Alumni Papers

Records commonly transferred to the Archives include:

  • Biographical information: resumes, vitae, bibliographies, memoirs, genealogies, and published and manuscript biographical sketches
  • University of Illinois correspondence and files: outgoing and incoming correspondence, diaries, photographs, and scrapbooks that provide documentation of college experience relating to enrollment, attendance, involvement in student and alumni organizations and activities
  • Professional correspondence (outgoing and incoming) with business associates, colleagues, and professional organizations
  • Personal correspondence with other University of Illinois alumni
  • Course material: class notebooks, student papers, exams, and correspondence relating to academic career at the University of Illinois
  • Publications: one copy of all articles, books, reviews, or works of art
  • Audio-visuals: photographs, films, and sound and video recordings
  • Family correspondence, diaries, photographs, and financial and legal documents, except where there is family interest in retaining and preserving such materials
  • Summary financial records where relevant to business and career activities documented elsewhere in the papers
  • Organizational records and correspondence relating to membership and participation in professional and social associations, clubs and societies.

Items generally not transferred to the Archives include: 

  • Detailed financial records, canceled checks, and receipts
  • Routine correspondence, especially non-personally addressed mail and routine letters of transmittal and acknowledgment
  • Duplicates and multiple copies of publications: keep only the original and heavily annotated copies;
  • Typescripts, drafts, and galleys of publications and speeches unless the final publication or presentation is unavailable
  • Books, research papers, journal articles, and reprints written by other persons
  • Research notes and data if a summary of the data is available and transferred; bibliographic notes and notes on reading.  (Because of wide variations in the nature of research data, it is best to consult with the Archivist before discarding research notes and data.)
  • Artifacts and memorabilia. The Archives does not collect non-documentary objects except in cases of great importance and a manageable physical size and condition. Please call the Archivist to discuss options for preservation of such objects

Please transfer material in the order in which it was maintained.  A brief inventory identifying the types of records included should accompany the transfer.

 

When in doubt, don’t throw it out!