Overview of Collection and Services
Location: The University Archives is housed in the Ronald Williams Library, on the lower level, LL-015.
Hours: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The Archives are closed Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Due to the limited staffing hours, those in need of information are encouraged to call ahead for an appointment. Please call the University Archivist between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 pm. at 773-442-4416 or 773-442-4402.
Staff: Dario Villa, Associate Professor, University Archivist, 773-442-4416 (D-Villa@neiu.edu); Ellen McMinn Larrimore, Senior Library Specialist, University Archives, 773-442-4402 (E-Larrimore@neiu.edu)
Collection Overview: The University Archives, a unit of the Library, is the depository for the historical records of the University. Briefly defined, archives are materials with historical or literary value created by anyone directly affiliated with the university. They reflect the functions and official activities of the University, administrators, faculty, staff, and students. Examples of archived documents are:• Presidential papers
• Records from the various departments such as Academic Affairs, Student Affairs…
• Memoranda, council minutes, proceedings, Faculty Senate minutes
• Records of the Board of Trustees, records of grants and proposals, University sponsored programs and activities
• University budgets, publications of student organizations and the school newspaper,
• Blue prints of campus buildings and surrounding areasArchived materials are primary sources, constituting a record of the ongoing activities of the University and its affiliates. The collection may be of particular interest to students exploring the history of the university, the evolution of the academic programs, administrative initiatives, and the development and growth of the physical facilities, including all. There is also a small collection of documents pertaining to the Japanese Internment Redress hearings and a related conference that was held at Northeastern in 1981.
The Highlights of Holdings includes a more detailed list of items held in the archives.In summary, the University Archives:
1) Acquires and preserves records of enduring value produced by university offices, faculty, students, and staff.
2) Arranges and describes records, and makes them accessible in accordance with established archival standards.
3) Serves as an information resource to assist the NEIU community with research projects.
Guidelines for Transfer of Records to Archives
The Archives would like the cooperation of all university departments in developing the collection. University departments should retain documents for a period of seven years, after which time appropriate documents should be transferred to the University Archives for evaluation of pertinence and importance, and permanent storage. [NOTE: Those records and documents sent to the Archives which lack relevance to the main function of the Archives will be returned or discarded.]
What Is Not Collected:
The following types of documents should not be sent to University Archives for inclusion in the collection:
• Student records
• Individual vitae of faculty
• Records of monetary gifts to the University
• Bank statements or cancelled checks
• Personnel records or personal records, including teaching evaluations
• Anything of a confidential nature which would be inappropriate to make publicly available or publish on the Internet for general use use
General Procedures for Sending Documents:
When an office or department has identified records it wants to archive, there are three basic steps the office should take:1. Contact University Archives for an assessment. Assessments may be conducted on-site or by email as the circumstances warrant.
2. Once it has been determined that the records are appropriate for transfer to the University Archives, the Archives Intake Form should be completed.
3. Put the completed form in the box(es) being transferred to Archives. The form must accompany the records during transfer to the University Archives.
Detailed Procedures for Sending Documents:
Please follow the detailed procedures with the appropriate shipping form to send documents to the University Archives.
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