Comma’s Editorial Board plans an edition devoted to the analysis and discussion of training and education in archives and records management around the world. This follows on from the special edition of Comma on “New Professionals in Archives and Records Management”. The abstracts for this demonstrate the importance that new professionals, and those concerned to support them, attach to training and education and their eagerness to critique and discuss their experiences. Training and education play a vital role in developing competent and confident archivists and records managers. Life-long learning and continuing professional development are crucial in both the maintenance of existing and the acquisition of new expertise, skills and knowledge for all individuals in the archives and records management workforce throughout their careers.
ICA’s Train the Trainer Resource Pack defines education as “a systematic kind of instruction or intellectual and moral training designed to give participants a broad and/or deep understanding of the topics covered”. ICA’s Section on Archival Education and Training has a long tradition of international cooperation and support of ICA’s capacity building work. It also provides a forum for archival educators to network and start initiatives on international education and research. The Train the Trainer Pack describes training as “the transfer of knowledge and skills that enable participants to carry out their work”. ICA’s Training Programme, established in 2018, is currently undergoing its first significant review. Its primary goal has been to provide training opportunities and resources for those members in parts of the world without access to education and training. These two ICA entities are collaborating to provide guest editorship of the Comma special issue.
To explore these important topics further, the International Council on Archives’ journal Comma invites abstract submissions for a special issue dedicated to the topic of “Training and Education in Archives and Records Management”. We encourage contributions on:
Training themes and content, training delivery methods and styles
Designing and delivering archives and records management education programmes
Academic curriculum and/or on-the-job training
Comparative surveys of education/training in archives and records management around the world
Artificial intelligence and computational approaches in archival science
Decolonizing archival curricula
Translation and comparison of archives and records management terminology and concepts
Competency frameworks, professional accreditation/certification
Life-long learning and continuing professional development
Developing collaborative international training and education programmes
Articles comparing training and education traditions and cultures around the world are particularly welcome.
The Guest editors welcome articles by:
Trainers and training providers
Educators and academics
Apprentices and trainees
Students and recently qualified professionals
Employers, managers, mentors
Professional associations
The Guest editors especially wish to attract authors from all of ICA’s regions. We also encourage new professionals and first-time authors and are open to expressions of interest and draft abstracts which we are happy to review and discuss via email or virtual meetings prior to a final submission. Note that articles can be peer-reviewed at the request of authors.
Abstracts for articles should include the author’s name(s), the article title, an abstract (of between 250 and 350 words) which describes what the article will be about, together with the main focus, any relevant research, and conclusions. Abstracts should be sent by 1st September, 2023, to Editor-in-Chief for Comma, Bethany Anderson (comma@ica.org), and special issue editors, Margaret Crockett (crockett@ica.org) and Andrew Flinn (a.flinn@ucl.ac.uk). Authors submitting abstract proposals will be notified during the first week in October.
If accepted, articles can be up to 6,000 words but may be less if appropriate to the subject matter. The deadline for submitting the full article is 1st February 2024. Comma welcomes submissions in any of the seven languages of the journal: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Russian, and Spanish. The guidelines for submission of articles can be found here