Special Collections + Archives Collection Development Policy
Special Collections + Archives
Mission, Goals, Collecting Priorities and Donation Guidelines
Special Collections & Archives Mission
Our mission is to document the history of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and the Chippewa Valley. We strive to connect these primary sources with the audiences we serve. We do this through instruction, outreach, and research access supporting students and staff at UW-Eau Claire as well as genealogists, local historians, and others from the greater Chippewa Valley community and beyond.
Special Collections & Archives serves as an Area Research Center of the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS), providing access to WHS’s holdings from the Wisconsin counties of Rusk, Taylor, Buffalo, Clark, Eau Claire, and Chippewa. Through the Area Research Center network, we provide access to WHS’s holding from around the state using a transfer network.
Finally, Special Collections & Archives coordinates the university’s records management program to ensure compliance with Universities of Wisconsin records schedules.
Special Collections & Archives Goals
- Preserve, organize, and describe all collections according to current archival and library standards.
- Continually improve intellectual control over and access to collections, including integrating holdings into the information systems of the library, university, Universities of Wisconsin, and other information resources.
- Acquire and support collections that document both the university community as well as the Chippewa Valley community. Assist the Wisconsin Historical Society in acquiring additional historical records related to the Chippewa Valley.
- Provide curricular services and other academic support to the university; create a heightened awareness of the department as a laboratory for faculty/student collaborative research and the communities we serve.
- Collaborate and provide outreach services to local historical and genealogical organizations; develop a firm working relationship with these agencies in our region so that the department can serve as a catalyst for growth and development of the local history community and archival collections. A collaborative collecting agreement exists between the department, the Chippewa Valley Museum, and L. E. Phillips Memorial Public Library.
- Collaborate with the Universities of Wisconsin Records Officers Council to develop and implement Universities of Wisconsin General Records Schedules on the UW-Eau Claire campus.
Special Collections & Archives Collecting Priorities
Special Collections & Archives include many distinct holdings and collecting priorities. In addition to the University Archives and Area Research Center holdings, we collect rare books, local history publications, local history archival and manuscript materials, and special collections. Acquisition of new material aims to complement these existing holdings.
University Archives
The collecting goals of the University Archives aim to document the administration, student life, university/community relations, and intellectual life of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
Special Collections
Our special collections collecting goals aim to acquire unique collections of distinct instructional value related to the curricular strengths of UW-Eau Claire. Special collections that complement our focus on the university and Chippewa Valley community are especially relevant for acquisition.
Local History Collections
Our local history collections focus on archival and manuscript materials (e.g. personal papers, family papers, or organizational records) pertaining to the six-county region covered by the Eau Claire ARC.
Local History Book Collection
The local history book collection consists of published materials related primarily to the six-county region covered by the Eau Claire ARC and UW-Eau Claire.
Rare Book Collection
Our rare books collection consists primarily of British and American first editions of literature from approximately 1850 to 1950.
Donation Guidelines
Special Collections & Archives welcomes donations of archival materials, local history books, rare books, and other special collections that align with our collecting goals. All donations are carefully considered and reviewed by the department.
To donate materials to Special Collections & Archives please contact us by e-mail at library.archives@uwec.edu or telephone at (715) 836-2739. If donated materials are accepted for inclusion into the department’s holdings we will work with you to complete the donation process.
This policy is reviewed and/or updated annually.