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In the mid 1990s, Encoded Archival Description (EAD) appeared as a revolutionary technology for publishing archival finding aids on the Web. The author explores whether or not, given the advent of Web 2.0, the archival community should abandon EAD and look for something to replace it.

Funded by an Institute for Museum and Library Services National Leadership grant, five universities developed a system to provide archives education courses-a niche curriculum-to each other. They use compressed video over Internet 2 in a resource-sharing collaboration across five states and two time zones. The original grant ran from 2002-2005, during which time the collaborative offered eight courses to 140 students. Between 2006 and 2008, it offered eleven courses to 177 students. This article details the administrative model, based solely on school-and department-level agreements, which have enabled this resource-sharing collaborative to thrive after grant support ceased. While developed for archives education programs, the model could enhance any niche curriculum program.Allan Hayduk (1994) explored the concept of niche curriculum markets in campus-based education. Among other factors which create niches, he recognized "the small institution which is unable to offer senior-level or specialized courses because specialized teachers are unavailable or because they must be directed to more pressing, larger enrolment courses." He then suggested that "distance education...is ideal for meeting curricular-niche market needs."(p. 44) While he focused on undergraduate education, his observations apply to graduate education as well. This article describes the administrative structure of a successful strategic alliance among five universities which use distance education technology to support archives education-a niche curriculum market in graduate education. While developed for archives education, the model lends itself to other niche curriculum programs very readily.