For Yale Offices

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Introduction to University Records

The University Archives provides support to Yale offices through the appraisal, selection, and preservation of the institutional records of Yale and its affiliated agencies. University Archives staff consult with offices to determine which records in their custody have permanent historical value, how to prepare materials for transfer to the University Archives, and how to retrieve them for administrative purposes.

Shared Responsibility for Records

Regardless of format, records created in the course of daily operations at Yale are the property of the University. Yale offices and staff that create and maintain these records are responsible for their preservation and security while they are in active use. Offices are additionally responsible for consulting with University Archives staff to determine when and how records should be transferred to the University Archives, retained on-site, or destroyed. The policies and procedures practiced by the University Archives are fully endorsed by the Secretary of the University, who manages the University records program and has ultimate authority for protecting Yale’s records and holdings.

Yale Affiliated Organizations | Transferring Records | Collecting Policies | Preparing Records | Retrieving Records

Value and Uses of Records

The records generated by the schools, departments, and offices of the University are the most tangible evidence of Yale’s history and activities. They provide officers and staff of the University with materials necessary to understand and interpret the evolution of university policies and activities. They provide students, scholars, and researchers with essential documentation of how Yale operates. The records document the official duties of the officers, schools, programs, and departments on campus and their relationships with alumni, affiliated organizations, student clubs, and its home city of New Haven.

The selection and preservation of records with permanent historical value is a complex undertaking in an institution with the longevity and range of interests of Yale. Obviously, not all the records that Yale has produced in its more than 325 years of existence are of permanent value. Some are of enduring significance; others are needed to provide legal and administrative evidence for recent University actions and obligations; still others are only of transient value and may be destroyed.

Yale Affiliated Organizations

The University Archives collects records from organizations that have an affiliation with Yale but are not organizationally part of the University. Yale affiliated organizations must complete a Deed of Gift before University Archives can accept any records. This document outlines the terms of the transfer to University Archives, and typically only needs to be completed once for each organization. Once the Deed of Gift is completed, these organizations should follow the instructions for Preparing Records for Transfer: Offices.

Transferring records to University Archives

The University Archives accepts record transfers from university offices between the months of May and September of the current calendar year.

University Archives staff works with offices to provide guidance on preparing records for transfer before the transfer window opens. Special arrangements will need to be made if an office plans to transfer more than 100 boxes of physical records or 10,000 or more digital files.

Preparing Records for Transfer: Offices

All University offices are asked to follow the instructions provided as part of the shared responsibility of managing university records.

Physical Records

Contact the University Archives to receive assistance in planning the appraisal and transfer of records. This may include an in-person or virtual meeting to review records and provide feedback based on your specific needs.
- Appraise the records. University Archives staff will conduct an on-site appraisal of records in consultation with local office staff and/or administrators.
  - Consultations for records appraisal will be scheduled by appointment between the months of October through the end of April to allow sufficient time for the office to prepare their records for the opening of the May transfer window.
Obtain archival boxes. The University Archives provides acid-free archival boxes for most types of physical records free of charge. In addition to standard archival boxes, we also offer containers for maps, architectural drawings, photographic media, posters, films, audio and video recordings, and many other items.
Neatly pack the boxes. Files and folders should be packed in the order in which they were kept in the office. A correctly packed box will have enough space to remove and replace a file folder easily, but not so much space that the folders fall or bend.
- Do not end a box when a file drawer or subject category is finished; each box should be completely filled. Under-filled boxes can damage the folders inside a half-filled box.
- Do not place loose papers in a box. All materials should be placed in folders which have identifying labels. A folder label should describe the contents of a folder in aggregate.
- Replace hanging file folders (Pendaflex folders) with manila file folders as hanging folders damage and weaken boxes. Transcribe any information on the hanging folders (Pendaflex) to new manila file folders so no descriptive information is lost.
- Any acid free manila folder may be used.
Download and save a copy of our inventory spreadsheet (.xls format).
- List the contents of each box, folder by folder, in the inventory spreadsheet. Save the completed inventory.
- Diskettes, CD-ROMS, flash drives, and other electronic storage media should be identified in the Electronic Media section of the inventory spreadsheet.
Email the inventory spreadsheet to the University Archives at archives@yale.edu . Archives staff will review the inventory and will inform you if additional information is needed.
Coordinate transfer of the records.
- The University Archives will arrange for the pickup and delivery of records through Transportation, Receiving and Storage (TR&S). Newly acquired records will be added to either an existing records collection, or a new discrete collection will be created.

If you have any questions, please contact the University Archives at archives@yale.edu

Digital Records

Contact the University Archives to receive assistance in planning the appraisal and transfer of records. This may include a virtual meeting to review records and provide feedback based on your specific needs.
- Appraise the records. University Archives staff will conduct an on-site appraisal of records in consultation with local office staff and/or administrators.
  - Consultations for records appraisal will be scheduled by appointment between the months of October through the end of April to allow sufficient time for the office to prepare their records for the opening of the May transfer window.
University Archives staff will create a folder on the University Archives Sharepoint instance and share this folder with identified office staff and/or administrators.
Office staff will organize and upload files to the Sharepoint folder. Files and file folders should be labeled to identify the information the file or folder contains. Once this process is completed, offices will notify the University Archives of the file transfer.
University Archives staff will create descriptions of the files and add them to either an existing records collection, or a new discrete collection will be created.
Once the files have been described, they will be ingested into Preservica, the library’s digital preservation system, for permanent retention.
See Restricted Records Retrieval section on obtaining access to digital records.

Restricted Records Retrieval Request

Authorized staff from Yale University offices may request files transferred from their offices to the University Archives. If you are an authorized requestor, please contact the University Archives at archives@yale.edu for further instructions.

Requests for files may be made directly from special finding aid inventories. These finding aids are located on the University Archives Sharepoint site and are in PDF format. Yale University offices may only access finding aids for archival collections originating from their office. Please contact the University Archives at archives@yale.edu to obtain access to the appropriate finding aid.

Once you open the finding aid, you can locate the file by either conducting a keyword search via the control-F feature or browsing via the Table of Contents. Archival collections are arranged by accession numbers, which are created by the fiscal year in which they were transferred to the University Archives. Once the file is located, click on the Request Folder link on the left-hand side of the file description:

When the link is clicked, it will take the requestor to the online retrieval system (Aeon). Log into the system using your NetID and password and the system will create a request form with all the bibliographic information for your request already filled in. Review the form to make sure it is correct, scroll down to the bottom of the form and click Submit.

Requests will take 24 hours to be filled from off-site storage. Requestors will be contacted when the requested file is ready to be retrieved. Files are kept at the Manuscripts and Archives Reference Center, which is located on the Wall Street side of Sterling Memorial Library. Requestors must bring their Yale ID when coming to pick up their records. Please contact the University Archives with any questions or the hours of the Manuscripts and Archives Reference Center.

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