Creating Access Through Archival Description
Back by popular demand!
Wednesdays, September 3 – October 8, 2025
10:00 – 11:00 AM (EST)
Registration limited to 18 participants
What kind of information should you document about your collections, and how can this information be used to provide access? In this introductory course, led by Special Collections Consultant Katelyn Legacy-Roulston, you will learn how to write standardized archival descriptions to facilitate the care and use of your collections. The course is aligned with rules of best practice, Describing Archives: a Content Standard (DACS), and will cover the minimally required elements to create a complete collection description.
This series will take place online over six weeks in September and October (see complete dates below). The format will be a flipped classroom style, and each week will consist of two parts:
1) asynchronous pre-workshop materials providing background information and context. You will have access one week before each live workshop to view the corresponding video (~45 minutes in length) and any other associated materials.
and
2) a live one-hour weekly virtual workshop in which participants will work together to practice the skills learned in the pre-workshop materials through a series of exercises. Live sessions will occur on select Wednesdays at 10am (see full schedule below).
Each week will build upon the last to break down the components of archival description, resulting in a complete description by the end of the course. Participants will have opportunities to bring their own examples of description dilemmas to troubleshoot with the course group during the live sessions, as time allows.
Registration will be for the full six-week course. Due to the workshop nature of the live classes, the number of spaces available for registration is limited to 18 spots, but a waitlist will be created for any interested registrant. Live workshop attendance and participation will be strongly encouraged for participants to make the most of the hands-on learning experience. A certificate of attendance will be provided at course completion, with one contact hour awarded for participation in each live session.
All are welcome to view the pre-workshops videos via the Archival Description Series playlist on NNYLN’s YouTube Channel.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Katelyn at katelyn@nnyln.org.
Creating Access Through Archival Description Series | Live Session Schedule
Live Workshops will take place on Wednesdays at 10AM (EST).
September 3, 2025 | Introduction to Archival Description & DACS
September 10, 2025 | DACS Identity Elements: P1
September 17, 2025 | DACS Identity Elements: P2
September 24, 2025 | DACS Content & Structure Elements
October 1, 2025 | DACS Access Elements
October 8, 2025 | Archival Description in Action