University Archives Collecting Policies and Guidelines: Home

The Office of the President has designated the University Archives, housed in The Bancroft Library, as the official repository for records documenting the history of the Berkeley campus and of the University of California system. The University Archives selectively acquires administrative and departmental records that are inactive, and designated for archives review by the UC Records Retention Schedule. Our collecting priorities for core administrative records are shaped by the University of California Archivists Council (UCAC) joint Policies for Administration of University of California Archives. All transfers or deposits of material from campus units must be pre-approved. We do not accept unsolicited donations. 

In scope

• Records of University administrative offices, including the Board of Regents, Office of the President, Office of the Chancellor, Academic Senate (systemwide and Berkeley division). Materials include correspondence, organization charts, minutes of meetings, speeches, and annual reports.
• Founding and incorporation documents
• Subject files concerning projects, activities, and functions
• Records documenting policies, decisions, committee and task force work
• Department files including correspondence, organizational charts, publications, reference and subject files, research project files and task force and ad hoc committee files
• Student organizational records with a substantial impact on campus, including charters, founding documents, correspondence, constitutions, by-laws, annual reports, meeting minutes, membership handbooks, organizational histories
• Student-led event posters, flyers, programs, or other promotional materials
• Material documenting student activism and protests
• Student publications, newsletters, zines, and websites
• Photographs documenting student life, particularly records of groups historically underrepresented in the University Archives’ holdings
• Audio-visual materials including photographs, films, and sound and video recordings

Out of scope

• Documents containing  personally identifiable information, as defined by the University in BFB-RMP-7: Protection of Administrative Records containing Personally Identifiable Information. This includes documents containing medical information, social security numbers, passport and visa numbers, account and personal financial information, student grades, and disciplinary information.
• Artifacts and memorabilia. The Archives does not collect non-documentary objects related to the University’s history except in cases of great importance and manageable physical size and condition. Please call the Archivist to discuss options for preservation of such objects.
• Student records protected by FERPA, including grades, transcripts, disciplinary files, student financial information, and health records
• Financial records, including invoices, purchase orders, receipts, reimbursement requests, payroll time sheets, and accounting reports
• Personnel records including promotion files, tenure review documentation and job applications
• Records relating to other campuses, other than those reflected in systemwide records
• Duplicate materials (more than two copies)

University Archives collects papers of faculty who have demonstrated significant contributions to their respective field. Collecting in this area is selective based on correlation to related curatorial areas and the overarching collection development mission of The Bancroft. Our collecting priorities are shaped by the University of California Archivists Council (UCAC) Guidelines for the Identification and Appraisal of UC Faculty Papers.

In scope

• Autobiographical materials: CVs, bibliographies, oral histories, interviews, photographs, personal memoirs, diaries or journals
• Professional correspondence and files: outgoing and incoming letters and memoranda relating to departmental and University business, committee minutes, reports, and files
• Course materials: one copy of syllabi, course outlines, lecture notes
• Research-related files: proposals, final reports, unpublished papers
• Scholarship: talks, lectures, conference presentations
• Administrative materials: documents related to the faculty member’s service at the University containing information on new programs and initiatives, memos and notices about departmental policy, agendas, meeting minutes, reports, resolutions from faculty committees and departmental meetings

Out of scope

• Artifacts and memorabilia like awards, framed items, or other three-dimensional objects
• Personal libraries, reprints and offprints, books and magazines, newspaper clippings, photocopies of book chapters and articles
• Widely-available publications accessible via our library catalog and databases
• Student grades and evaluations of students, student exams or papers, course evaluations, class rosters
• Search, recruitment, promotion and other personnel-related records
• Conference material: agendas, proceedings, meeting arrangements
• Financial records including bank statements, receipts, invoices, checks, or paystubs
• Honors, prizes, awards, diplomas, certificates, honorary degrees
• Papers of faculty members who have significant collections stewarded at another repository
• We do not collect published works or research data. The Library encourages UCB authors to contribute their scholarly output to UC digital repositories. Contact librarians and consultants at researchdata@berkeley.edu for more information
• Duplicate materials (more than two copies)

Please contact the University Archivist (jessicatai@berkeley.edu) if you are interested in donating or transferring material to University Archives. Collection donations and transfers are accepted only after thorough review by Bancroft staff. Unsolicited donations are not accepted. 

Preparation and packing guidelines

Preparing your material for transfer to the library is an important step in ensuring the material can be made available for researcher use in a timely manner. Please observe the following guidelines:

Conduct a preliminary overview and remove materials as needed:

• Remove duplicate copies. If needed, keep no more than two copies of a publication or document
• Remove files of limited research value: photocopies, newspaper articles, magazines, or publications that are widely available
• Remove blank forms, blank paper or stationary
• Remove financial records including bank statements, receipts, invoices, checks, or paystubs 
• Remove material containing personally identifiable information, as defined by the University in BFB-RMP-7: Protection of Administrative Records containing Personally Identifiable Information. This includes documents containing medical information, social security numbers, passport and visa numbers, account and personal financial information, student grades, and disciplinary information

Packing guidelines

For papers and records it is essential that they be packed in cartons (also known as bankers boxes) so that they can fit on the shelves in our collection storage areas. Material should be housed in secure bankers boxes/records cartons with lids. The containers with lids on should measure: 

• Width: 12 inches (max. 13.25 inches)
• Depth: 15 inches (max. 16.5 inches)
• Height: 10 inches (max. 10.25 inches)
• Weight: no more than 30 lbs.

• Label all folders using descriptive names to help identify folders and add dates or estimated date ranges. Avoid terms such as “Miscellaneous” and “General”
• Folders should be transferred to cartons in the order in which they have been stored. This order should be reflected in the container listing (see below).
• Label the cartons; please include the name of the creator, the box number, and total number of boxes (for example, Creator name/Organization name, box 1 of 15).
• If digital or audio visual materials are included in the carton (audio or video cassettes, CD-R, DVD, floppy disks, etc.) please BOLDLY label the carton as such: DIGITAL or A/V. This will help us identify cartons that should not be frozen upon receipt. 
• Files should be standing up within the carton (such as in a filing cabinet). If a carton seems under-filled (materials are slumping) please add crumbled clean packing paper so that files are secured in an upright position. Slumping can damage the contents of the carton.

• Please do not send metal hanging folders (aka Pendaflex). 
  • Option: move materials from metal hanging folders to manila folders and either place the label from the hanging folder into the manila folder or staple the label from the hanging folder to the manila folder.
  • If impossible to avoid, hanging files should be placed in boxes as though they are legal-size (along the length of the box), even if they are letter-size. 
• Please do not pack materials into cartons that have previously stored food - no produce or waxed boxes. 
• Please do not use plastic containers, tubs or crates. When filled, these are very heavy and unsafe for staff to handle. They also do not fit on storage shelves.  
• Please pack oversized material in appropriate sized containers.
• Please do not use styrofoam or packing peanuts. 
• Please avoid rubber bands and binder clips.
• Please do not send objects with glass frames. Please unframe before sending. 

Here's an example of a well packed collection, ready for delivery to the Bancroft:

Creating a container listing helps ensure the Bancroft receives all items intended and will help staff quickly identify the material in the cartons. Word, Excel or Google documents/spreadsheets are preferred. You can view an example of a sample spreadsheet listing here. 

If you’d prefer to create a spreadsheet, please contact the Accessioning Archivist at bancacc@berkeley.edu. You will be provided with a spreadsheet template.

These guidelines have been adapted from the University of Illinois Transfer Guidelines for Office Records, Columbia University’s Faculty Papers Guidelines, and the Eberly Family Special Collections Library Guidelines for University Archives.