Archives and Special Collections Policies

Collection Scope

The Evergreen State College Archives and Special Collections will only acquire material that can be responsibly maintained and preserved with allocated resources. Holdings are categorized as Special Collections or College Records.

Special Collections

Special Collections comprises materials and collections that support teaching, research, and exhibitions on a range of topics and do not directly issue from institutional offices or programs. These collections include various media formats (e.g., photography, VHS, audio recordings, graphic materials) and are acquired through donations by former Evergreen faculty, staff and students, or community members. Significant examples include the Nisqually Delta Association collection, the Washington Folklife collection, and the Northwest Native Print collection.

What is collected:

• Materials of significant historical value that would benefit Evergreen communities and aid in the college’s educational mission.
• Text-based materials of significant regional interest that require preservation.
• Rare graphic materials, prints, or photographs that relate to The Evergreen State College and its history or would be of interest to college communities.

What is not collected without prior consultation with the College Archivist:

• Objects and three-dimensional works of art.
• Audio-visual materials of any format.
• Publications, newspapers, postcards, and other forms of ephemera.
• Textiles.

College Archives

College Archives includes records in any format that document Evergreen’s history and are created in the course of the college’s present operations. College records serve as evidence of the institution’s organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, transactions, and other activities. Collection and management of these records are mandated by law (Chapter 40.14 RCW) and Evergreen Archives and Special Collections makes every effort to follow legal guidelines in its acquisition and preservation of materials. In addition to institutional documents, College Archives includes individual faculty papers that showcase their research, teaching, and other accomplishments, especially as they reflect changes to Evergreen’s educational model, exemplary programs, or events of impact on college communities. Materials that document the student experience at Evergreen are likewise of great interest.

What is collected:

• Operational histories, including narratives and visual media.
• Minutes and meeting proceedings.
• Administrative policies, reports, proposals, organizational charts, division-level correspondence, and project files.
• Speeches, presentations, lectures, syllabi.

What is not collected without prior consultation with the College Archivist:

• Active files that are still being used regularly.
• Personnel files and documents containing sensitive personal identification information (e.g., SSN, bank accounts).
• Student records that fall under FERPA—e.g. advising/grading materials, transcripts.
• Photocopies and duplicates.
• Objects, memorabilia, plaques, awards.

The Evergreen State College Archives and Special Collections acknowledges that problematic content may exist in our collections and their descriptions. Digitized materials/collections with identified culturally sensitive, offensive or triggering aspects will be flagged with a Statement of Potentially Harmful Language and Content. Our goal is to collect and describe materials in a way that respects the individuals and communities who create, use, and are represented in those materials.

Collections Management

The following policies guide the operations of The Evergreen State College Archives and Special Collections as it acquires, processes, and manages its holdings.

Acquisition

• Only the College Archivist has the authority to seek and accept new acquisitions to The Evergreen State College Archives and Special Collections. Recommendations can be made by advisory groups, campus offices, or community members, but all acquisitions, regardless of the source, must be approved by the College Archivist.
• Materials are acquired as either gifts or transfers. Gifts typically originate from individuals—current or former Evergreen faculty, students, and staff; local community members—whereas Transfers are made from institutional divisions or offices.
• Acquisitions undergo a review process to determine whether they fall within the collection scope for the repository.
• Acquisitions are accepted with the good faith intention to retain the material in its entirety for an indefinite period. Any items deemed non-archival, superfluous, or duplicative will be removed or returned in accordance with standard archival practices.
• The College Archivist is not permitted to offer monetary appraisal of materials offered to the college.

Accession

• Accessioning is the formal process whereby materials acquired by The Evergreen State College Archives and Special Collections officially become part of the institutional collection. Basic details about acquired materials are captured in an accession record that establishes the repository’s basis for legal title and possession of the materials. This record contains information regarding the creation, content, and condition of the materials to support their eventual processing, preservation, and access to researchers.
• An official Deed of Gift [link] is required to for donated materials to The Evergreen State College Archives and Special Collections. Transfer of college records is instead handled through internal disposition forms or by scheduled consultation with the College Archivist.

Restrictions

• The Evergreen State Archives and Special Collections does not restrict research access to or use of its collection unless an exception has been granted in an official Deed of Gift. Common restrictions include:
  • Publication Restriction: Researchers must receive written permission from the donor, or a person authorized by the donor, before quoting or reproducing content from the collection materials in a publication.
  • Access Restriction: Researchers must receive written permission from the donor, or a person authorized by the donor, before viewing collection materials at the repository’s Reading Room.
• All restrictions must be documented in an official Deed of Gift and approved by the College Archivist.
• Restrictions may also be placed on donated materials in cases where the College Archivist or donor identifies content that, if disclosed, could harm individuals or groups represented in the collection, or represent sensitive or confidential information protected under federal and/or state law.

Deaccession

• The deaccession or transfer of materials is sometimes necessary to improve the overall quality of archival holdings and respond to constraints imposed by budgeting or storage space. In these instances, the College Archivist has the authority to approve the transfer or deaccession and disposal of collection materials, so long as it does not contravene any restrictions placed on transfers and deaccessioning outlined in an official Deed of Gift.
• The following criteria for transfer or deaccessioning and disposal of collection materials will guide the College Archivist’s decision:
  • The item or collection does not contribute to the collecting mission of The Evergreen State College Archives and Special Collections and is deemed out of scope.
  • The item is not unique or archival in nature.
  • The item is more appropriate to the mission of another repository.
  • The item or collection can no longer be properly housed, preserved, or cared for by The Evergreen State College Archives and Special Collections.
  • The item or collection has deteriorated beyond conservation or use.
  • The item is duplicative of other material(s) in separate collections.
• All decisions by the College Archivist to transfer or deaccession and dispose of collection materials will be documented and recorded in the appropriate finding aid/accession record.

Access

• Collections held by The Evergreen State College Archives and Special Collections are open to the public for research purposes during regular operating hours and by appointment.
• There are no fees associated with access to collection materials.
• The Archives Reading Room is the only area where collection materials may be accessed physically unless alternative accommodations are agreed upon in advance with the College Archivist.
• Access to collections may be impacted by resource limitations, preservation concerns, and restrictions placed on materials by the donor(s) or College Archivist.
• Researchers who discover sensitive or confidential information in a collection must notify the College Archivist of its existence.
• Access to collection storage areas, the processing room, and the digitization workroom is limited to the College Archivist and their staff. No item is allowed to leave these spaces without the permission of the College Archivist.

Digitization and Reproduction

• The Evergreen State College Archives and Special Collections aims to build a diverse array of digital collections in collaboration with Evergreen communities.
• Digitization of two-dimensional text-based and visual collection materials is conducted in the digitization workroom by the College Archivist and their staff. Researchers can complete a Reproduction Request Agreement [link] for high-resolution digital reproductions. Terms and conditions related to digital reproductions of collection materials are outlined in the agreement.
• There are no fees associated with Reproduction Requests.
• Researchers must complete a separate Permission for Use Application [link] if they wish to publish reproduced collection materials in any form. Terms and conditions related to publishing reproductions of collection materials are outlined in the application form.
• Fees will be charged for permission to publish reproductions of collection materials used in profit-based publishing ventures in any format.
• In many cases, The Evergreen State Archives and Special Collections does not hold intellectual property rights in the content of its holdings. The legal doctrine of “fair use” allows libraries, archives, and their patrons to reproduce copyrighted and unpublished materials for purposes such as criticism, news reporting, education, scholarship, and research.

Exhibitions and Loans

• The Evergreen State College Archives and Special Collections periodically mounts exhibitions of collection materials for public viewing singly or in collaboration with other college programs, faculty, or offices.
• All exhibition proposals must include a list of collection materials and be submitted to the College Archivist one academic quarter in advance. Only the College Archivist can approve an exhibition proposal that includes collection materials.
• Exhibitions that include collection materials must be installed under appropriate environmental conditions and in consultation with the College Archivist.
• The Evergreen State College Archives and Special Collections will consider loans of collection materials for educational purposes to Evergreen faculty members. All loan requests must be made in writing at least one academic quarter in advance and should include a detailed list of collection materials requested, length of loan, and an outline of how and where they will be accessed.
• All loans must be approved by the College Archivist.

Citations

• Any collection item quoted or reproduced from The Evergreen State College Archives must be accompanied by the following citation format:
  • The Evergreen State Collection Archives and Special Collections, [Collection title], [Collection ID]
• A more detailed citation format may be provided by the College Archivist for some collection materials.