I. Introduction

The following policy outlines the principles and criteria for the appraisal[1], selection, acquisition, and management of materials to ensure the continued growth and accessibility of the collections in support of RPI’s academic and research mission. Our collection strengths focus on the history of science, technology and engineering.

The Institute Archives and Special Collections serves two main collecting areas:

1. Institute Archives consist of the official records of the Institute which provide documentation of the development and growth of the Institute.
   1. Materials include: Records of the presidents and senior administrators; Board of Trustees minutes; Department records (administration, curriculum, and programs); Campus publications; The Institute’s role in the community at large; The activities of its student body and alumni; Development of its physical plant and grounds.
   2. The Institute Archives collecting scope is governed by the Institute’s Record Retention Policy
2. Special Collections are comprised of unique, one of a kind, irreplaceable historical documents, rare books, art, artifacts and ephemera and research materials unique to RPI.  

[1] By appraisal, the archivists determine whether records and other rare materials have permanent (archival) value. Appraisal in this context is distinguished from monetary appraisal. 

Foundational Principles for Collecting/Documenting 

• Advance the research, educational, and service mission of RPI.
• Provide rare, unique, and historically and culturally valuable resources across formats for use and study by the RPI community, scholars, students, and a global community of researchers.
• Build on existing collection strengths that are distinctive and address gaps in the historical and scholarly record.
• Increase the social and cultural perspectives found in our holdings.
• Build new community partnerships with the purpose of sharing RPI’s successes.
• Avoid acquisitions that duplicate collections of regional and partner institutions.
• Conduct collecting and documenting in an ethical manner, respecting the rights of individuals and groups represented in collections, honoring commitments to donors, fulfilling obligations to the Institute, and adhering to professional standards and best practices.
• Responsibly steward collections so that materials are preserved, discoverable, and available for use in a timely manner.
• Critically reflect on our principles and practices of collecting and review our collecting plan and priorities on a regular basis.
• Complement rather than compete with the collecting priorities of other special collections repositories.

A Commitment to Responsible Stewardship

The RPI Institute Archives and Special Collections commits to providing access and care for the materials under our stewardship. In deciding what materials to accept, we consider the following factors as part of our obligation to collect and steward materials responsibly:

• Alignment with institutional mission, policies, and obligations
• Conditions of ownership and transfer
• Condition of materials and preservation needs
• Accessibility and potential barriers to future research
• Requirements and resources for sustainable maintenance

II. Scope of the Collection

The Archives and Special Collections primarily collects materials in the following areas:

• Institutional Records: Official records of RPI’s administrative offices, departments, and governing bodies.
• Faculty and Alumni Papers: Manuscripts, correspondence, research materials, and professional papers from notable faculty and alumni.
• Student Life Materials: Yearbooks, student publications, photographs, and memorabilia documenting student experiences.
• Rare and Special Collections: Rare books, manuscripts, and materials relevant to science, engineering, and technological innovation. Rare book acquisitions are conducted on a case-by-case basis, ensuring that only materials of exceptional historical, academic, or research significance are added to the collection.
• Digital Collections: Born-digital and digitized materials, including research data, audiovisual recordings, and web archives.
• Art, Artifacts, and Ephemera:
  • Artwork: Paintings, prints, sculptures, and mixed-media works created by or related to RPI faculty, students, and alumni, as well as pieces of historical or academic significance to the Institute.
  • Artifacts: Objects with historical and research value related to engineering, science, and technology, including but not limited to scientific instruments, mechanical models, engineering tools, laboratory equipment, and prototypes developed at RPI.
  • Ephemera: Items of historical significance related to RPI, including event programs, posters, technical drawings, blueprints, and other printed materials that document the Institute’s history and academic advancements.

III. Proactive Annual Collecting Activities

To ensure the continuity and integrity of the historical record, the Institute Archives and Special Collections commits to the proactive, annual collection of key Institute-generated materials that reflect the ongoing academic, administrative, cultural, and student life at Rensselaer.

These materials are critical for documenting RPI’s voice, leadership, community engagement, and evolution over time. Annual collecting ensures that institutional memory is captured in real time and reduces the risk of content loss due to media obsolescence, staff turnover, or unintentional disposal.
 
This ongoing effort is critical to documenting both the institutional voice and the evolving student experience. The Archives will coordinate annually with relevant administrative departments, communications offices, and student organizations to ensure timely transfer and preservation of:
 

• Rensselaer Catalog (Registrar’s Office)
• Commencement and Convocation programs and audiovisual materials, including recordings, printed programs, honorary degree citations, and related ephemera.
• All campus announcements (memoranda)
• Presidential communications and speeches (including State of the Institute, inaugural addresses, strategic vision statements, and official remarks);
• Communications brochures, publications, campus ephemera, maps
• Town hall meeting recordings and transcripts, both Institute-wide and department-specific when relevant;
• Student publications, including The Polytechnic, newsletters, zines, and other digital publications produced by student organizations;
• Administrative publications and outreach materials, including reports, strategic plans, brochures, admissions materials, and internal newsletters

IV. Acquisition Criteria

Materials are acquired through institutional transfer or donation. The following criteria guide acquisitions:

• Legal compliance and institutional record retention
• Relevance to RPI’s history, academic mission, or research strengths.
• Uniqueness, historical significance, and research value.
• Physical condition and preservation needs.
• Legal and ethical considerations, including donor agreements and copyright.
• The feasibility of providing appropriate care, storage, and access to the materials.

V. Born-Digital and Digitized Collections

The Institute Archives and Special Collections recognizes the increasing importance of born-digital materials in documenting RPI’s history and research activities. These collections include born digital records, websites, audiovisual files, and scanned archival materials. Collectively we consider digital archival content “digital assets.”

*Please note we do not collect and preserve emails or research datasets.

• Appraisal and Selection: Digital materials are appraised based on their historical, administrative, and research value, authenticity, and accessibility. Selection criteria include:
  • Relevance to RPI’s institutional history, faculty research, and student life.
  • Uniqueness and originality of the digital content.
  • Compliance with legal, ethical, and privacy considerations.
  • Viability of long-term preservation and access.
• Acquisition Methods:
  • Institutional Transfers: Digital records from Institute departments, faculty, and research centers are systematically transferred according to the Institute’s record retention schedule.
  • Donations and Partnerships: We may acquire digital materials from alumni, researchers, or external organizations provided the content aligns with the Institute Archives and RPI’s mission.
  • Web Archiving: Institutional websites are selectively captured to document RPI’s evolving digital presence.
• Preservation and Management:
  • Digital preservation follows best practices established by the National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA) incorporating active management and monitoring strategies.
  • Format Sustainability: Digital assets are stored in formats recommended for long-term preservation, including open and widely adopted standards such as PDF/A, TIFF, WAV, and XML.
  • Redundancy and Storage: Multiple redundant copies of digital assets are maintained across geographically separate locations to mitigate risk of data loss due to hardware failure, disasters, or cyber threats.
  • Metadata Standards: Descriptive, administrative, and technical metadata follow established standards such as Dublin Core, METS, MODS, and PREMIS to ensure discoverability and preservation integrity.
  • Periodic Migration and Emulation: Files are routinely checked for format obsolescence, and migration strategies are employed to ensure continued accessibility. When necessary, emulation techniques are explored to render obsolete formats.
  • Access Control and Security: Digital materials are protected through controlled access policies, encryption for sensitive content, and rigorous authentication measures to safeguard data integrity and privacy.
  • Digital Repository and Infrastructure: The Archives employs a secure, scalable repository that supports digital object lifecycle management, version control, and automated integrity checks through checksum validation.
• Access and Use:
  • Born-digital and digitized collections are made accessible through the institutional repository, online exhibits, and digital finding aids.
  • Copyright and privacy concerns are evaluated to determine appropriate access levels.
  • Digitization initiatives: Analog materials of enduring value are digitized to enhance accessibility and preservation. Selection for digitization prioritizes materials at risk of degradation, frequently requested items, and those supporting institutional priorities.
  • Researchers may request digital copies or onsite access to restricted materials following applicable policies.

VI. Materials Not Collected

The Institute Archives and Special Collections collects both analog and digital content as part of the collection scope for RPI. That said, there are certain areas that we refrain from acquiring, as follows:

• Duplicates of materials already held.
• Digital file formats and content not suitable for long-term preservation.
• Mass-Produced Books: The Archives does not collect widely available, commercially published books or textbooks unless they have a direct connection to RPI’s history, faculty research, or institutional legacy. In order to enhance our rare book collection for posterity, we acquire books selectively on a case-by-case basis.
• Personal items or memorabilia without a clear connection to RPI.
• Materials with unclear or disputed provenance.
• Items requiring extensive conservation efforts beyond the department’s capacity.
• Medical records or other PII containing restricted or sensitive information.
• Active records that are still in use by administrative or academic units.
• Social Media Content: The Archives does not actively collect social media content, including personal social media posts, tweets, or transient digital communications, due to challenges in authenticity, long-term preservation, and ethical considerations surrounding privacy and data ownership.
• Below are the areas and resources that we either do not collect or are no longer collecting. Materials we do not accept generally fall into certain categories: a. materials better suited to other repositories b. short-term or active Institute records c. duplicate materials or d. unethical materials.
  • Student files such as: transcripts, registration records, grades, degrees earned, etc.
  • Personnel or Promotion and Tenure Files of employees.
  • Raw research data
  • More than three duplicate copies of most serial publications and other items the archivists categorize as “Institute Publication”
    • As of 2023, we no longer need copies of the Transit yearbook [exceptions].
• Human and animal remains
• Archaeological materials
• Plaques and trophies
• Materials from minors without explicit written consent from a parent and/or legal guardian
• Materials exhibiting mold or exposure to rodents/pests
• Material unrelated to the Institute and alumni/student legacy
• Manuscript materials to which access is restricted in perpetuity or for a period of time deemed by the Institute Archivist to be beyond a reasonable limitation.

VI. Collection Management

• Appraisal and Retention: Regular assessments ensure materials align with collection priorities and retention schedules.
• Preservation and Conservation: Environmental controls, digitization efforts, and conservation practices safeguard materials.
• Access and Use: Materials are made available to researchers in accordance with institutional policies, donor restrictions, and copyright law.

VII. Deaccessioning Policy

The Archives reserves the right to deaccession materials that do not fit within its collecting scope or duplicate existing holdings. Any removal follows best practices, including ethical considerations and consultation with stakeholders (i.e. legal counsel and/or department or portfolio leaders).

Deaccessioning is an essential function and tool of collection development and curation. Material selected to be deaccessioned may be returned to the donor (based on donor agreements), gifted/transferred to a more appropriate repository, or discarded. In identifying materials for deaccessioning (whether organized and described or not) the Archives staff considers the following:

• Does the material in question fall within the scope of our mission, collection development policy and collecting practices?
• Has the material deteriorated in such a way that it cannot be reproduced or is beyond being useful due to its condition?
• Have the materials been subjected to poor environmental conditions, resulting in mold, water damage, fire damage, or show evidence of being exposed to rodents/pests?
• Do any established externally imposed restrictions such as records retention schedules, disposition authorizations, or donor agreements apply to the material?

As part of the commitment to sustaining the collection as a whole, we are at times required to re-appraise and deaccession specific materials according to the Institute’s record retention policy. We acknowledge that it is sometimes necessary to remove duplicate and unstable materials that may impact our ability to preserve and provide access to the collection in its entirety.

VIII. Review and Revision

This policy is reviewed periodically to ensure it remains aligned with RPI’s mission and evolving research and philanthropic needs.