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Library Policies and Procedures: College Archives

Contents of the Elizabethtown Community and Technical College Library Polices and Procedures Manual, published December 2017, revised October 2022

Overview

The library maintains an historical college archives collection that consists primarily of print college materials generated between 1964 and 2000. Post-2000 materials consist primarily of literary journals, newspapers, newsletters, catalogs, programs, as well as scattered flyers, emails and other materials. Although the Elizabethtown CTC Library maintains this historical collection of college records and materials, it is not responsible for college record maintenance. 

Acquisitions

The ECTC library commenced the collecting and preservation of materials at a time when records were generated, distributed and filed in print formats. Currently most records originate in a digital environment (email, Office products, etc.) Such records are easily stored, with little to no need for extra space. It is therefore recommended that the college departments and divisions oversee the preservation and organization of their own digital records.

Due to staffing and space limitations, the library will limit print acquisitions to the following materials generated by ECTC:

  • Faculty meeting minutes
  • Staff Council meeting minutes
  • Student government meeting minutes
  • Board of Directors meetings
  • Annual reports, budgets, prospectus
  • Print catalogs, student handbooks, employee handbooks
  • ECTC literary publications
  • Reports from the offices of the President, Provost, Student Affairs, Business Office
  • Self-studies
  • Materials pertaining to SACSCOC
  • Graduation programs, programs for award ceremonies and similar items
  • Other college-generated print materials deemed appropriate for the collection by library personnel responsible for the library archives The library will rely on the appropriate departments and offices to send the above print materials to the library for archiving.

The ECTC library does not collect or accept for archiving the following:

  • Student and employee records
  • Daily or routine transaction records
  • Ephemera
  • Anything not generated by ECTC or its antecedents or relevant to the college history. Selected materials generated by KCTCS may be accepted.

Weeding

Library staff will assess current archival holdings and their historical value and propriety as time permits. The current collection contains documents not appropriate for retention. Some record boxes may still contain older records containing confidential information – weeding and shredding of these materials is ongoing as time and staffing levels permits. The collection also contains records not pertinent to the college history as well as system records (KCTCS, University of Kentucky) that should be maintained by those governing bodies. Weeding of such records will take place as time permits.

Digitization

The ECTC Archives may be digitized for preservation purposes. Original materials may be kept or destroyed.

Exceptions

Exceptions to the above policies are at the discretion of the Library Director upon consultation with library staff in charge of archives maintenance.