effective 6/2024
Restriction of material in manuscript/archival collections is predicated on conflicting goals:
- To honor the wishes of the donor.
- To protect individual privacy.
- To provide access to materials deemed to have lasting historical value.
The department will adhere to the following guidelines when acquiring, preserving, and making accessible collections.
Restriction Guidelines
Donor requests for restriction will be accommodated and recorded in the deed of gift if they are considered reasonable versus the informational and evidential value of the collection as well as the costs managing the collection.
Protection of individual privacy, as defined by the Society of American Archivists. Privacy ends with death. This includes the donor, regardless of their requested restrictions. Common data that should be restricted:
- Contact information, if not already publicly available.
- Financial information
- Social security number
- Student education records protected under FERPA.
Implementation
Restriction decisions will be set during processing by the Special Collections Librarian, in consultation with the Coordinator of Special Collection when necessary, and documented in the finding aid.
How to restrict information will be based on making available the most information in the most efficient manner.
- Restricting to 100 years from the individual’s birth or 100 years from the date of the item’s creation.
- Reproducing the document with the private data redacted and restricting the original.
Unprocessed collections are open to research, but have not been vetted for restrictions. Therefore, material must be reviewed before readers can access it. Staff will do their best to accommodate readers, but prior notice of two full business days is required.
- Restriction will be at the folder level.
- Reviewed folders will be annotated when reviewed, “[restricted/no restrictions] [LIBRARIAN INITIALS] [YYYY-MM-DD]” on the front of the folder