The uses of PIAF and
IT in teaching Archival
Science
Anne-Marie Bruleaux
University of Haute-Alsace
(Mulhouse, France)
[email protected]
What is the PIAF ?
Portail international des Archivistes
francophones (Portal of International
Francophone Archivists)
 It is a project of the AIAF (Association
Internationale des Archives
Francophones)

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Some important dates (1/2)
1998-2000
Several meetings were organised by ICA
and DAF in Stockholm (CITRA) and Paris.
The first idea was to translate into French
the courses of IRMT.
2001
A new project was defined, supported by
AIAF. A course on archival science online.
Feb. 2002
Work began: teachers and archivists from
different countries met in a seminar in Tunis
and decided a program for the section « Se
former » (self-training)
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Some important dates (2/2)
Aug. 2004
The prototype of the PIAF was presented at
the International Congress on Archives in
Vienna
Nov. 2005
The PIAF was inaugurated at the World
Summit of the Information Society in Tunis.
Jun. 2008
A new version of the PIAF will be introduced
on june 15th.
Old portal
New portal (from the 15th)
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Financial support
UNESCO
 INF (Institut de la Francophonie Numérique)
 Switzerland
 France
 Quebec
 Canada

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Three sections
Self Training
 Self Information
 E-Formation

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Self-training
A universally accessible and free course in
archival science composed of seven
lessons divided into 14 modules
 This is oriented to staff working in archives
and records repositories (trained or
untrained personnel), records managers,
archivists, students in archival science,
etc.

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Some statistics
23 authors and a coordinator
 2893 web pages
 979 pictures
 175 glossary references
 234 exercises

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A Tool to Develop and Support
Knowledge
 Comprehension
 Application
 Analysis and synthesis
 Evaluation

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The PIAF: A Tool for Knowledge
To deepen understanding
 To supplement presential theoretical
courses
 For example:

 Preservation
and Insects
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Two slides in my course
Reference to the PIAF: chapter 1.5.2. about Insects
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The PIAF: A Tool for Comprehension
To support a theoretical lesson


A glossary
Illustrations
 Scenography

for exhibitions
Animations
 Explanation
of the deterioration of documents: books,
brochures

Exercises with corrections: arrangement,
archival description
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The PIAF: A Tool for Evaluation
Many multiple choice quizzes (MCQ)
online
 For example: buildings, access 1, access
2, access 3
 Potential uses:

 Teachers:
models to create other MCQs
 Students: to test their knowledge and study
for exams
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The PIAF: A Tool for Application
To put into practice theoretical knowledge
 Exercises:

 Organisation
of stacks
 Open your eyes on stacks
 Open your eyes on handling
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The PIAF: A Tool for Analysis and Synthesis
A cooperative workspace: e-formation
 A virtual space opened to teachers with a
project of cooperative work with students
 Creation of special workspaces (dedicated
on-demand workspaces)

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Disadvantages of a learning platform




Until now, learning platforms were not very convenient
for cooperative work: students could be read-only or
have the possibility to submit their works
Moodle is a new kind of platform which is better
adapted
Most of the time, however, platforms are reserved to
students of a specific university and not available
externally
Problems working out of your organisation: with another
organisation or with students in a continuing training
program
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Advantages of the PIAF


An open space for everyone, anywhere on the
planet
Terms of access: Three roles
 Read-only:
can read everything, but not change
contents (except to post comments if allowed)
 Member: can submit and change contents. Can
participate in a forum
 Administrator: can change and eliminate contents.
Can change format and participant status
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Potential


Students and teachers from different organisations and
countries may work together
Different ways according to designated user rights and
roles
 Students from different organisations working
together
 Teachers and/or students sharing experiments
 Intergroup tutorial
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Working Together
A group of
students in
Mulhouse
Students from
Mulhouse and Ebad
working together
in a same space
A group of
students in
EBAD
Two groups in one space
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Sharing Experiments
Invited Observer
A teacher
from
Mulhouse
with a group
of students
A teacher
from EBAD
with a group
of students
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Intergroup Tutorial
Intergroup Tutorial
Students in
Master 1
Students in
Master 2
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Developed Skills
Familiarization of technologies
increasingly used in government and
business (workflow)
 Team-player development
 Team-player management

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Examples of Use

Two projects carried out with students of
Master 1 in Archival Science in Mulhouse:
 2006-2007:
Les archives du citoyen
(Citizenship documents)
 2007-2008: Les archives du quotidien
(Personal documents)

Contemporary diplomatics (Practical
exercises)
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Other IT Experiments

Use of learning platforms:

Dokeos: for example, to teach encoding
finding aids into XML/EAD
 Moodle: experimental project (internship
follow-up)
 Tutorials in Flash: for example, Using a
spreadsheet to arrange archives
 Second Life ???
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I will
now
take
your questions
Thank you
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