The following lists collection development areas and policies for Archives & Special Collections
Selected College Records
College Records are records in any form that are created, received, recorded, or legally filed in the course of university business. College records serve as evidence of the institution's organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, transactions or other activities. Records that have an institutional or legal necessity need to be retained for a certain number of years, and sometimes permanently. Management and retention of these records is governed by the CUNY Records Retention Policy which includes useful definitions as well a identifying the appropriate retention periods and offices of record. Staff who create or manage records covered by this policy should be familiar with its scope, and are encouraged to contact the Archivist or College's Records Manager with any questions.
Departmental or Office Records
Much of Hunter's daily work is carried out by departments, offices, programs, and centers engaged in academic, research, and administrative work.
- Departmental histories, including narrative, visual or other media items
- Faculty and staff biographical material including job descriptions
- Minutes and meeting proceedings
- Organizational charts
- Academic program proposals
- Accreditation reports and correspondence or other institutional evaluation files
- Departmental level correspondence and supporting documentation regarding administrative matters including topics of interest, events, legal, fiscal, other non-routine issues of significance impacting the department
- Policies, including legal opinion or directive, resolutions, rules, regulations, manuals of
procedures, etc. - Official publications of the department including public communication or marketing materials and event, conference and symposia materials
- Special project or program files including related publications, audio and visual aids, photographs, handouts, publicity material
- Reports, annual, daily, long-range, project related
- Subject files
The following are not collected without consultation:
- Active files, those that are still being used regularly do not need to be transferred to the Archives, but a schedule should be developed so that as the files become inactive they are transferred at regular intervals
- Personnel files, files containing hiring, tenure review or disciplinary materials
- Student records that fall under FERPA
- Records that are scheduled for destruction
- Duplicate copies of materials, either within the collection or that duplicate other holdings within the Archives
Faculty or Research Records
The Archives wishes to document the whole range of academic life within the College. Unlike official college records, faculty papers are the property of the individual and must be transferred through a deed of gift. Faculty may donate materials that document their research, teaching, and other accomplishments. Additionally, the Archives welcomes material concerning policies, programs, discoveries, and decisions that reflect development, change, or events o f impact within the discipline. Family and personal papers may also be included. These materials can be in physical form, digital, or on media, such as disks or CDs. Donations of materials and funds to support their processing are encouraged.
- Biographical sketches, resumes, curriculum vitae
- Bibliographies
- Course related materials, descriptions, syllabi, or lecture notes, reading lists, class presentations
- Research notes, data, subject files
- Monograph publications, including annotated drafts
- Lists of conferences attended and talks or papers given
- Speeches and presentations
- Meeting minutes
- Diaries or journals
- Scrapbooks
- Photographs, preferably identified, and other audio-visual material
- Correspondence including email
The following are not collected without consultation:
- Student records that fall under FERPA, such as grading or advising materials.
- Duplicates of publications, including offprints
- Reference photocopies
- Memorabilia, plaques, awards (with some exceptions)
- Extensive data sets
Student Organizations, Clubs, Fraternity & Sorority Records
Hunter's student organizations provide a great snapshot of life in the College. Archives wishes to help preserve the activities and accomplishments o f these groups. Groups are welcome to arrange visits to view their material individually or in one of our classrooms. Archives encourages group leaders to contact us to transfer their group's materials to the archives on a regular basis. We also advise groups to utilize correspondence to alumni, such as newsletters, as a method to solicit materials to add to their collection and to solicit financial support with the approval of the Advancement Office and/or the President's Office.
- Founding documents, constitution, bylaws
- Meeting minutes
- Officer lists
- Publications, newsletters, annual reports
- Event ephemera, programs, advertising
- Personal experiences and reminisces about being with the group
- Photographs, preferably identified, and other audio visual material
- Scrapbooks
The following are not collected without consultation:
- Duplicates
- Bulky objects of little historic value Organic or hazardous material that may degrade and cause damage to collections, such as food, liquids, batteries
- If unexplained, materials relating activities that very few people would understand in the future
Transferring Records to the Archives
Preparing and Transferring Records
Small amounts of records can be delivered in person or mailed to Archives. Larger collections
can be delivered Archives after consultation, assessment, and acceptance. Courier or delivery
services are encouraged.
Boxing Material
Materials do not need to be in preservation quality, acid free, boxes or folders before transferring them to the Archives. If you plan on re-boxing o r organizing a collection, Archives can provide input on proper techniques and supplies. We prefer that rehoused collections avoid the use of hanging files, paper clips, sticky notes. I f items are already i n folders and labeled it is not necessary to relabel them, but i f items are being placed into new folders we prefer folder descriptions be written in pencil on the folder.
Describing Material
Materials should come with a basic level of description. The more detailed the description the better. I f assistance, such as student help, is available to describe the materials at a box or folder level contact the Archivists so that we can guide the description creation process. We can provide a template for creating a box list in Excel that can be used for creating a guide to the material. Proper description of materials allows them to be more easily found and more useful for research. Particularly important and special items should be noted when transferring items. The Archives relies on the creators of the material, or other subject experts on the faculty or in transferring departments who are most familiar with the material to help provide the best description and properly identify what is most significant. Financial support for archival supplies or processing of particularly large collections is greatly appreciated.
Restrictions on Use or Publication of Materials
Materials in the Archives that are not restricted are made available on equal terms to all researchers. Some materials in the collections have restrictions that limit their access or use. When depositing items in the Archives restrictions can be placed on the entirety of the collection or portions therein. Restrictions can be customized to meet the needs or legal requirements of the donor. Restrictions typically fall into one of the following categories or a combination of several.
- Time based. The restriction expires on a certain date, after a specified number of years, o r upon the death of an individual.
- Permission based. Materials are restricted to the permission o f a specific individual, a department or office.
- Use based. Materials not in the public domain may have specific copyright restrictions in place that will impact publication of the materials.
Restrictions may also be placed on an item because of its value, historical or monetary, or due to its fragility or availability of a physical or digital surrogate. If requesting restricted items, the request should be marked clearly. Restrictions should be described as to why the restriction is in place and include information about who has the authority to grant permission or adjust the restriction. Archives staff will administer restrictions and advise researchers in navigating restrictions, but may request involvement from the researchers in obtaining permissions. The Archives prefers, if at all possible, that collections have at least some portion that can be accessible to the public without restriction and that restrictions in place have a time based expiration in which the material can be made public. It is understood that this is not always possible. Researches using restricted collections acknowledge personal responsibility for respecting the privacy and confidentiality of the materials they view. Researchers shall also inform staff if they find confidential or restricted material not labeled as such.