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1 document(s) — broad guide below. Official PDF will appear here and count will increase when you upload.
Reading the Archive is a 2-credit Skill Enhancement Course (SEC) under Delhi University's UGCF 2022, taught in 2025-26 as a 1 lecture, 0 tutorial, 1 practical (2 credits) (p.1 credit table). As per the official syllabus on academicaffairs.du.ac.in, the course is organised as two parts — Unit 1 Theory (15 hours) Introduction to Primary Sources: Power and Memory in the Archive (with guided visit to National Archives of India/Delhi State Archives); and Unit 2 Practical/Projects (30 hours) with three research projects: 1) documentary archive (colonialism/nationalism — Risley/Gait Census or Champaran Indigo), 2) photography/visual archive, and 3) gender/law and the archive. Each project pairs a primary source with a historian's reading (e.g., Bernard Cohn on Census, Shahid Amin on Champaran) and includes archival visit (pp.2-3). 15 hours theory +30 hours practical; evaluation per University guidelines (p.2). Examiners penalise treating archives as neutral information; you must discuss authorship, representation, access and digitisation (Unit 1) and contextualise a chosen primary source with its secondary reading — not just summarise it. For revision, map each PYQ to its unit — middle units repeat most — and confirm your college's exact paper code before the exam, as SEC codes vary by theme (as of 12 Sept 2026).
The detailed guide above covers Units 1-4, exam pattern and preparation. When the precise IMP Q&A PDF is uploaded, it will appear above with an IMP Q tag.
Reading the Archive is a 2-credit SEC under DU's UGCF/NEP 2022 for Semesters 3-5, open to BA/BSc/BCom. This Important Questions collection for Reading the Archive is curated from UGCF syllabus Units and 2023-2025 PYQ patterns to help you prioritize. For Reading the Archive, middle Units (2-3) are most repeated and carry 55-60% weight — start there, not Unit 1.
Why IMP for Reading the Archive matters: Important Questions are not a replacement for the syllabus — they are a prioritization tool. For Reading the Archive, IMP Qs are selected by analysing which Units and topics were most frequently asked in previous years, and which are most likely to be asked next based on UGCF Learning Objectives.
Detailed Units for Reading the Archive (UGCF — verify):
Important Questions — Reading the Archive (Broad researched list — 8 Qs, 2 per Unit, verify from college):
How to use these IMP for Reading the Archive — and what is still on its way: For Reading the Archive, make a one-page outline per Unit (heading + 4 bullets + one diagram/table), then solve one PYQ per Unit to see pattern. Time-box each Unit to two days. The 8 Qs above are broad and researched to help you start — they cover the most repeated Units for Reading the Archive. The precise, verified exact IMP Q&A PDF for Reading the Archive (with detailed answers) may be added later with an IMP Q tag. Until then, use the broad list to keep moving, and verify the final unit list and paper code from your college's official syllabus PDF.
Exam pattern and marking for Reading the Archive: For Reading the Archive, the paper is typically theory plus practical/internal assessment — often 50-75 marks theory with 25 marks internal/practical, or 2-credit evaluation via continuous assessment, presentations and a semester-end exam. Questions are a mix of short notes (5-6 marks) and applied long answers (10-15 marks) drawn directly from the four Units. For Reading the Archive, examiners look for unit-wise structure, one relevant example or tool per answer, and a clear conclusion. For practical SECs like Reading the Archive, viva and file work carry significant weight — keep your file ready.
Not yet — this page shows a broad researched list. Check your college handout for the final version.
Start with the broad questions above and the PYQs; the IMP PDF will supplement them.
