Archives Collections Management Policy

Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland College was established in 1921. It became University College Leicester (1927-1957) and then the University of Leicester (1957 – date) and has a strong tradition of collecting unique and distinctive collections of books, manuscripts and archives.

Introduction 

This document sets out the University of Leicester’s policy framework for the archive collections managed by Archives and Special Collections within Library & Learning Services.  The policy covers collections development, collections information, care and conservation and access impacts.  

Archives and Special Collections oversees stewardship, management and access for the University’s collections of archives, manuscripts and rare books.  The team is based in the David Wilson Library, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK.

This policy covers the team’s archive collections and complements the following documents:

• Library Collection Development Strategy
• Archives & Special Collections: Collections Development Strategy, 2024-2029
• University Archives Selection Policy
• Archives & Special Collections Access Policy
• Records Management Policy

“The service” is used throughout this document to refer to the archive functions carried out within the Archive and Special Collections team.

Legal and statutory basis for the service

The service has developed from two strands of activity: 

• the acquisition of rare and unique material in support of the University’s function as an academic institution, including historic manuscripts and private archives.
• the management of the institutional archives of the University of Leicester. 

The first of these activities has, since the College’s foundation, been based in the University Library.  Between 1983 and 1986 a project was undertaken towards establishing a ‘Central Archives and Records Service’ to arrange and catalogue the institutional records.  In 1995 the first professional archivist was appointed on a part-time contract, based in the Registrar’s Office, principally to manage the institutional archives. Since 2007 the management of both the Library’s archive collections and the institutional archives has been based in the University Library. 

The service abides by the University Ordinances and all relevant legislation concerning archives or which impacts on archives.

The scope of the holdings of Archives and Special Collections

Items bequeathed or donated at or shortly after the foundation of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland College in 1921 form the historic core of the Special Collections. These include materials given by Thomas Hatton, Harry H. Peach and Caleb Robjohns.  Although these early acquisitions comprised books for the most part, the MS catalogue prefix was used for more unusual items such as individual manuscripts and artificial antiquarian collections.

Until the 2010s, collections development took place organically in line with the teaching and research interests of individual academics and departments. There was particular interest in acquiring literary collections, usually of writers associated with Leicester such as Joe Orton, Sue Townsend, and David Campton. Since 2013, formal collections development policies have been established to develop a more strategic focus on areas in which the University of Leicester has distinctive academic strengths, such as literary cultures of Leicester (supporting the Centre for New Writing) and the archives of companies at the forefront of museum design (supporting research and teaching in Museum Studies). Archives documenting major advances in human knowledge by Leicester researchers are also prioritised, for example the discovery of DNA fingerprinting and identification of the remains of Richard III.

The East Midlands Oral History Archive was created in 2001 with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Run as a partnership with Leicestershire County Council, until 2022 it was based in the School of History, Politics and International Relations where it was managed and developed by a dedicated part-time post. In 2022, funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund supported a programme of retrospective cataloguing, digitisation, digital preservation and migration of collections information into the Archives and Special Collections service’s catalogue system. In February 2024, the post managing the collections was permanently transferred to Library & Learning Services, with curatFormal archival accessioning was introduced in 2013.  The service has compiled retrospective accession records from other sources to improve the accessibility of accession information for earlier deposits, gifts, purchases and transfers.orial responsibility moving with the postholder to Archives and Special Collections.  

The overall objectives of Archives and Special Collections are as follows:

• The Library, our collections and our services can be found at the heart of the campus (physical and digital), underpinning learning and research and providing information and support to our students, staff and communities.
• Archives and Special Collections aim to develop and curate our unique and distinctive collections to enrich the curriculum, to enable research and to enhance the civic life of the region.

Scope of policy

Archives are defined in this policy as:

Records created or received by a person, family, or organization, public or private, in the conduct of their affairs which have been selected for permanent preservation because of the enduring value of the information they contain or as evidence of the functions and responsibilities of their creator. (Society of American Archivists)

The archive collections divide into three broad categories:

• Institutional archive and complementary fonds
• Private collections
• The East Midlands Oral History Archive

The Leicester Research Archive of research publications, theses and unpublished research data falls outside the scope of this policy. 

Archival collections held at the University but not managed by the service fall outside the scope of this policy. 

This policy covers the following key archive collection management activities:

• Collecting and acquisition
• Disposals and deaccessioning
• Appraisal
• Collection development
• Collections information
• Collections care and conservation
• Digital preservation
• Access: collection impacts

Roles, responsibilities and accountabilities.

Overall accountability for archives lies with the University Librarian and Director of Library and Learning Services, who reports to the Registrar and Secretary. 

Strategic leadership and operational management of Archives and Special Collections is the responsibility of the Associate Director for Community and Heritage (1.0fte), who reports to the University Librarian and is a member of the Library Leadership Team. They plan, prioritise, and manage the work of the team and contribute to the delivery of the Library’s strategic aims through input into the Library delivery plan.  

The Archivist is responsible for ensuring that archive collections are managed and developed in accordance with professional standards and legal and institutional requirements. They are supported by the Assistant Archivist. These posts have a post-graduate qualification in Archive Administration as an essential requirement. 

The East Midlands Oral History Archive Research and Outreach Officer is responsible for curating and developing local and regional oral history collections in accordance with legal and ethical requirements for oral history. This includes liaising with depositors on the acquisition of new collections, collaborating with external and internal partners on the collection of new oral history interviews, and ensuring that collections are discoverable and accessible to researchers. 

Reading room supervision, document production, copying and enquiry handling is carried out by one part time Library Adviser (morning) and one part time Library Assistant (afternoon).

The University Librarian has overall budgetary responsibility for Library & Learning Services. The Deputy Librarian has operational responsibility for the divisional budget.  Expenditure on systems, storage, equipment and conservation materials is made against Library budget lines, with costs included in annual financial planning.

Facilities management is carried out by placing work orders through the University’s Estates division who manage relationships with contractors.

Scope of existing archive collections

The University Archives date from the 20th and 21st centuries. The private archives range from early modern to the present day and are predominantly 20th and 21st century. Oral history collections primarily consist of recordings made in the 1960s and later. 

The majority of the archive collections comprise paper records. There is a very small proportion of parchment and a few maps and /or plans.  The service accepts digital records for permanent preservation and access as part of its archival holdings and delivers content in the form of digital surrogates via a digital asset management system (CONTENTdm).  

The East Midlands Oral History Archive includes legacy analogue formats and born digital recordings. Most collections are audio-only, with a small number of born digital video files.  Following recent externally funded projects, all collections accessioned before 2022 are stored digitally on the service’s digital preservation platform. 

The service has hitherto focused on the archives of its own institution plus a combination of subject based collecting often, but not exclusively, within the geographical area of Leicester and its broader county and regional context.  Current collection strengths are as follows:

• The institutional archive and complementary fonds such as the archives of the Students’ Union and the personal papers of former students and staff, for example Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys who discovered genetic fingerprinting and DNA profiling techniques.
• Modern literary Leicester – major collections include the papers of Joe Orton, Sue Townsend, David Campton, Chris Challis and Reg and Ann Cartwright
• History of Leicester and Leicestershire – including the Gorrie Collection, Joan Skinner Archive, the Leicester Mercury Archive, and Leicester Medical Society
• Regional and Local history – including the Hoskins Collection, the Finberg Collection, the Thirsk Collection and the Chapronière Collection
• East Midlands Oral History Archive – including the Leicester Oral History Archive, Uganda 40 and Uganda 50 oral history collections, Mosaic Our Lives: oral histories of living with disabilities, BBC Radio Leicester collection
• Museum design and the museums profession – including the Association of Independent Museums and Social History Curators Group. From 2022 a new collecting area, museum design companies, was developed, to support teaching and research in Museum Studies. 

Collection and Acquisition Policy: general principles

Terms and Conditions

Archives are acquired through gift, bequest and internal transfer from within the University.  Archives may be accepted on long-term loan although the preference is for outright gift.  The Library does not have a specific fund for the purchase of archival material; any such exceptional purchases would normally be dependent on external funding.  Any terms and conditions the depositor knows of must be articulated at the point of transfer and recorded both on the receipt form and in the Accessions database on Calm.

Internal transfers to the institutional archive

The service works collaboratively with the University’s Records Manager to ensure an effective and timely transfer of records to the institutional archive in accordance with the University’s Data and Records Retention Schedule. This includes born-digital records.

Relevant legislation:

The University seeks clarity about intellectual property rights and access arrangements with regards to its archive collections and will capture information about the copyright, data protection and freedom of information at the point of accession.  Archives and Special Collections reserves the right to reject collections where there is a lack of clarity over ownership and rights issues.

Data Protection Act and Freedom of Information Act

Where archives contain or may contain personal data, the role of the University as either Data Controller or Data Processor is determined at the point of accession and a statement to this effect is included in the gift or deposit agreement. The University is typically the Data Controller with respect to the University of Leicester institutional archive and material that it acquires by donation, with Archives and Special Collections acting as Local Data Manager unless there are specific written instructions to the contrary.  Where archives are acquired on loan, arrangements for each deposit are confirmed in writing at the point of transfer.  Any legacy collections which are ambiguous on this point will be clarified retrospectively if possible. The receipt form captures this information in all cases. 

The East Midlands Oral History Archive is managed in partnership with Leicestershire County Council through the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland. This arrangement is governed by a Data Sharing Agreement under which the University and County Council are Controllers in Common.  

The service will not usually accept material where the content of the collection is unavailable for general access due to the preponderance of information exempt under Freedom of Information legislation.

Appraisal

An archivist appraises potential records at or prior to the point of accession to assess their long-term value.  Records which do not meet the collection development principles (section 5 of this policy) are not accepted.  Records may be stored at Archives and Special Collections as a temporary deposit to enable appraisal to take place.  

Records which are not selected for permanent preservation will be returned to the depositor, disposed of, or offered to another repository following the depositor’s wishes as noted on the deposit agreement.

Formats

Where the University is offered records in a format for which it cannot provide appropriate standards of care or access, it will work with the depositor to find a more suitable repository. The Service has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Media Archive for Central England with regard to audio-visual material. 

Where the material in question complements existing archival holdings and where it can be demonstrated that local access will significantly enhance the researcher / user experience, Archives and Special Collections seeks to acquire an access copy which can be consulted locally without compromising the long-term preservation and integrity of the original. Under the data sharing agreement with Leicestershire County Council, physical carriers containing oral history recordings are held at the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland. Preservation copies of digitised and born digital recordings are held by the service, with access copies shared with the Record Office.

Artworks

Archives and Special Collections holds archival fonds for local artists (e.g. Reg Cartwright) or artists with a connection to other fonds within the collection (e.g. Caroline Holden).  Artworks accepted as archival accessions must meet the criteria defined below (6.4), must have a research value beyond the purely aesthetic and are managed in accordance with archival standards.  This precludes their being displayed permanently within the University to limit light damage, unless otherwise agreed with the depositor.

Artefacts

The service does not normally accept three-dimensional artefacts unless they have a special relationship with an archival fonds and where separating the artefact from the archive would compromise the integrity of the two for research purposes.  

Duplicates

Duplicates of items held in the service or in other archive collections are not usually accepted. For preservation purposes, EMOHA accepts digital copies of sound recordings, which may also be held in other locations.

Physical condition

Archives and Special Collections does not have onsite specialist preservation and conservation expertise for paper and book collections. There is audio preservation expertise.  Where the University is offered material in poor condition with significant preservation or conservation challenges, but which otherwise meets the selection criteria, a decision to accession the material should be accompanied by a costed conservation plan and is subject to the availability of sufficient budgetary resources to deliver the plan.  Where material cannot be accepted, the service supports the depositor or donor in finding a suitable alternative repository. Initial conservation assessments and any subsequent treatment will usually be carried out as part of the service’s National Conservation Service membership. 

Potential collecting conflicts

Archives and Special Collections recognises and values its role as part of a network of archive services across the UK that collectively safeguard the nation’s archival heritage.  We aim to avoid collecting conflicts with other repositories and seek to ensure outcomes that best meet the long-term preservation needs of collections and the access requirements of users.  When advising potential depositors, the service draws attention to the existence of other repositories to ensure that material is offered to the most appropriate institution.

Disposal/deaccessioning

Please see below.  

Reasons for turning down a collection offer

The Service has an obligation not to take collections which it will be unable to process within a reasonable timescale. Capacity for cataloguing the collection (including consideration of whether an external bid for funding would need to be made), as well as the format, size and complexity of a collection will be considered when an offer is made. 

Collection development

Current archival holdings have been acquired through a variety of means, but usually in response to offers from donors or depositors. Acquisition has often been through the agency of academic staff responding to opportunities to acquire material relevant to their research interests

The service is small, with limited professional and para-professional capacity.  Routine active record surveys have not been resourced in the past though the archivist and records manager will view and offer advice on physical and digital storage if required. 

The service aims to focus its capacity on an effective and considered approach to collection development and achieves this through the following measures:

• A clear articulation of its priority collecting targets
• Improved awareness and understanding of the priority collecting targets by all stakeholders
• A rigorous approach to implementing the acquisition policy and the associated criteria identified above
• Regular review of its audiences and their needs and the relationship between these and the collection development principles and priority collecting targets

Priority collecting targets are defined in the Archives and Special Collections: Collections Development Strategy, 2024-2029. 

Collections information

Accessioning

The service maintains an accessions register on Calm for all accessions of private material and all significant internal transfers of institutional archive material.  Personal or sensitive information from the accessions register is unavailable for general access but summary information is sent to The National Archives as part of its annual “Accessions to Repositories” exercise.  

Formal archival accessioning was introduced in 2013.  The service has compiled retrospective accession records from other sources to improve the accessibility of accession information for earlier deposits, gifts, purchases and transfers.

Cataloguing

The service aims to produce catalogues of all its archival holdings.  The service has substantial cataloguing and retro-conversion backlogs and prioritises in accordance with agreed criteria to ensure that cataloguing capacity is directed to collections identified as a priority.  The cataloguing prioritisation process also identifies cataloguing projects which may be suitable for external funding applications.

The service conforms to the mandatory elements of ISAD(G) in all new cataloguing.  Where retro-conversion of legacy manual finding aids is undertaken, the service makes reasonable efforts to comply with mandatory elements of ISAD(G).

Adherence to cataloguing standards is overseen by the Archivist, who plans work programmes and allocates cataloguing tasks to professional, para-professional staff and volunteers in accordance with the complexity of the cataloguing task and the skills, experience and knowledge of the potential cataloguer.  

Where it is pragmatic to do so, cataloguing by the archivists to series or sub-series level rather than file or item level is undertaken in order to optimise the impact of the time resources available for cataloguing activity. Volunteers may complete more detailed listing and catalogue enhancement projects.

Publishing catalogues

The service aims to improve access to information about its holdings by all relevant and effective means, including identifying pragmatic opportunities to share our catalogue data with other agencies and via relevant discovery platforms.

As a minimum, catalogues are published online via the following platforms:

• The service’s online catalogue (CALMView)
• The Library’s Discovery platform (Primo)
• The National Archives’ Accessions to Repositories and Discovery (Manage your Collections)
• The Archives Hub

Copyright in the service’s catalogue data lies with the University of Leicester. Any volunteers who create catalogue data and other finding aids are required to assign copyright in those to the University of Leicester.

Collections care and conservation

The service adopts the following policy principles for its archive collections but also follows these principles for the management of its other collections, such as rare books and manuscripts. 

Physical storage conditions

The service recognises and aims to meet the provisions of BS 4971:2017 Conservation and care of archive library collections. 

The service stores archive collections in the purpose-built strongroom in the University Library. This provides a stable environment which conforms to BS 4871:2017 recommendations with regards to temperature and relative humidity. 

Approximately half of the archive is held in commercial storage, Restore, monitored by the National Conservation Service, at Upper Heyford Oxfordshire. This is run to BS 4971:2017 standards, regularly monitored and reports are available to NCS subscribers. 

Physical carriers for oral history recordings are stored securely at the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland. The ROLLR strongrooms are kept in accordance with professionally recognised standards and the temperature and humidity levels and condition of holdings are regularly monitored by a qualified Conservator and other heritage professionals.

Physical preservation

The service supports the implementation of preservation measures designed to promote the long-term stewardship of the collections in its care.  We:

• Store all physical archives in a secure and access-controlled environment, with measures in place to protect against risks from fire, flood, pests and unauthorised access
• Monitor and manage the storage environment in accordance with BS4971:2017 recommendations
• Store all physical archives in archival quality packaging materials, seeking expert advice when necessary and ensuring that staff involved in re-packaging activities are trained to minimise risk to collections during the re-packaging process
• Ensure that all handling and consultation of archives is subject to best practice reading room regulations
• Liaise with potential depositors of specialist media held in formats for which we do not have suitable storage or access arrangements in order to identify a more suitable repository
• Take expert advice and commission training from a qualified conservator as appropriate
• Maintain an annual membership of the National Conservation Service (conservation planning, condition reports, project work) and Harwell Restoration (disaster recovery)

Conservation

All interventive conservation treatments must be undertaken by a conservator qualified and experienced in the appropriate conservation discipline (e.g. paper conservation).  

The service maintains a list of all items which require specialist intervention and will source external expertise to address these as funds allow.

Insurance

The service is committed to supplying the University’s Insurance Officer with up-to-date information about insured collections and to ensuring that insurance provision meets the needs of the service, its collections and depositors. The insurance policy states that the insurer will settle the costs of restoration in the event of partial loss or damage. 

Disaster prevention and recovery

The Library works with Estates, Security and Digital Services to ensure a rapid and informed response to situations which threaten the integrity of its facilities, collections or service delivery.  

The Library has a Business Continuity Plan and a Disaster Plan 

The University maintains a subscription to Harwell’s Priority User Service. 

Disposals and daccessioning principles

The service recognises and conforms to The National Archives’ Deaccessioning and disposal: Guidance for archive services, 2015.  Potential disposal decision-making will be undertaken using the Disposal destination decision tree.

There is a strong presumption against later disposal or deaccessioning of material that has been accessioned by the service.  However, it is noted that the service holds several legacy collections which were not subject to current appraisal principles and processes.  The service reserves the right to conduct a retrospective appraisal exercise, including consultation with relevant third parties, to determine whether these collections meet the principles identified in section 5 and the Priority Collection targets listed in the current Collections development strategy.

Deaccessioning decisions are made by an archive professional, based on archival principles and professional good practice and are not driven solely by forces external to the archive service.

Deaccessioning is not considered in response to budgetary or storage constraints.

In seeking to identify an alternative repository for a particular item or collection, the service endeavours to match current levels of public access.

Digital preservation

The service advocates the acquisition of born-digital records alongside other formats to provide a complete picture of the activities of a particular organisation or individual.

The service acquires digital surrogates provided that these complement existing holdings (for example by filling in a gap in an existing series) and provided that the original item is unavailable for acquisition.

Digital records are subject to the same acquisition principles and considered against the same priority collection targets as physical formats.

Digital records are accepted on the understanding that the aim is to make them available for consultation alongside physical records.

Digital records are subject to the same rigour concerning accession information, access restrictions, collections information and other processing activities. 

The service recognises that managing digital archives is a long-term undertaking which requires underpinning policies, resource, and detailed and technical knowledge. A two year digital preservation project began in 2023. This has allowed the creation of an Assistant Digital Archivist role which will be able to test tools and workflows, leading to the creation of procedures and guidance for the rest of the team.

Access: collection impacts

Consultation of the service’s archive collections must take place in the supervised Archives and Special Collections reading room.  

Staff, volunteers and researchers must abide by the reading room regulations, with staff actively and consistently explaining and demonstrating good practice in handling archive material.

Researchers are able to make or request copies of archive material subject to current copyright legislation and provided that the copying process will not, in the judgement of Archives and Special Collections staff, risk damage to the document in question.

Production of archive material for consultation in the reading room is subject to current information legislation provisions.  The Archivist will liaise with the University’s Information Assurance Team to ensure harmonisation of access procedures for archives with the University’s compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018, General Data Protection Regulations, Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

Archives and Special Collections maintains a regular programme of exhibitions of original archive material and rare books in the exhibition area on the ground floor of the library.  The Library is a 24/7 environment and exhibitions are designed and managed accordingly.  The service supports occasional exhibitions elsewhere on University premises.  The service also loans archive material to third parties for exhibition off campus where appropriate. Archive material will only be selected for exhibition provided the following criteria are met:

• The duration of the exhibition is no more than 6 months
• High quality surrogates are used in lieu of particularly light sensitive materials such as photographic prints, newsprint, etc.
• The lighting in the exhibition area is fitted with UV filters OR the exhibition case is fitted with UV film
• Exposure to light is minimised by use of protective showcase covers during periods of low footfall, e.g. overnight
• Archive material is exhibited only in high security showcases of a specification equal to or exceeding the Click Netherfield CLAM-HD cases used by the service
• A record is kept of how many times specific items are exhibited with the express purpose of preventing over-exposure of individual items to the hostile exhibition environment
• All bound volumes are supported by appropriate cushions or book cradles
• Consideration is given to turning the pages in volumes during their exhibition period to minimise strain on the spine and light exposure on specific pages
• Requests to loan archives for exhibition by a third party are considered on a case-by-case basis and will only be agreed provided satisfactory arrangements are in place with respect to security, environmental conditions, insurance and transport

Archives and Special Collections regularly hosts or contributes to teaching and learning activities.  Archive material may be used to support these sessions provided the following criteria are met.

• Handling of unique archive material in teaching sessions must be subject to reading room regulations
• If the teaching session is to take place outside Archives and Special Collections, archive material must always be accompanied by a member of Archives and Special Collections staff, and suitable protection (boxes, waterproof portfolio case, etc.) must be used while the material is in transit.
• Where intensive handling is anticipated, consideration must be given to using high quality surrogates to minimise risk to irreplaceable archive material

Policy approved by Library Leadership Team, 19 June 2024

Next review date June 2027