Documenting Davidson College - Records Management

In coordination with the Library’s strategic goal to “showcase academic excellence,” the Davidson College Archives collects selectively in the area of faculty papers, considering the diversity of faculty members' backgrounds, perspectives, and research interests in conjunction with the goal of documenting the faculty member as a member of the College’s “community of scholars.”

In determining whose papers to collect, the College Archives staff consider:

Whether the materials support and document the teaching and research mission of the College, including but not limited to the first to teach a subject, establish a new curriculum, department, or program on campus;

Whether the faculty member or the content of the collection fills gaps in the Archives collections, particularly in documenting the lives and work of underrepresented peoples, groups or subject areas;

Whether a faculty member's papers provide a valuable perspective on the history and evolution of the College, or contribute to the understanding of administrative activities, or demonstrate significant service within campus; 

the scholarly, service, and research contributions of the faculty member including significant awards, honors or grants, establishing new areas of research, election to prestigious societies; appointment to prestigious national or international committees; or service to or involvement with community, state, national and/or international organizations or major historical events.

Faculty papers, regardless of format, document the individual’s career at Davidson College as well as their research projects.  Of particular interest are materials that relate to teaching, service, and research conducted by the faculty member during their time at Davidson College. 

The types of materials collected, in any format, include, but are not limited to, the following:

Administrative records of department chairs, and institute and center directors

Records of committees that the faculty member chaired

Policy documents

Correspondence

Social media communications

Grant proposals and reports

Drafts of significant publications

Speeches and a sample of lectures

Examples of course syllabi

Pictorial images, including photographs, slides, illustrations

Audiovisual recordings

Research notes and summary data

Biographical materials

Oral histories