History of Record Keeping

Pre-requisites: ARST 510, ARST 515, ARST 516, ARST 520

Goal: The goal of this course is to provide students with an historical foundation for understanding contemporary record-keeping practices.

Objectives:

1. To provide an understanding of the purposes and methods of generating, maintaining, and preserving records in the context of different historical periods, traditions and juridical systems.
2. To develop a critical appreciation of the factors influencing record-keeping practices in different societies at different times.

Content:

1. The preservation of records as evidence and memory from antiquity to the present.
2. Specific methods associated with creating, handling, and preserving records from antiquity to the present.
3. The juridical and cultural factors influencing record keeping practices in different historical periods and in different juridical systems.
4. Continuites and discontinuities in record- keeping practices associated with different historical periods and different juridical systems.