MScEcon/Diploma Archive Administration (Distance Learning)

By studying archive administration at postgraduate level, you will learn professional principles and techniques and acquire the core skills which will enable you to play a part in the preservation, management and exploitation of an invaluable informational and historical resource.

This course is designed to provide individuals already working in an archive or records management environment, with the training that will equip them with the skills, knowledge and professional qualification to further their career at a professional level.

Aberystwyth’s Department of Information Studies is the leading provider of distance learning degrees in this subject area.  The Department pursues a student centred, flexible, open learning approach which has proved not only popular with our students, but very successful in managing to make studying at a distance as rewarding and enjoyable as possible. Our distance learning students participate in residential study schools and are supported by web-based conferencing facilities which enable them to communicate with each other – whether consulting about a particular assignment in one of the module conferencing areas, or just enjoying a light hearted exchange at the electronic students café - and with staff, easing the feeling of isolation that can sometimes be felt by distance learners.

The Diploma/MScEcon in Archive Administration is divided into two parts: Part I (120 credits) is the taught course, successful completion of which reaches Diploma-level. Part II (60 credits) involves writing a dissertation, to be submitted for the Master’s-level qualification.

Tuition is provided through printed study packs containing the core learning material, supplemented by a resource pack and a conference area on Gwylan (the computer conferencing facility), which provides information updates relevant to the course, and a directory of websites referred to in the study packs.  Assessment is by means of a variety of written assignments including essays and reports.  You can progress at your own pace, taking between two and five years to complete the course. On average, you should expect to spend 10 to 15 hours a week studying.

Study schools

You are required to attend three study schools in Aberystwyth of 3-5 days in length at various times during your studies. The introductory study school takes place at the start of the course providing an introduction to the course, the University and its facilities as well as to tutors and fellow distance learners.

The second study school is used to introduce you to palaeography (the study of the handwriting styles), and diplomatic (the study of the forms of formal documents), and other skills needed to read and interpret archival material from the sixteenth century onwards.  You must attend this study school before beginning the Manuscript Skills module.

The final study school constitutes the basis of a module in research methodology, which provides you with an introduction to the variety of research methods which apply to the broad field of information studies.  This module is also essential preparation for the dissertation.

In addition to the three compulsory study schools, at some point during your time on the course you are encouraged to join a series of study visits in London.  This tour is organised annually in January to give both full-time and distance learning students the opportunity to visit a range of national and specialist archival institutions.

Entry Requirements

The minimum basic entry requirement for a Masters degree is normally a good  Honours Degree or equivalent.

You must:

  • have at least three months practical experience of working with archives prior to beginning the course;
  • be employed in an archive service, or be working with archives within an organisation which has substantial archival holdings;
  • be employed on a permanent contract (full-time, or possibly part-time), or a short-term contract that can reasonably be supposed to last for the duration of the course (a minimum of 2 years);
  • have pre-defined Information and Communication Technology skills and access to a computer linked to the Internet.

Non-native English speakers are required to take a University recognised test of academic English language proficiency with required minimum proficiency levels equating to an IELTS score of 6.5 or a TOEFL score of 580 (paper based test) or 237 (computer based) with an essay rating of 5.0. Applicants who have successfully undertaken a Bachelors degree in a UK University are exempt from this requirement.