LibGuides: Archives and Special Collections: Donations

Donations

The Juniata College Archives and Special Collections is dependent on the generosity of our donors to help us build and maintain a strong archival and rare book collection that helps enrich our understanding and documents the dynamic history of Juniata College.

We are interested in donations of rare books, small press periodicals, manuscripts, institutional records, college publications, photographs, audiovisual materials, oral histories, electronic records, and selected artifacts. Collection strengths and areas of special interest include the following.

College History with an emphasis on:

Board of Trustees
Presidents
Accreditation
Faculty Assembly
Select departmental records
Select faculty papers
Athletics
Student and alumni perspectives

Priority will also be given to materials that support or enhance the college curriculum. We are a teaching collection and welcome class visits and student research projects.

Materials are added to the collection based on the recommendation of the Archivist in consultation with the Dean of the Library. All accepted donations must be accompanied by a signed Deed of Gift.

Why should I donate?

Why contribute to an archive?

One of the most lasting things you can do is contribute your own historical materials to repository such as an archive, special collections library, historical society, or museum. From personal letters to family photographs to business records, your collection adds to a more inclusive historical record.

A repository can provide long-term preservation of your materials, while also allowing current and future researchers such as genealogists, writers, and students to better understand and analyze history. Even more importantly, your collection can enrich your community’s collective memory.

What can I donate?

This list, which is suggestive and not definitive, illustrates the wide range of documentation that is often useful for historical and administrative research:

Letters/notes/email
Memoirs/reminiscences
Diaries/blogs
Scrapbooks/photo albums
Professional/business papers
Genealogical information/charts
Speeches/lectures/sermons
Articles/essays
Subject files
Legal documents
Minutes/reports
Brochures and fliers
Awards/certificates
Photographs (with subjects and locations identified)
Films/videos/audio tapes (including identifying information)
Limited run publications such as church or family histories
Websites

Also of interest are files relating to an individual’s civic, business, religious, political, and social activities.

What is the process?

Decide if you would like to make donation.
Contact our library staff.
Working with the library staff, identify the materials the Archives or Special Collections would be interested in adding to the collections.
Reach and write a formal donation agreement or Deed of Gift.
Materials listed in the donation agreement are transferred to the Archives and Special Collections where they will be: processed, stored, described and arranged for usage.*

*Depending on the terms of the donation agreement or Deed of Gift.

Q: How Should I prepare the materials? (Click to expand answer)

Q: Will the Archives and Special Collections Take Everything? (Click to expand answer)

Q: What else might I need to know about a donation? (Click to expand answer)

Donations

Most archives can only invest materials and labor in the preservation of items that they own. Therefore, most archives accept donations of individual or family records but generally will not accept such material on deposit or on loan. Donors are asked to sign a deed of gift, which formally signifies that the materials become the actual property of the archives.

Access to Collections

Access to donated materials is governed by the repository’s policies regarding availability, duplication, and publication. As a prospective donor, you should become familiar with such policies and discuss any special needs or concerns with the archivist or curator before completing the deed of gift. Final description of the collection may not occur immediately and repositories vary in the speed with which description of the collection is posted online. Discuss this process with the archivist or curator to learn the particular repository’s practices.

Restrictions on Access

If you are concerned that material considered confidential may be represented in your personal and family records, be prepared to identify items or groups of items of concern and then discuss with the archivist the possibility of restricting part of the collection to protect the privacy of you or others. While archives desire to make all materials freely accessible to researchers, they will agree to reasonable and equitable restrictions for limited periods of time.

Copyright

Assignment of copyright is often complex and you should work with the repository staff to clarify issues of copyright ownership. Generally, copyright belongs to the creator of writings and other original material (such as photos and music) but can be legally transferred to heirs or others. In addition, ownership of copyright is separate from ownership of the physical item (the letter or photo). Archivists often ask donors to donate not only the physical papers but also any copyright in them that the donor might own. This request makes it easier for researchers to use portions of the materials in their work.

Under the terms of U.S. Copyright Law, repositories may provide copies of items in their collections for scholarly research use. Under the “fair use” exemption, the law permits that researchers may publish portions of an item under copyright. Permission to publish or quote extensively from the material must still be obtained from the copyright holder. To learn more about copyright, see www.copyright.gov, or ask your attorney.

Conditional Gifts

A repository usually is unable to promise that donated materials will be exhibited or used in some other specific fashion as a condition of accepting the gift.

Monetary Appraisals for Tax Deductions

In certain circumstances, it may be possible for a donor to take a tax deduction for the donation of a collection to a repository. Speak with your tax accountant or attorney about this possibility. Archivists cannot give tax advice nor are they permitted to appraise the monetary value of a collection that is under consideration for donation to their repository. The archivist may be able to provide you with a list of local manuscript appraisers who can (for a fee) make monetary appraisals. It is up to you, as the donor, to arrange and pay for any such appraisal. Some repositories are able to make the collection available to an appraiser hired by the donor while others prefer that the appraisal take place before transfer to the repository.

Monetary Donations

Most repositories are non-profit organizations. Preparing materials for use by researchers is the most expensive operation in a repository. Although such monetary donations are rarely a prerequisite for the acceptance of a collection, donors who are able to assist repositories by providing funds toward the arrangement, cataloging, and conservation of their personal or family records are encouraged to discuss the possibility with the archivist.

Credits

This page was built using content from the following sources:

The Louis Round Wilson Library Special Collections. "Donating Your Materials to an Archive." UNC University Libraries.

Donating Your Personal or Family Records to a Repository – Society of American Archivists, utilized under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.