Teaching Physical Archival Research in the Digital Age
Over the past five years I have had the opportunity to advise dozens of short archival research projects using the collection of the Musiksammlung at the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna, Austria, the primary archive where I completed my CLIR Mellon Fellowship. Despite the prevalence of freely available digital archival materials, when confronted with original sources such as manuscripts in a well-known composer’s hand, medieval sacred chant books, or annotations filling the margins of étude books, students have expressed excitement and engagement that goes far beyond anything that occurs in a traditional classroom, or while examining digital documents. In this essay I offer some suggestions on working with college students on archival projects, as well as speculations on the benefits of encouraging active use of physical archives by modern students. Students who live vast portions of their lives online can benefit as much as, if not more than, earlier generations by studying physical archival documents. Encounters with original sources can increase comprehension, excitement, and creativity for students longing for educational experiences that create a feeling of authenticity.
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