Transfer Guidelines
Official Documents
- Constitutions and by-laws
- Lists of current and past members and officers, member
directories
- Meeting minutes and programs, educational materials, awards
information
- Correspondence and memoranda (incoming and outgoing) and
subject files concerning projects, activities, and functions
- Historical files documenting policies, decisions, committee
reports, and surveys
- Publications (local and national): one record copy of all
newsletters, journals, brochures, monographs, posters, and announcements
- Audio-visuals: photographs, films, and sound and video
recordings
- Copies of newspaper articles documenting NCTE activities
Personal Papers
- Biographical information including resumes, vitae,
bibliographies, memoirs, and published biographical sketches
- Official NCTE correspondence and files: outgoing and
incoming letters and memoranda relating to NCTE business, committee
minutes, reports, and files
- Personal Correspondence with other NCTE members
- Publications: one copy of all articles, books, reviews
- Audio-visuals: photographs, films, and sound and video
recordings
Documents that generally should not be transferred
without prior consultation include:
- Detailed financial records, canceled checks, and
receipts
- Duplicates and multiple copies of publications: keep only
the original and heavily annotated copies
- Books, research papers, journal articles, and reprints
written by persons not affiliated with NCTE
- All blank forms and unused printed or duplicated materials
All information formats (e.g., published, typescript,
audio-visual, and electronic data, such as computer disks and files)
are appropriate for consideration for transfer. For documents in
formats requiring any form of machine intervention, such as videotapes
and computer files, consideration should be given to transferring the
equipment needed to access the documents or, preferably, converting the
documents to a format accessible to the archives' users. Early
consultation with the NCTE Archival Assistant is encouraged for all such
materials.
This list is intended as a general guide. If there are
questions about records not listed here or questions about the
retention or disposal of specific items, please contact
the NCTE Archival Assistant.
Copyright Ownership Note
The National Council of Teachers of English Archives welcomes donations
of all materials that give evidence to the history of the
Council and its divisions, sections, and members. The
Archives has recently expanded its services to accept
electronic materials as many divisions and sections no longer
print their newsletters, meeting minutes, and other
historically significant materials. However, the NCTE
Archives will not be able to accept electronic materials
unless the depositor can provide proof that they have
received copyright permission from the owner. The exception
to this are materials authored by NCTE employees in the course
of their NCTE work assignments, including the publications of
NCTE units.
