Special Collections

Q: Who should transfer records to University Archives?

A: Any department of Jacksonville University and any university-affiliated and sponsored student clubs or organizations.

Q: What types of records should departments send?

A: University Archives would like to retain records that represent the operations, functions, and impact of your department or student organization within the Jacksonville University, city of Jacksonville, or larger communities. Such records could be physical, born-digital, ephemera or, occasionally, artifacts. Special Collections is most interested in accruing born-digital and physical records (depending on the extent).

Q: What shouldn't departments send?

A: Do not send any physical records that show evidence of water, mold/mildew, or fire damage. Mold/mildew, if active, will spread to other materials causing an outbreak. Do not send materials that in current functional/operational use! University Archives would like to retain historical records that while interesting and informative, do not impact current departmental workflows if relocated. Please retain any legal or financial records according to your current departmental records management schedule. At this time, University Archives does not function as a university-wide records management retention and disposal entity.

Q: How do we inform University Archives that our department wants to transfer records?

A: Submit the Internal Records Transfer Form below, adding any relevant born-digital materials--preferably in zip drives that mirror the creation and use order of the records.

Q: How should departments handle the transfer of born-digital records?

A: Please do the following:

• Retain the original order of creation and use of the records within the digital folders. If certain records are incorrectly filed or never filed, please correct the digital filing before the transfer.

Select all the nested folders that you want to transfer in their original organizational hierarchy and create a .zip folder. Upload the .zip folder to the Internal Records Transfer Form--or, if the file is large, please send to repository@ju.edu or upload onto a labelled flash drive for delivery to Special Collections.

• Retain original file titles for records--when they are useful and accurate! If a file title is extremely misleading or simply, not descriptive, please add a title that reflects the record's contents and purpose for the record's creation.
   
• Clean your personal records by deleting unnecessary documents. While working on a project, your team may have created several drafts. University Archives does not need all 10 drafts, please delete unnecessary or redundant files and send just send us the final draft for your project. In more nuanced situations, please consult the Special Collections Coordinator before permanently deleting digital records.

Remember: as a record creator, you and your department have vast contextual and content knowledge about the digital records about to be transferred to the University Archives. Meanwhile, the Special Collections Coordinator does not. Please help University Archives expediate the processing and preservation of your internal records by providing us the necessary information in file titles and brief contextual/content notes about the role and impact of certain projects undergone by your department. Providing this information will also help your future team members when they request files to gain inspiration and institutional knowledge from your department's past workflows and initiatives. In other words, providing relevant record title and contextual information lets University Archives help you, help your future selves!