Home
Education & Events
Western Archives Institute (WAI)

2018 WESTERN ARCHIVES INSTITUTE

The 32nd Annual Western Archives Institute

will be held at
San Diego State University

June 10 - June 22, 2018

(Admission to the program is by application only and enrollment is limited.)

What is Western Archives Institute?

The Western Archives Institute is an intensive, two-week program that provides integrated instruction in basic archival practices to individuals with a variety of goals, including:

those whose jobs require a fundamental understanding of archival skills, but have little or no previous archives education;
those who have expanding responsibility for archival materials;
those who are practicing archivists but have not received formal instruction;
and those who demonstrate a commitment to an archival career.

The Institute also features site visits to historical records repositories and a diverse curriculum that includes history and development of the profession, theory and terminology, records management, appraisal, arrangement, description, manuscripts acquisition, archives and the law, photographs, preservation administration, reference and access, outreach programs, and managing archival programs and institutions.

Western Archives Institute Faculty:

Core sessions of the Institute are taught by leading archival educators. Prior Principal Faculty include Tim Ericson, Elizabeth Yakel, Elizabeth Dow, Rand Jimerson, David B. Gracy II, and Gregory S. Hunter. Additional sessions are taught by adjunct educators selected because of their knowledge based on a particular subject and professional recognition.

Dennis Meissner has agreed to serve as the 2018 Principal Faculty Member. Mr. Meissner recently retired from his job as Interim Deputy Director for Programs at the Minnesota Historical Society, and is a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists. He has participated in a number of SAA and international efforts focused on the arrangement, description, and management of archival materials, and presently serves on the board of the SAA Foundation and on the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. He has worked closely with the design, delivery, and management of electronic finding aids to archival collections, and has participated in numerous U.S. and international working groups in the development and delivery of collection descriptions and the standards that underlie them, including chairing RLG's EAD Best Practices Working Group and serving on the Encoded Archival Context Working Group. He has consulted and presented workshops on archival processing and description and has published largely in those areas, but also in the area of business records management. In 2003, he and Mark Greene (American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming) were awarded a yearlong NHPRC Archival Research Fellowship to study archival processing expectations and backlogs in U.S. repositories and to recommend changes to existing practices. That research led to an article in the American Archivist, "More Product, Less Process: Revamping Traditional Archival Processing," which has since enjoyed a strong uptake within the archival community.

Western Archives Institute Fees:

Tuition for the Institute is $725 and includes a selection of archival publications. (To assist in tuition payment, a WAI Scholarship is available.)
A non-negotiable fee is also charged for program transportation, facility costs, opening dinner, and closing luncheon. *
Housing and meal plans are available at additional cost. *

*Information regarding non-negotiable fee and housing/meal costs available mid-February 2018.