Types of Records Transferred by University Offices and Departments

The University Archives documents the history of Princeton University. Our collection is built in large part by collecting the inactive, permanent records of University offices, departments and units.

Inactive records are those that are no longer used in the day-to-day course of business. Permanent records are those that may be used for legal, historical or operational purposes in the future. Inactive, permanent records are collected regardless of format. Examples are listed below.

• Administrative Reports, including annual reports, which summarize activities of an organizational body during a stated time period.

• Subject Files of department heads or central subject files for offices or administrative units, excluding those materials listed below under types of materials not collected.

• Committee Records such as meeting minutes, which document the activities of advisory boards, faculty committees and other University organizations and initiatives.

• Correspondence (including email) especially of executives and high-level administrators.

• Photographs, Films and Videotapes which provide a visual record of the University and its activities.

• Publications including student and alumni publications, newsletters, bulletins, promotional materials for University events and programs.

• Websites: to recommend a website for preservation by the University Archives, complete this form.

If you have questions about whether the records that you wish to transfer are permanent, inactive records, please contact us at mudd@princeton.edu.

Examples of materials that the University Archives does not collect are:

• Invoices or financial statements documenting minor financial transactions

• Graded student work

• Duplicates or multiple copies of publications and records

• Material relating to individual employees' job performance

• Faculty research notes

• Blank forms kept for supply purposes

• Personal or private papers neither created nor received in connection with the University's business

• Subject files consisting mainly of newspaper clippings

• Published books and articles

For guidance on managing active university records, see Princeton University Records Management.