Instruction

Instruction sessions

Librarians at the West Virginia & Regional History Center are available to lead sessions for courses in any discipline. If you are an instructor who wants your students to practice understanding primary sources, develop primary source research skills, incorporate primary sources into their projects, or learn about what archives hold and what archivists do, please consider bringing your students to the WVRHC or inviting a librarian to your classroom.

Instruction sessions are tailored to the needs of each course but usually involve engaging the students with archival material related to the topic of the class. The breadth of the WVRHC’s collection can be surprising, so if you’re unsure whether your topic is represented among the materials we hold, please don’t hesitate to ask us. We have collaborated with instructors in History, English, Art History, Anthropology, Women’s and Gender Studies, Political Science, Education, Journalism, Music, Theatre, Art, Biology, Mathematics, and more, and we always appreciate new ideas and connections.

Our instruction is guided by the SAA/RBMS Guidelines for Primary Source Literacy, which encourage teachers and students to think critically about access, preservation, context, intent, silences, and power. 

Our Team

• Bridget Jamison, Head of Instruction & Public Services
  
• Rigby Philips, Rare Book & Print Collections Archivist
• Catherine Melillo, Political Collections Archivist

To book an instruction session with the WVRHC, please reach out to one of us directly or fill out the Instruction Request Form at least three weeks in advance. 

If we have not previously worked together, or if you are bringing a course that is new to us, we will want to meet with you at least two weeks before your session. The more time you can give us to schedule and plan, the better our collaboration will be. Instructors should plan to attend the session with their class.

If you have a group interested in learning about archives, and you are not affiliated with WVU, please reach out directly to Bridget Jamison, Head of Instruction & Public Services. We enjoy partnering with schools, libraries, and community groups.