Hello, I’m a history major working on my undergraduate. One of the junior seminars is on historiography. I intend to get my Masters in Library Science. Would a course in historiography be beneficial for a librarian/archivist or is it more for those who intend to write or teach history?
I'm really surprised you're not required to take a historiography class if you're a history major. There was a mandatory historiography course that all history majors at my university had to take, along with another course on writing seminar papers that built up to writing the senior thesis. I guess it's less important if you're not going to study history in grad school (which you should not do), but it's still a valuable part of your history education. Maybe some librarians/library sciences folks will chime in with advice that's more specific to your situation, but from the historian's perspective I would say you should definitely take a historiography class.
Well it depends on what you want to do with that MLIS… Archivist or subject specialist academic librarian in liberal arts, I’d say yes. School librarian, public librarian, probably not necessary but still personally enriching. I am an archivist, I have no history background and only decided to be an archivist at the very end of my MLIS. I wish I’d had a historiography class at some point, but I’ve learned it as I went along. Library card is free etc. I’m an incurable autodidact though… I’ve learned it at the micro level in relation to the subject my archives specializes in collecting, and of course in relation to the subjects indicated in my flair. I end up advising students on their historiography papers in the archives which is funny.
I’d also be surprised if your school lets you get out of there without learning historiography. It might be incorporated into other entry level history classes and the junior level class is a deep dive into the different schools of thought or something? As I always say… ask your advisor not me. :)
Hi there, I got my BA in history in 2021. Currently pursing my MLIS and a certificate in archival studies. I have never taken a historiography course, but my senior thesis ended up being a faux-historiography. Being able to analyze historical resources on their own terms is a good skill to have. I say take it if you’re actually interested in it.