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Instructional Support

The University Archives supports the educational mission of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and offers research, bibliographic and course development assistance to instructors and students.

We welcome instructors to bring classes to the University Archives.  Our staff is eager to work with instructors to make every class visit an exciting and productive experience.

We offer the following services to instructors and classes:

  • Bibliographic Classes to assist students in learning how to use reading room resources and conduct primary research.
  • Topics Classes to introduce students to collection material relevant to a particular topic of interest
  • Research Classes to assist students in utilizing primary documents for personal or directed research.
  • Tours to acquaint students with the University Archives, its various departments, and its resources.
  • Course or Unit Development Assistance to provide assistance to instructors wishing to develop full courses or instructional units based on University Archives’ materials.
  • Using the Archives Libguide provides basic student instruction in using the Archives.

Class Visit Scheduling

Instructors wishing to bring classes to the University Archives must schedule a time for their visit. To schedule a class visit, please contact the University Archives by emailing Ask-an-Archivist.  Due to space and staffing limitations, the University Archives is unable to accommodate drop-in classes.

Class Assignments

We welcome instructors to give class assignments that utilize the resources at the University Archives. However, due to staff limitations and the procedures required for user access and use of collection materials, we ask that instructors contact the Reference Department to provide a copy of the assignment for staff reference. This will allow University Archives’ staff to provide the best possible assistance to students, implement procedures for quick access to the required material, and minimize unexpected impact on Reading Room staff.

If your students are unfamiliar with the procedures for accessing and using archival materials, we urge you to schedule a reading room orientation for your students prior to assigning work in University Archives’ collections. Arrangements for orientation classes may be made by contacting Ask-an-Archivist.