Donation of Materials to Oakland University Archives and Special Collections

What kind of materials will we accept?

University Archives

The University Archives is looking for significant records of historical value that chronicle the university’s history and support the Archives’ mission. This may include items such as official publications, personal papers, reports, meeting minutes, photographs, flyers, maps, and any other item that should be permanently retained. Particularly desirable items include:

• photos and documents created by students or related to student life and athletics.
• annual reports for the individual units and committees on campus, including missing Senate committee annual reports.
• publications of the university and its components.

The University Archives does not accept routine office records and records that do not have enduring historical value.

Special Collections

We are interested in materials that fit within the scope of our collection development policy, and especially materials that document the history of Oakland County and southeast Michigan from the 19th century to the present, with a special focus on the political, economic, socio-cultural and multicultural aspects of the region’s suburban history. This includes but is not limited to memos and correspondence, meeting minutes, photos, scrapbooks, newspapers and newsletters.

If you're not sure if your materials could be of interest to our archives, contact us.

What happens to donated materials?

After receiving a signed deed of gift, archives staff will process the donated materials. All items donated to Archives and Special Collections are placed in a collection named after the donor, creator, or organization. Staff will store the materials in archival quality folders and boxes in the Archives’ secure, climate-controlled facility.

A finding aid will be created, with an inventory of the contents of the collection, a brief overview of the collection, and information about the donor. The finding aid will be added to our website to help researchers find information that may be located in your materials.

The new collection will be made available to researchers in the Archives and Special Collections reading room, unless specific provisions are made in the deed of gift to temporarily restrict access to part or all of the materials. No materials leave the archives after they are acquired. Items from the collection may also be used for exhibits in the library or online, as well as for classes that come into the archives with their instructors.

How to donate

Please contact Dominique Daniel or Shirley Paquette if you have items to donate so we can determine if they are needed or are duplicates of items we already have. If you wish to retain the item, we can make a copy for archives.