Rather than saying palæography is pointless these days or the opposite depending on whether we use it, I think we need to recognise that our profession is a single one but is very broad indeed. Some people need to know how to appraise emails or design file covers and others need to know how to differentiate a last will from a testament or a specialist secretary from a legal script - all are important.
I'm sure everyone would argue that palæography, diplomatic, latin, history etc are very important in the make up of an masters course in Archivists and Records Management such as the one I was enrolled on at UCL. So are records management, EAD, electronic records, film and sound archives &c. The courses are full to bursting with subjects that deserve more time than they can be afforded. Someone has to decide how much time each of these subjects is given on a very busy course. Palæography on my course for example took up approx a sixteenth of the time but I've not needed it once as I am employed as a records manager. Most people who use their latin &c. on a daily basis are unlikely to need records management.
If the masters courses are to remain single courses, they will only survive if they are broad. To my mind this will only happen if some courses are optional, otherwise they will have to split into two or maybe three separate courses which would be to our profession's detriment.
Regards
Matthew
Matthew Stephenson
Projects and Records Manager
London School of Economics
Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE
Tel: 020 7955 6481
Fax: 020 7852 3646
