Donating Materials
If you have materials that you are interested in donating, please contact us at 970-351-2854 or library.archives@unco.edu.
Archives & Special Collections works to document the history of UNC and the diverse population of the Northern Colorado region in the following areas:
- Administrative
- Academic / Intellectual
- Legal
- Fiscal
- Social
- Cultural
We collect materials in these categories:
- UNC inactive official records
- UNC history and student life
- Regional history and diversity
- Education
- Performing and visual arts
- Faculty papers
- Alumni papers
We collect the following types of materials:
- Photographs
- Maps
- Printed books
- Manuscripts
- Personal narratives
- Diaries
- Letters
- Organization records
UNC is also the designated repository for the writings and publishing legacy of James A. Michener.
We collect materials produced by James A. Michener and his associates. We also collect materials from Michener scholars, and collectors of Michenerana. The intent of these collections is to further scholarship about him, his activities, and his works.
We reserve the right to:
- Accept donations without restrictions
- Turn away gifts prior to donation
- Appropriately dispose of materials that, after receipt, are deemed unsuitable to the collection.
For more information, please see our Collection Development Statement below.
Collection Development Statement
The primary purposes of Archives & Special Collections are to serve the research needs of UNC’s faculty, students, and surrounding communities and to collect materials that document the intellectual, cultural, administrative, and social history of UNC and its neighboring communities.
Archives & Special Collections supports the education and research mission of UNC and University Libraries. We strive to support intellectual discovery and to empower a diverse community of learners and researchers through collections, education, outreach, and services by acquiring, preserving, and providing access to appropriate primary source materials and rare/unique items.
We have three distinct collecting areas:
- University of Northern Colorado Records
- James A. Michener Papers and Special Collections
- Special Collections from individuals and organizations in northeastern Colorado
Materials are acquired through:
- Donations, solicited and unsolicited
- Transfer from other UNC departments and offices
- Purchase
- Exchange with other repositories or collectors
All potential acquisitions are reviewed by Archives & Special Collections faculty.
We do not accept:
- Materials that are irreparably damaged
- Materials in which the donor’s ownership is in question or disputed
- Materials that would duplicate current holdings
- Photocopies of materials donated to another repository
- Collections which we are unable to preserve, or for which we cannot provide access
This collection development statement was last updated November 7, 2017, and is subject to change. We may add or amend areas in response to evolving research needs or new academic priorities, or to augment existing collections.
Learn More About Donating Materials
If needed, donated materials receive preservation treatment. They are then housed in appropriate archival storage containers. We inventory the materials and make them available for research. In some cases, we will make the materials available online.
By donating materials, you agree to convey physical ownership of the materials to Archives & Special Collections upon delivery.
Researchers often wish to quote from the Archives & Special Collections materials they use in their publications. Therefore, we ask donors to include copyright in their gifts. This has the following benefits:
- It saves the researcher the difficulty of identifying and locating copyright holders, and securing permission from them
- It saves the donor the need to answer each individual permission request
Please discuss copyright with a member of the Archives & Special Collections staff before making a donation.
Please also discuss any sensitive or restricted material with a member of the Archives & Special Collections staff before making a donation. We strive to make all records open to the public, but we will agree to close a portion of a collection for a finite period in order to protect the privacy of a donor and third-party confidences.
University personnel cannot provide estimates on the monetary value of collections.
If you wish to receive a receipt for charitable donations from the UNC Foundation, you must request a gift-in-kind acceptance form. Return the completed form to uncf.finance@unco.edu.
For more information about donating archival material, please visit the following resources provided by the Society of American Archivists.