MARA Electives

MARA students customize their program based on their own interests by selecting 12 units of electives from MLIS, Informatics, and/or MARA offerings.

• Students interested in taking courses from the MLIS program, must select from a pre-approved list of approximately 46 courses and then complete the MLIS electives form.  
• Students interested in taking courses from the Informatics program, may select from all offerings but must receive pre-approval from their MARA advisor.
• Students interested in taking MARA electives can select from any offered.* MARA students taking an MLIS course from the pre-approved list are not required to have taken the course pre-requisites.

MARA 284 – Seminar in Archives and Records Management

This course explores current issues and practices in archives and records management. Examples of topics touched upon: blockchain, community archives, digital ledger technology, ethics, and virtual reality.

Prerequisites: MARA 200 and MARA 204 for MARA students. These prerequisites are waived for non-MARA majors. 

MARA 284 three-unit courses  (See current topics.)

• Digital Forensics for Archivists (Fall only)
• Leadership and Advocacy (Fall only)
• Technology, Privacy and the Law (Spring only)

MARA 284 one- two- unit courses  (See current topics.)

• Advocacy and the Professional Image of Archivists in Popular Culture (1 unit – Spring only)
• Blockchain DLT for Archives, Records, & Information Governance (2 units – Summer only)
• Community Archives (2 units – Summer only)
• Construction of an Archival Vault (2 units – Fall only)
• Design for Teaching & Learning in Social Virtual Reality (1 unit – Fall only)
• Ethics for Archivists and Records and Information Management Professionals (1 unit – Summer only)
• Health Information Management (1 unit – Summer only)
• Navigating the archives and records/information management job market (1 unit – Summer only)

MARA 294 Professional Experience

Professional Experience gained through completion of an internship assignment, an organizational consulting project, or a special project related to the field of archives, records management and/or information governance.

Students must be in good academic standing [3.0 CUM GPA or above and no outstanding incompletes]. Credit/No Credit grading. 3 Units. Each unit is equivalent to a minimum of 45 hours of work.
Prerequisites: MARA 200, 204, and six advanced courses. Not repeatable.

MARA 294 – Professional Experience is a highly recommended course for 3 of the 12 elective units possible.  Credit for one year of work experience toward ICRM certification is granted to students who complete one of the following:  Internship or OCP.

MARA Elective Clusters

5 Elective clusters have been designed to aid you in selecting elective courses to meet your career interests.  

Non-MARA Electives

MARA students may take up to a total of 9 units of elective credit comprised of Non-MARA courses (MLIS courses or Informatics courses).

MLIS Courses as Electives

MARA students may take up to 9 units of elective credit from the MLIS program. For those not following one of the elective clusters, popular MLIS electives include:

• INFO 256 Archives and Manuscripts (ACA Pre-Approved Course)
• INFO 259 Preservation Management (ACA Pre-Approved Course)
• INFO 240 Information Technology, Tools and Applications
• INFO 284 Seminar in Archives and Records Management with offerings in electronic records, digital curation (ACA Pre-Approved Course), encoded archival description, oral history, digitization and digital preservation (ACA Pre-Approved Course), special collections in a Web 2.0 world, characteristics and curation of new digital media, photographic archives and more from which to choose. 

Informatics courses as electives

Informatics courses are listed as required or electives within that program. Although MARA students may elect to take any courses (up to 6 units of Informatics electives toward the MARA degree), they must first receive approval of the MARA advisor since:

• Fees are $525 a unit (MARA and MLIS courses are $474 a unit)
• The informatics classes are intensive and run at different dates from our MLIS and MARA classes.
• Students must demonstrate a strong technical foundation by having completed coursework and/or work experience with either 1) HTML5 and CSS, 2) a programming language, or 3) in information systems