Abstract:

Current trends in higher education show increasing incorporation of practitioners in the learning process. We are constantly witnessing lectures by famous businessmen, political leaders and others who successfully fit into the process of academic education of students. This is a natural process that does not ignore theory but emphasizes the natural connections of education with real work environment. The usefulness of cooperation between “theorists” and “practitioners” is difficult to dispute and, according to the authors of the report, leads to a significant increase in the quality of education. This is especially true for the practice-oriented educational programme –“Archival Science and Records Management”, which is taught at the University of Library Studies and Information Technologies (ULSIT), Sofia, Bulgaria.

The purpose of this report is to determine the benefits for students from the fact that some of the disciplines studied in the educational programme are led by practitioners. In fact, the teaching was undertaken to a large extent by experts working in Bulgarian archival institutions, in particular – in the Archives State Agency (ASA) and the Scientific Archives of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (SA – BAS). Thus the students receive knowledge and skills from experts and can go into the details of their future profession to a greater extent.

The report will present, in a summary, the curricula of courses such as: “Information and communication technologies in the archival work”, “Archival buildings and premises”, “Pre-archival activities management”, and “Private archives”. The study will identify and analyse both the theoretical basis of each discipline and examples from the seminars and extracurricular activities of students with experts – practitioners.

Keywords:

Archives and records management education, ULSIT, Bulgaria, practice, theory.