digitize part of three large

photo collections he had been trying to get through. Finally, I also invited Jim Havron to

come as a guest speaker telling about his experiences not only at the Gore Research Center

but also as a former President of the Society of Tennessee Archivists and archivist for the

United Methodist Church- Tennessee Conference. I had also planned on asking Lucinda

Cockrell from the Center for Popular Music to present another night, but scheduling never

worked out.

What went wrong? What went right? How would I do things different if I get the

chance to teach either course again? I have already spoken to the technology problems that

occurred in 6620 in the fall. However, I do feel that I made some other mistakes as well. One

of the many things that I took from Dr. Garrison is using the movie Schindlers Listas an

assignment in class. All the students have to watch the movie and write a report telling every

time they see a record being used. It is a powerful movie and really resonates with the


15/30

Whittenberg15

students (both when I took the course and when I taught it). I had really struggled the first

couple of weeks to try and get the students from LSU and Indiana to enter more in class

discussion.However, the week ofSchindlersListwas different. People actively talked. Dr.

Garrison had mentioned to me that she used to use this earlier in the semester, and I had

wished I had done this. After this class, the students from other universities were far more

open and talkative and made me seriously consider moving it to the first or second week if I

get the chance to teach this course again..

Another problem was with the HIST 6615 course in terms of converting it to a hybrid

model. An initial problem was the lack of distance learners. I only had one student that lived

a considerable distance away (anywhere from an hour to 90 minutes away depending on

traffic). I talked to her about using Elluminate as well as working with an archives more local

to her than the Rutherford County Archives for the hands on portion. She thought about it for

a week and then declined. She would rather be in class and would rather partner up with one

of the other students at Rutherford County. Towards the end of the semester, all students

were required to do an in-class presentation. One of the students was going to have to miss

due to family concerns. He was very comfortable with technology so I offered the chance to

use Elluminate including one-on-one training by me several weeks before the class. Like the

first student, he also declined and made arrangements to come in. I do not feel this was

related to the technology but more that these two students preferred to be in class with their

fellow students and myself. They felt they were losing something by doing class from a

distance. I feel this will continue to be a big stumbling block as the History Department goes

forward with Elluminate. I am hoping that my dissertation research will highlight how some

institutions are overcoming this.


16/30

Whittenberg16

All students were required to do a reflective essay in 6615 as their final paper (a very

positive experience that I had done myself in classes with Dr. Garrison, Dr. Conard and now

Dr. Martin). I asked the student to let me have it it terms of how the class could be better or

how I can teach it better. One, they told me to not try and do a traditional lecture and have

more discussion. Due to my lack of experience and confidence with teaching this course, I

had lectured more in the beginning than probably needed with graduate students. Midway

through, I loosened up and began to trust my instincts more and opened with a question and

let the class flow from there. Instead of a rigid outline step by step of what I had to do, I had

just a list of topics I wanted to cover before the night was over. Several students commented

on this in their essays that they really started to enjoy the class more after this class structure

became the norm.

The second item students commented on was the need for more hands-on activities.

As I mentioned before, I had met with John Lodl before the semester began to work on a

project where the students could work in teams and finish processing a collection for him. I

had even got the department to loan him an additional computer and scanner so more students

could work at the same time. The biggest problem is this project was mainly a digitization

activity and really needed to give students a chance to do so much more in terms of

processing a collection. Also, most of these students worked during the day so getting to the

archives before 4:00 PM to work on this was challenging. When I took archival management

in Illinois, it was also at night, but our professor partnered with the university archives to keep

it open several nights throughout the semester and had multiple projects for us to work on. I

wish I had actively pursued this with Dr. Williams or Jim Havron at the Gore Research Center


17/30

Whittenberg17

to see if this was possible (I had already discussed evening hours with John Lodl but staffing

limitations prevented it).

The third and final item that came up was in terms of the readings. As I mentioned

before about my lack of confidence, I had never taught graduate students before this academic

year, and I also had PhD students in the spring. Not wanting to mess things up, I leaned

heavily on the materials that Dr. Garrison had provided for me. I hesitated to experiment

much and trusted her many years of experience. The big mistake is I am not her. I do not

have over 30 years working in archives so I really should have organized the class and the

materials to fit me (and my lack of experience more). An example is what several students

commented on. Several of the readings that I had used from Dr. Garrison gave theories,

experiments or policies that had been created but without the raw data justifying the changes

or new way of thinking. Because of her extensive knowledge and research, Dr. Garrison can

easily give example after example. I could not. Instead, I wound up going back several times

to my desk researching the item more and then returning to the topic the next class for further

explanation and discussion (or sometimes send additional readings through email that

strengthened my case). If given the opportunity again, I can hopefully change this. I am

grateful for the learning opportunity it gave me though to both improve my knowledge and

hopefully teaching ability.

In retrospect, I would declare my residency a success. I had been able to use what I

had learned in my many classes and pass that knowledge onto a new group of students.

Although I did not always feel it, I had passed from student onto to a respectable semi-

professional (I would certainly not call myself a professional yet). I had been able to also

share two different viewpoints especially with my HIST 6615 students of both the archivist


18/30

Whittenberg18

and the technology specialist. The topic of digital records came up numerous times, and I was

able to show how archivists and IT staff speak entirely different languages and have

completely diverse concerns. Drawing on a paper I had written years ago at UIS on paper, my

students were surprised to hear me explain that paper is still a more stable and reliable record

than any type of digital format.

Another exciting part of my residency was the required colloquium courses I took

each semester. Along with fellow students Jane Davis and Kristen Baldwin Deathridge, we

explored a number of topics pertinent to our different residency projects. Dr. Bren Martin

was our professor for both semesters and helped us with our dissertation proposal, reflective

essay and portfolio. He also listened to how each of our projects was progressing offering

timely advice as well as support. He also met with each of us separately as well to discuss

both the residency and our work in the colloquium courses. Each student was charged to lead

a discussion at one of the class meetings. My topic for fall was pedagogy for digital media,

and my one for spring was educational standards in the digital age. For the discussion in fall,

I asked everyone to read John Palfrey and Urs Gassers book, Born Digital: Understanding

the First Generation of Digital Natives. Along with other supplemental materials, I discussed

the growing changes with todays generation of students. As the authors noted in the

introduction, these kids are very different:

They study, work, write, and interact with each other in ways that are very differentfrom the ways that you did growing up. They read blogs rather than newspapers.

They often meet each other online before they meet in person. They probably donteven know what a library card looks like, much less have one; and if they do, theyve

probably never used it. They get their music online often for free, illegally ratherthan buying itin record stores. Theyre more likely to send an instant message (IM)

than to pick up the telephone to arrange a date later in the afternoon.5

5John Palfrey &Urs Gasser, Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives, (New York:

Perseus Book Group, 2008), 2.


19/30

Whittenberg19

Building on this knowledge was also part of my reasoning in exploring web enhanced, totally

online or hybrid courses for Public History programs. With teaching HIST 2010 and 2020

online for several semesters and now adding web content to both HIST 6615 and 6620, I was

hoping to bridge this generational gap. In spring, my discussion focused on how this has

changed educational standards (or how it should change them). I asked everyone to review

the International Society for Technology in Education standards for both teachers and

students. We also discussed the current U.S. History standards at the National Center for

History in the Schools website at http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/Standards/ . We also looked more

specifically on how Tennessee is doing based on a report by the Thomas Fordham Institute

called The State of State U.S. History Standards 2011. Dr. Martin, these discussions and

my research in them helped me to rethink how I presented these courses and prepared my

dissertation proposal.

One of my hopes when I started the program here at MTSU was to somehow combine

my passion for history and archives with what I have been doing professionally for over

fifteen years. Technology and history sometimes do not mix very well, but I have been

pleasantly surprised how my experience has aided me throughout the program. It should not

be a surprise that I also wanted to do this with my residency and ultimately my dissertation.

In my proposal to my dissertation committee, I included the following question/purpose:

This study intends to investigate the possibilities of converting a graduate publichistory program to one partially (or completely) online with the hope of expanding

student enrollment numerically and geographically. To do this, the research will notonly focus on traditional programs in both history and specifically public history but

also successful distance learning programs for the social sciences. This study will alsoexamine key test cases such as the digital curation programs at the University of

Illinois, the University of North Carolina and the University of Arizona as well as theArchival Education Collaborative (of which Middle Tennessee State University is a

partner) in hopes of identifying best practices and detailing both the successes andfailures of trying to implement such programs.


20/30

Whittenberg20

Within my residency, I had hoped to build up some personal data to add to the dissertation.

All of the materials had been originally posted online by Dr. Garrison through the course

management system D2L for both HIST 6615 and 6620. I also added discussion postings to

6615 (they were already built in for 6620) as well as providing feedback for papers in D2Ls

dropboxand all grading online for both courses. Besides the textbooks, all the other articles

for the student to read were provided in an Adobe PDF format (I converted them to PDF/A

format so they would work with any version of Acrobat Reader or browser). During lecture, I

would routinely use PowerPoint in some fashion and all of those slides were added to D2L as

well for the students to download if they wished. I also attempted to use Elluminate for

instructor hours for the Archival Management course, but most students simply used email if

they had a question or waited till before or after class. As mentioned before, my other

attempts offering Elluminate as a possible solution to two students was rejected.

Whileperhaps more negative than positive, I still am confident that my experiences the past

year (along with interviewing the faculty that used Elluminate extensively both semesters) can

add to the research for my dissertation.

During one of the colloquium classes, Dr. Martin made the remark that I probably

have discovered what he did so many years ago that teaching a topic really makes you truly

learn and understand it. One of my biggest weaknesses is never working in an archives. I

have used archives. I have partnered on projects with archivists. I have supported these

institutions with my enthusiastic support and often wallet as well. Some of my dearest friends

now are archivists, but they all know that my day job is a technologist. I have learned so

much from my courses, my instructors, my fellow students and teaching these classes.

However, teaching these two semesters makes me realize more and more that I need to get my


21/30

Whittenberg21

hands truly dirty (it is a little embarrassing when your students have processed more records

than yourself). With this in mind, I have begun to contact several of my archivist friends and

offered my services. Jim Havron of the Albert Gore Research Center has a number of items

that I can assist in processing as well as investigating if I can help him with anything related

to the work he does as the archivists of the Tennessee Conference of the United Methodist

Church. I also plan on contacting John Lodl at the Rutherford County Archives and Lucinda

Cockrell at the Center for Popular Music to see if I can volunteer to assist them as well.

During this long process and specifically my residency, I always go back to those all

too familiar questions. What did I learn? Was I a success or a failure? What did I learn

about myself? Can I possibly add something to this wonderful profession like the men and

women who have taught me? The first time I ever got the chance to teach on a college level

was in a computer networking class at Roane State Community College. It was scary but

ultimately extremely satisfying. When I look back at the courses I have taught throughout my

residency, I can recall never leaving class tired or disgusted with my students. I always left

excited that learning had taken place for both them and especially me. Considering that most

of those days I had worked 8 to 10 hours before going into class, that hammers in that my

decision of so long ago is valid. What did I learn about myself? I still love teaching and

enjoy since I am teaching something that I am passionate about instead of just having

experience in (like technology). My life has benefited so much from magnificent mentors

who not only taught me their chosen field of expertise in history but the wonders of teaching.

Perhaps, that is why I was never satisfied with having a job in technology but educational

technology or instructional technology (however you label it).


22/30

Whittenberg22

I cannot end this document without again thanking the countless folks who have

helped me throughout my educational career in history, public history and especially archives.

Dr. Paludan is no longer with us, but I owe so much for his influence with that first graduate

history course. I appreciate the continued friendship and support of Dr. Bob McGregor

despite our lively discussions on religion.Although I can talk at length about Dr. Siles

teaching me about the ins and outs of managing an archives, I owe him more for pointing me

towards MTSU for both a job and a fantastic public history program. I also cannot fail to

mention Dr. Conard giving me my first chance to work on such an interesting project as Tims

Ford as well as trusting me with the responsibility of the archival track representative during

my residency time. Although I did not take a class from him until my professional residency

colloquium, Dr. Bren Martin has been tremendous in helping me with both my residency

proposal and dissertation proposal, and he has offered me extremely useful advice and support

especially when I interviewed for my first history position. I cannot thank Dr. Lisa Pruett

enough for be willing to serve as the chair of my committee plus her fantastic advice on my

dissertation plans. Although I have not mentioned him earlier, I would also thank Dr. Lynn

Nelson for his help with my written comprehension exam plus some words of support before I

stepped into my first interview when I was applying for an open faculty position. Finally, I

cannot thank Dr. Ellen Garrison enough. To mention everything she has done for me in the

past four years would take far too many pages for this essay. I am truly blessed to have

known and worked with so many exceptional faculty and historians.


23/30

Whittenberg23

Appendix:

MRK Model Planning Document

Used For

HIST 6615/7615


24/30

Whittenberg24

1. Identifyinstructional problems,andspecify goalsfordesigning aninstructionalprogram.

Essentials of Archival Management (HIST 6615/7615) is frequently called in the

Archives Educational Collaborate (AEC) the Archives 101 course. In other words, it is

the first course the graduate students (on the Archives track) take that primarily focuses onthe archivist profession.

One of the biggest instructional problems with the course has it is taught at MTSU is itattempts to combine all the major concepts, vocabulary, standards, ethical principles, and

current issues in archival management with practical hands on experience and day-to-dayarchive management techniques. Where most archival classes are either completely

theoretical or entirely hands on system work, this course tries to do both.

The other chief instructional problem for this course is to convert it to an online/hybridmodel. This class has been taught exclusively in the traditional brick and mortar fashion.

With the addition of the new software resource, Elluminate, the expectation is thatstudents could potentially take this from a distance. While this may present less of a

challenge with the theoretical side of the course, the hands on exercises may prove morecomplicated.

2. Examinelearnercharacteristicsthatshouldreceiveattentionduring planning.This was modified from an article on adult learners from the Rochester Institute of

Technology website. Considering the nature of graduate students and archivists ingeneralthe learning characteristics mentioned mesh very well

yProblem-Centered (seek educational solutions to where they are compared towhere they want to be in life)

y Subject-Oriented (focused on subject at hand no matter how relates to own goals)y Results-Oriented (have specific results in mind for course)y Self-Directed (not dependent on others)y Just-In-Time/Hands-On (common trait of archives education is to prepare for day

to day operations)

y Thinking Styles:o Reflective

View new information subjectively Relate new information to past experiences Often ask "why?" Examine their feelings about what they are learning

o Creative Like to play with new information Always ask "why?" Make excellent troubleshooters Create their own solutions and shortcuts

o Practical


25/30

Whittenberg25

Want factual information without any "nice-to-know" additions Seek the simplest, most efficient way to do their work Not satisfied until they know how to apply their new skills to their

job or other interest

o Conceptual

Accept new information only after seeing the big picture Want to know how things work, not just the final outcome Learn the concepts that are presented but also want to know the

related concepts that may not have been included

y Learning Styles:o Visual (information visually illustrated or demonstrated)o Auditory (information spoken)o Kinesthetic (information touched or manipulated)o Environmental (information presented in surroundings that match learner

preferences)

3.Identifysubjectcontent,andanalyzetaskcomponentsrelatedtostated goalsandpurposes.

Outline of Subject Content:

y Nature and history of archives managementy Research methodologyy Legal implications/boundaries for Archives Managementy Systems Thinkingy Acquisitions and Appraisal

o Collection development policyo Schellenberg (evidential, informational) and Jenkinsono Models (documentation strategy, black box, functional analysis,

Minnesota)

o Evolution of practiceo Legal issues/record keeping (accession record, deed of gift, donor file)

y Archives Vs. Manuscriptsy Professional Ethics for Archivesy Records Management (Life Cycle of Records)y Arrangement and Description

o Standards (ISAD(G), ISAAR(CPF), DACS, MARC, EAD, EAC)o Evolution of Practice

y Preservationo Preservation Vs. Conservation (library, museum use)o Principleso Idealso Applicationo Introduction of digital preservation (problems with hardware and software,

open standards)


26/30

Whittenberg26

o Threatso Characteristics of preservation environments

y Referenceo Reference interviewo Reference toolso

Documenting/Policies

o Facilitieso Securityo Copyright

y Outreacho Available Tools (Pros, Cons, Considerations)o Evaluation How to do outreach with what, given specific resources, to

accomplish what?

o Websites Their influence and impact on archives management andoutreach efforts

y Oral Historyo Nature of Oral Historyo Role of Archivist (Practitioner v. Work with Others)o Transcription (Preservation, Access, Use)o Ethics and Legal Issues

y Audio/Visual Recordso Photographso Video tapeo Sound recordingso Filmo CD/DVD

y Electronic Recordso Vocabularyo What Makes Electronic Information Different???o Transition Paper to Electronic Recordso Impact on Archival Practice in a Variety of Areas

y Job Market/Careerso Expectationso Opportunitieso Levels of Trainingo Responsibilities as Related to Various Roles

4. Stateinstructionalobjectivesforthelearner.A student who completes this course should be able to:

y Describe the nature of records and the role of records in societyy Illustrate the key role that historical records play in academic research.y Explain the key elements of archival theory and the fundamental principles of

archival management

y Demonstrate a basic knowledge of archival selection, arrangement, description,reference, outreach, and preservation


27/30

Whittenberg27

y Analyze the professional and ethical issues that confront archivistsy Locate and evaluate current information on the theory and practice of archival

management

y Apply theoretical knowledge to practical problems in an archival repositoryy Finally, because there are not always "black & white," or "right or wrong"

approaches to issues related to administering archival collections, the class willemphasize options and different approaches to questions and concerns that

archivists face on a daily basis.

5. Sequencecontent withineachinstructionalunitforlogicallearning.Thecourse within D2Lisbrokenintomodulesthatalsocorrespond withthe weeks

inthecourse. Ihaveusedthisonnumerousoccasionsandfinditbotheasierfor

myselfintermsoforganizationandthestudentsforunderstanding.

y Week 1 (What Exactly Do Archivists Do?)y Week 2 (The Nature of Records)y Week 3 (Selection/Appraisal/Functional Analysis)y Week 4 (Accessioning & Arrangement)y Week 5 (Description)y Week 6 (Access)y Week 7 (Reference)y Week 8 (Outreach/Public Relations)y Week 9 (Preservation)y Week 10 (Audio/Visual Records, Oral Histories)y Week 11 (Electronic Records)y Week 12 (Archives and Society)y

Week 13 (Archives as a Profession/Ethics/SAA/ACA)y Week 14 (Student Presentations, Wrap Up and Final Discussions)

6. Designinstructionalstrategiessothateachlearnercanmastertheobjectives.By the very nature of this course, I think I can take advantage of a number of strategies:

y Direct Instruction Normal Classroom Lecturesy Indirect Instruction Team Project, Exercises (Case Studies used)y Experiential Learning Assignments and Trips at Rutherford County Archivesy Independent Study Oral Report, Reflective Essayy Interactive Instruction Discussions, Team Project, Archives in the News

7. Plantheinstructionalmessageanddelivery.I plan to use a number of tools to present/deliver my message including using D2L as the

main means for most communication. While I am requiring the students purchase twobooks, the majority of the readings will be on D2L. I also plan on regular discussion


28/30

Whittenberg28

forums and the use of the dropbox for all papers. I will also post regular announcementsthrough both the news area of D2L and email.

Since this is not listed as an online course, I cannot deliver all the content this way, but I

do plan on using Elluminate either all the time in case I have students who live out of state

(or a considerable distance away) or some class periods. I might also experiment withoffice hours as well to see if I get any takers.

Within most class sessions, I intend to both use a mixture of standard lecture, hands onwhen we visit the local archives and group work. As it is a graduate course, I intend to

give students multiple opportunities for discussion and also presenting themselves.

I am also debating whether to invite guest archivists as well towards the end (say week 12or 13) to talk about their careers.

8. Develop evaluationinstrumentstoassessobjectives.y Students will prepare a discussion preparation paper prior to each class based on

the readings assigned.

y During certain weeks, students will participate in a forum discussion onDesire2Learn based on the weeks readings or current happenings in archival

management

y Students will be required to present an oral report on current issues in one domainof archival management (for example: appraisal or arrangement). Since there is

the potential for users to be online, student reports will be done throughElluminate.

y Students will required to participate in several field trips or local repositories andperform specific exercises at these institutions (details still being worked on).

y Students will complete and report on a group field experience and submit a 1500-2500 word reflective essay on this experience as well as the course itself.

9. Selectresourcestosupportinstructionandlearning activities.Textbooks Required for Purchase:

y Developing andMaintaining Practical Archives: A How-To-Do-ItManual(How-to-Do-ItManuals forLibraries, No. 122) by Gregory S. Hunter

y Understanding Archives &Manuscripts by James M. O'Toole & Richard J. CoxOnline SAA Resources/Readings Provided by Instructor:

y Selections from Providing Reference Services For Archives AndManuscripts byMary J. Pugh

y Selections from Selecting & Appraising Archives &Manuscripts by Frank Bolesy Selections fromArranging & Describing Archives &Manuscriptsby Kathleen D.

Roe


29/30

Whittenberg29

y Selections fromManaging Archival &Manuscript Repositoriesby Michael J.Kurtz

y Various other classic articles by Schellenberg, Samuels, Miller, etc.


30/30

Whittenberg30

Bibliography

Bantin, Philip C. Understanding Data and Information Systems for Recordkeeping. New

York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2008.

DSPace Wiki, DSpace Instances (as of 01/12/2009),http://wiki.dspace.org/index.php/DSpaceInstances , Accessed April 2011.

DSpace Wiki, What is DSpace,

http://wiki.dspace.org/index.php/EndUserFaq#What_is_DSpace.3F , Accessed

April 2011.

Morrison, G. R., Ross, S. M. &Kemp, J. E.Designing Effective Instruction (4th Edition).

NewYork: John Wiley & Sons, 2004.

Palfrey, John &Gasser, Urs.Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of DigitalNatives. New York: Perseus Book Group, 2008.

Documents

Reflective Essay ACW