Transferring Records to University Archives
What to Keep
What not to keep
University Archives does not accept items such as financial documents, student files, and transitory records that have temporary usefulness. For a complete list, see Non-Archival Records from the University Archives at the University of Missouri at Columbia. UM System Records Management also outlines confidential and non-record material.
How do I transfer records to University Archives?
Review the official Records Retention Guide from the UM System Records Management office, the University Archives Collection Policy and this webpage. These documents will tell you exactly what should be kept and how. Contact University Archives if you have any questions about what should be permanently archived.
Remove your materials from any notebooks, 3-ring binders, binder clips, paper clips. Any kind of metal fastener will rust, puncture, or indent over time and damage your materials.
Place your materials into manila folders and label the folders as to their contents. Use language that makes sense for your office as well as for someone who may not know what you do. These folder names are how the materials will be searched and retrieved in the future.
Place the folders in “banker’s boxes” and label each box with your department name. You can purchase Records Center boxes from UM System Records Management.
Notify University Archives that you have a box delivery for us. We will coordinate with you and campus Mail Services to transfer your boxes. Mail Services can assist you with any questions you have about prepping the boxes for shipment. Please contact UM Records Management if your boxes need to be sent directly to them for non-permanent records retention for assistance.
What happens next?
- University Archives staff assign your department's collection number to the newly arrived materials.
- The folders are placed into an acid-free box for preservation purposes. If your box came from the Columbia campus Printing Services, we skip this step.
- Non-paper or oversized materials such as audiovisual materials (photographs, scrapbooks, film and audio reels, audio/video cassettes, etc.), optical media, artwork, and artifacts will be stored in archival quality enclosures and stored at the Miller Nichols Library. Digital records will be stored on UM System servers dedicated to long-term storage and preservation of digital files.
- The box is given an official University of Missouri Records Center Box Label.
- We create a collection inventory and finding aid that lists each folder title and is then added to the University Archives finding aid that exist for your department.
- We create a Records Center Transmittal form, and your box is shipped to the UM Records Management Center in Columbia.
- Records Center staff shelve your box in the Center and assign it a location code. That code is then sent to University Archives, who update your box’s inventory with the new location code.
