Collection Development and Management Guidelines

Mission

Special Collections complements the mission and vision of the University of North Dakota and the Chester Fritz Library by collecting, preserving, and making accessible records of enduring historical value to the University community, other scholars, and interested persons.

This mission was approved by Chester Fritz Library Administration on 17 March 2016.

Statement of Purpose

The Collection Development and Management Guidelines outline the selection of materials for the Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections. The Department of Special Collections strives to select, preserve, arrange, describe, provide access to, and promote the use of its unique and rare materials. Special Collections evaluates and maintains materials due to subject matter, age, condition, and uniqueness, as well as items best managed separately from the Chester Fritz Library’s general collections.

Orin G. Libby Manuscript Collection

The Orin G. Libby Manuscript Collection (OGLMC) consists of archival collections documenting North Dakota history and heritage. The collection is named in honor of Dr. Orin Grant Libby, an early faculty member in the Department of History who taught at UND for many years. Current subject areas of strength include the political, military, and women’s history of the state. The Department of Special Collections actively seeks to increase its archival collections regarding underrepresented groups and minorities. The Department of Special Collections also preserves archival collections related to northwest Minnesota.

Personal papers: materials from individuals and/or families whose activities have influenced the state are collected. These may include biographical material, correspondence, diaries, newspaper clippings, and photographs.
Organizational and business records: materials from North Dakota organizations are also preserved. These includes annual reports, by-laws, correspondence, financial records, meeting minutes, newspaper clippings, photographs, and publications.
Local government records from the city of Grand Forks and Grand Forks County is retained.

Donation is the preferred method of acquisition for OGLMC. Not all materials donated to the Department of Special Collections will be selected for permanent retention. Donors have the option to designate if they want unselected items returned to them or to have Special Collections dispose of them.

University Archives

University Archives preserves records relating to the history and culture of the University of North Dakota that have long-term, legal, fiscal, and historical value. The Department of Special Collections works closely with University Records Managers to accomplish this goal. Records of value are retained permanently, regardless of format.

Records in University Archives may include:

Official correspondence, reports, and publications created by academic and administrative units of the University
Agendas and meeting minutes of any affiliated committee, council, and working group
Student theses, dissertations, and publications
Materials related to student organizations and activities
Publications, including bulletins, course catalogs, directories, newsletters, and newspapers
Photographs
Audio/Visual materials in various formats

In addition to archival material, Special Collections acquires books written by authors affiliated with the University: faculty, student, staff and/or alumni, regardless of subject. These books are added to Special Collections Stacks along with notes in the catalog record to indicate University connections.

Family History and Genealogy

The Department of Special Collections supports research in the area of family history and genealogy by providing a variety of resource materials. Collection development centers on general resource materials, family histories, records and periodicals of local/regional interest, and Norwegian heritage. Persons of all interest levels are welcome to utilize the materials for their research needs.

Collecting Areas:

General resource/reference publications – published works that provide information on a variety of topics related to genealogy. In addition, publications concerning the major ethnic groups who settled in North Dakota.
Family histories – written/published family histories will be accepted via donation. Compiled genealogical data by itself will not be accepted.
Primary sources – records for the geographical areas of northeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota. These include census records, land/tax records, naturalizations, court records, cemetery records, church records, and military records. Such records might be on microfilm or in digital format. Published indexes to such records will also be acquired.
Periodicals – newsletters, journals, and related publications of North Dakota historical or genealogical societies if provided without cost. In addition, newsletters of Norwegian heritage groups such as various bygdelag will also be accepted.
Norwegian heritage – Norwegian bygdebøker (local history books) are actively collected for the Arne G. Brekke Bygdebok Collection. Also acquired are related publications such as those pertaining to emigration from Norway, immigrant letters, histories of Norwegian-American organizations, and biographies of Norwegian-Americans.

Publications

The Department of Special Collections actively collects books, magazines, monographs, newsletters, and periodicals regarding North Dakota and northwest Minnesota. Emphasis is given to the collecting of non-fiction works, including biographies, church histories, county and community histories, and memoirs.

Collection Management

Deaccessioning: Materials that do not fit within the Collection Development and Management Guidelines of the Department of Special Collections or do not have enduring historical value may be deaccessioned according to the terms of the Certificate of Gift and North Dakota state law. The Head of the Department of Special Collections will make these determinations.
Loans: The Department of Special Collections does not accept materials on loan for long term storage and preservation. Loans will be accepted for limited periods of time at the discretion of the Head of the Department of Special Collections.
Closed Collections and Restricted Materials: The Department of Special Collections does not accept materials that are indefinitely closed to public access. Restricted materials will only be accepted with a designated opening date agreed upon in writing, prior to the donation.

The Collection Development and Management Guidelines will be reviewed on a regular basis.

Approved by the Dean of Libraries and Information Resources on 8 March 2018.