HIST*3480-02
Workplace Learning: Rural Diary Archive
Immerse yourself in old diaries! Take a course that transports you back into daily life in Ontario’s rural past. Experience the trials of early pioneers, the excitement of young love, and the challenges of working the land by transcribing - turning handwriting into searchable typed words. You will participate in a venture involving the “Agricultural History and Rural Heritage Collection” in Archival and Special Collections and the Rural Diary Archive website, a popular crowd-sourcing project that brings together these and other diaries from across Ontario. Explore the website, your workplace, at: https://ruraldiaries.lib.uoguelph.ca/home
A) Samson Howell Diary, 1868, Howell Family Fonds, Archival and Special Collections. B) Diarist Roseltha Goble’s children. Goble Family Fonds, Archival and Special Collections. C) Philp Family Diaries, 1888–1937, Archival and Special Collections. D) Transcribing in the text box.
As budding archivists and historians, you will learn about 19th and early 20th century daily life. You will read Spencerian script, employ best practices of transcribing, understand vocabulary that pertains to rural life, research context, critically assess diary writing practices, evaluate these primary sources, and communicate compelling history for social media. Course assignments develop these skills and require you to transcribe diaries online, develop tweets for posting, and contribute to a glossary of terms. You also write a series of short critical reflections and a research paper using the diaries. A visit to Archival and Special Collections will introduce you to the original diaries.
Your volunteer work will make these hard-to-use but highly useful documents more accessible for researchers and inspire new scholarship. To contribute to this scholarship, consider taking HIST*4620 Seminar in Canadian Rural History, a research-intensive course based on the diaries.
HIST*3480-02 is an independent course where a small group of students meet four times throughout the semester. Explore the course outline below and contact Dr Catharine Wilson at cawilson@uoguelph.ca to register.
Code and section: HIST*3480-02
Term: F, W, S
Instructor: Dr Catharine Wilson, F.R.S.C.
Attach link to syllabus : HIST3480-02 Rural Diary Archive W21
Please note: This is a preliminary web course description only. The department reserves the right to change without notice any information in this description. The final, binding course outline will be distributed in the first class of the semester.