ESSAY AND COMMENT
University Archives:
A Matter for Concern
Although the role of higher education
has been of importance in the
development of our nation, interpretive
studies of the contributions of our
system of higher education are
relatively scarce. Could this be due, at least
in part, to the fact that so few
colleges and universities in the United
States maintain institutional archives?
There are less than two dozen pro-
fessionally trained, full-time college
or university archivists with the neces-
sary staff and physical facilities to
conduct an adequate archival program.
Even by including those institutions
which combine an institutional ar-
chives and a historical manuscript
program, the number does not exceed
three dozen! Before a thorough research
study on any topic can be under-
taken, there must be a body of data
available for the scholar to analyze.
It is questionable that the institutions
of higher learning in the United
States are contributing to such a
research source to any great degree.
There are at least three reasons for a
college or university to establish
and support an institutional archives.
First, an archival program will se-
lect, preserve, and reference the records
of the institution which are of re-
search value and thereby serve as an
administrative memory to the officers
of the school. Although history may not
repeat itself, most issues have a
historical background and many
situations are similar enough so a study
of past administrative actions will
assist an official in resolving a current
problem. However, the necessary data
must be readily available to him for
study. An archives provides this
resource.
In addition to an archives serving as an
administrative memory, a second
reason for supporting an archival
program is the assistance a trained
archivist can render to help solve the
"paperwork" problem so evident in
the nation today. Most offices are
currently being flooded with forms, re-
ports, correspondence, and other types
of information. While the basic
function of an archivist is to preserve
the documentary heritage of the in-
stitution, many records must be
discarded so as to avoid being engulfed in
a tide of paper. By conducting record
inventories, microfilm studies and
preparing retention and disposition
schedules of all records created and re-
ceived in each campus office, an
archivist can provide the necessary guid-
ance to administrators so the records of
value are kept for future use, but
most records are discarded and the
"battle of the bulk" can be won. Not
only are the records of value preserved,
but by eliminating most of the
records the costs of filing equipment
and space are reduced and the effi-
ciency of the office is increased. In
some instances, a serious fire hazard is
also eliminated by clearing out record
accumulations in attics, hallways,
and basements.