New Course Requirement for the DAS Certificate

CHICAGO—The Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) Certificate program is one of two certificate programs offered by SAA. The DAS Program is designed to help archives and records professionals meet the demands of born-digital records archiving.

SAA is always looking for ways to grow and improve our course offerings. After discussions with instructors, course attendees, and DAS certificate holders, as well as evaluating the best way to optimize the certificate experience, we have added a new course requirement for the certificate under the foundational tier.

This new, on-demand course, entitled “Introduction to the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model” is designed to give a high-level overview of OAIS. It will serve as a basic building block that lays out the groundwork for further DAS courses. This is the only required course for the DAS certificate, and we recommend taking it early in your DAS program.

For those already in the midst of their DAS certificate, SAA is also offering a test-out option. This option enables those who are already familiar with OAIS to proceed forward without needing to take this additional course.

This new requirement will take effect on May 15 and will apply to those who begin the certificate program going forward.

Please contact education@archivists.org if you have any questions.