Special Collections Librarian
Inside Mahn Center for Archives & Special Collections
For Instructors
If you are an instructor interested in incorporating archives and special collections primary source research skills and materials into your course please reach out to us in the Mahn Center! We would love to work with you on developing a plan for your session(s) and/or assignment/project to maximize student learning and engagement. Our approach is completely active learning based and we aim to make our sessions, whether in-person or online, as interactive and participatory as possible.
Including archival and special collections primary sources in your instruction
Below are links to our current series of asynchronous online tutorials. Please let us know if you assign one to your students! Others are possible, just get in touch and we can discuss any ideas:
- Introduction to Archives & Special Collections
- Exploring African American History in the Mahn Center for Archives & Special Collections
- Biblia Latina/Latin Bible (all about our 13th century illuminated manuscript Latin Bible)
- Ethics in Archives & Historical Research (focusing on patient records from the Athens Mental Health Center Collection)
- One Image at a Time: Documentary Photography Archive (a visual literacy tutorial)
- W.E. Peters Athens Then & Now: Mapping Survey (more on W.E. Peters)
- Latin Tutorial Series
Students can be assigned to do these tutorials as homework. After they complete the tutorial, students can download a pdf Certificate of Completion to upload to BlackBoard or email you to demonstrate that they did the work.
These asynchronous tutorials are most effective when paired with a post-tutorial synchronous discussion (in-person or remote) during a class session. Students can discuss what they learned and we can answer any questions that came up about the materials or the process, or anything else related to our collections or to primary source research.
We work with students and classes at all levels (including student organizations, K-12, alumni, retirees, and community groups), and in all disciplines. No prior knowledge or experience is required.
We are available to discuss in-person sessions, depending on the size of your class, as well as fully remote and hybrid options.
We work with instructors on single sessions as well as in a more immersive way on semester-long projects that require either multiple library visits (or remote sessions) and/or deeper student engagement with and research into specific archival and special collections materials.
We are open to your ideas and are always looking for new ways to engage more students from more disciplinary areas with our collections.
Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or would like to discuss the possibilities. Please also contact one of us for more information about our student internship program.
Email one or all of us: Bill Kimok (University Archives); Miriam Intrator (Rare Books); Laura Smith (Documentary Photography Archive) Greta Suiter (Manuscripts), or complete the Research Request Form.