For Stanford Staff: Transferring Records to the University Archives

Records of long-term historical and legal significance produced by University employees in the course of conducting official University business should be transferred to the archives when they are no longer needed for day-to-day administrative activities. Records will remain accessible to department staff following transfer to the archives. When necessary archives staff will work with you to address privacy and confidentiality concerns through access restrictions for third-party users.

Materials of particular interest to the archives include:

Annual reports
Correspondence, including email, reflecting substantive departmental activity rather than routine administrative tasks
Audit and inspection reports
Legal opinions and decisions
Handbooks and manuals
Budgets
Meeting minutes, agendas, and background material
Organizational charts
Official histories
Maps and architectural records
Policy documents
Mission, goals, and objectives statements
Reports, briefing papers, and studies
Project files
Statistical documentation of departmental activities
Speeches and remarks
Two copies of all publications produced by your office or department
Audiovisual materials, including still photographs and negatives, motion picture film, oral history interviews, audio and video tapes
Artifacts and ephemera documenting the university's history

The University Archives collects materials regardless of format. Electronic records which fall into any of the categories listed above may, in consultatation with Archives staff, be transferred to the Archives for long-term preservation.

Items that should not be transferred to the archives include:

Duplicate publications
Publications by other departments and entities that were retained for reference purposes
Blank forms
Routine financial documents such as vouchers, receipts, and cancelled checks
Routine correspondence
Drafts or working copies of publications or reports for which a final version exists

Consult our Instructions for Preparing Material For Transfer. University Archives staff are available to assist with evaluating records for transfer to the Archives. For more information or to schedule a site visit, contact:

Aimee Morgan, Assistant University Archivist
aimee.morgan@stanford.edu
650-725-1021

Last modified: August 29, 2012