School of Information Management & Systems.   Fall 2003.
142 Access to American Cultural Heritages.   M. Buckland.

Portfolio.   Oct 15: One-page draft of topic.
Oct 22: 1st Progress Report (1-2 pages).   Nov 3: 2nd Progress Report (1+ pages)
Nov 12: Part 4: Sources: Interim selection.   Nov 24: First deadline: Full-length draft of parts 2, 3, 4 (examples), & 7.
Nov 26: Draft Part 6: What is interesting and/or surprising.   Dec 3 latest: Final completed portfolio.

    Select some combination of cultural heritage topic(s) and cultural group(s), e.g. "cultural property"; tourism; economic development; governmental cultural policies; textbooks; history; policies, politics, and economics of institutions concerned with cultural heritages (archives, libraries, museums, schools); entertainment industry, etc; or a major event or historical development that has been significant in in relation to the cultural heritage of one or more cultural groups. Explore the topic(s) in relation to one or more cultural groups.
- What constitutes the group(s) cultural heritage? Language, literature, arts, customs, historic remains, etc.
- Classification and intellectual access, cf Sanford Berman.
- Library collections: What heritage material is where? How accessible?
- Museum collections, historic sites, monuments: Presentation and interpretation.
- Cultural property: What? Who has rights? Alienation and repatriation.
- Conscious creation and use of "culture", e.g. festivals, history month.
- Restoration, preservation, presentation of cultural objects.
- Political uses of cultural heritage (nationalism, patriotism, identity politics, etc.).
- Economic uses of cultural heritage: advertising, marketing, tourism.

    Imagine another student with your interests and background who could not take this course and wants a self-study guide. Use the following structure unless there is reason to do otherwise.
1. Brief introduction to the study guide.
2. Short explanation of theme. Revision as needed of initial one page draft.
3. Discussion of the issues.
4. Annotated, evaluative guide to sources, selecting the best examples of different types of resource: Encyclopedias, textbooks, bibliographies, internet sources, associations, historic sites, special collections (archives, libraries, museums,...), etc.
5. Discussion / explanation of any terminological aspects.
6. Summary of what you learned and/or found interesting.
7. Recommendations for improving access to American cultural heritages in your topic area.
8. Postscript: What else would you have done if you had had more time.)

Draft the best guide that you can, within the balance of the six hours a week. Draw on the assignments, such as "Finding 'Culture'"; visit a relevant exhibit and use it as a case study to explain relevant issues; provide advice on good sites (and good searches) on the World Wide Web; recommend subject headings in the MELVYL Catalog; identify the most useful index databases and suggest the best subject headings in each; and so on. Class time will be devoted continuously to discussion of the portfolios. Short in-class presentations of what you discovered. Individual consultation will be expected. The portfolio topic is subject to the instructor's approval. Explain the relationship of the portfolio to your other academic work. Expect to modify your scope depending on material found.