The Archive and Special Collections Department acquires materials created by Hood College administrative offices, and its faculty, staff, students, and alumni, to capture the institutional memory of the College, as well as its unique character, history, and community, for future use and research. The archive actively collects papers, memorabilia, publications, departmental records, and objects related to Hood College, for both the archive and the Hood College Museum. The department also seeks to collect materials that link the College to the greater Frederick community.
The Records Retention Policy dated May 13, 2010, approved by the President and Senior Staff, instructs all offices on campus to transfer to the college archives those materials that are "important to the operation of and history of the institution".
Records documenting the College's decision-making processes, evolutions of programs and processes, accreditation efforts, compliance, and other efforts or initiatives are of enduring value and should be transferred to the archive at the end of their retention schedule lifespan. Records requiring access restriction will be handled accordingly.
The Department adds collections via ingestion from Hood College departments and from donations or gifts. The Department does not have funds for purchasing collections and therefore will not consider doing so under ordinary circumstances.
Date approved: 10/15/23
The Department reviews potential gifts and donations using established criteria, including but not limited to collections scope, physical space considerations, redundancy, acceptable physical condition, current and projected financial and staff resources to meet standards of conservation and preservation, and access restrictions. The department considers offered gifts that fall outside the collection scope only under extraordinary circumstances for acquisition.
Access restrictions requested or required by a donor are considered carefully against researcher needs and available resources. The Department will work with external donors to set donor-desired access restrictions, but it will not accept gifts with unreasonable restrictions attached. Please note that some college records require restrictions due to confidentiality, privacy, and federal regulations.
The Archivist and Library Director hold the authority to accept or deny gifts to the Archive and Special Collections Department. On occasion, the Office of Institutional Advancement (OIA) accepts objects from alumni for the Department without prior consultation. OIA will consult the Archivist or Library Director before accepting major gifts on behalf of the Archive or Museum.
Individuals offering a gift to the Department sign a contract (Deed of Gift) that passes unrestricted legal rights to Hood College and the Archive and Special Collections Department. This includes the right of disposition if deemed appropriate in the future by the Archivist and Library Director. Special arrangements regarding potential future disposition of a gift are negotiated at the time of acceptance. The Department will not accept gifts without the transfer of ownership rights to the College, but it acknowledges that copyright is retained by the creator of the materials according to U.S. copyright law. The OIA acknowledges gifts coming through their office with an acknowledgement letter. For large donations to the OIA, the Department may require a Deed of Gift as well. Written intention, by letter, email, or deed of gift must be obtained from the donor, per Maryland Senate Bill 88, 2020.
The Department may provide names of alternative repositories to potential donors if the offered gift(s) fall outside the collecting scope of the institution. The College does not compete for collections better suited for other repositories. The Department may consider entering into a cooperative collection agreement with other repositories if the agreement works towards the College's mission and provides collections with the best conditions.
Gifts dependent upon electronic platforms for access are reviewed carefully prior to accession. The department reserves the right to deny materials stored on obsolete formats, or formats that may cause undue financial strain to obtain and ensure access to the intellectual content.
The Department will not accept gifts if there is reason to doubt an object or collection's authenticity, or the donor's right to convey ownership to the College. The Department will not accept gifts of culturally significant objects under normal circumstances, especially those created by or associated with indigenous peoples.
In accordance with professional practice, the archivist and other library staff members will not provide a monetary appraisal of any gift offered.
Date approved: 10/15/2023
Archival appraisal of records, manuscripts, and objects must consider the following:
Significance to the College
Significance to current and potential users and researchers
Uniqueness and importance of information
Evidential, informational, and artifactual value
Cost of preserving and/or conserving materials
Storage, human resource, and access cost
Redundancy
Documentation/method of obtaining the records, manuscripts, or objects
Archival appraisal may take place at the time of accession, during processing, or as part of an archival appraisal audit.
Archivists are prohibited from providing financial appraisal of collections; all prospective donors requiring monetary appraisals must hire a 3rd party appraiser or appraisal firm.
Date approved: 10/15/2023
Date last updated: 06/18/2024
By nature, archive and special collections contain unique primary source materials. A key component of the Department's mission is to provide researchers with access to the records and materials it holds. The Department will make every reasonable effort to provide access to its materials. However, because the department collects documents from college departments, access to some materials is, by nature, restricted. Materials are restricted according to institutional mandate, federal law (such as FERPA, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act), or donor stipulation. Some restrictions are not permanent; the department periodically evaluates restricted material to ensure that temporary restrictions are lifted when no longer required.
The department is open from 8:30-4:30 on weekdays. Appointments are strongly preferred, as it gives the archivist the opportunity to prepare for researcher needs. A research request form is available on the library website (http://hood.libguides.com/spcollections). The archivist can also be reached by phone (301-696-3933) or via email, at atwell@hood.edu.
Researchers must comply with Reading Room policies and procedures. The Archivist reserves the right to refuse access to a researcher who has demonstrated carelessness or deliberate destructive behaviors, including the failure to abide by department policies.
The Archivist may provide reproductions of materials or give permission for researchers to reproduce materials according to staff resources and material condition. Services include photocopying, scanning, and photography.
When the archivist is off-campus, materials will not be available unless researchers make prior arrangements with the archivist and supervision is performed by other library staff.
Date approved: 10/15/2023
The decision to deaccession materials and collections is made upon consideration of the following factors, as determined during appraisal or reappraisal:
How relevant the item(s) are to the departmental and college missions
The ability of the college to conserve and preserve the item(s) according to accepted archival standards
The uniqueness of the item(s) within a collection and outside the archive
The ability of the department to access documents in the case of obsolete audio/visual materials
Infestation of insects, mold, or similar conditions that threaten other collections within the Archive and cannot be remediated with reasonable expense
The way the item was acquired by the college, and record of acquisition
Prior to deaccession, issues of ownership and donation is researched thoroughly; however, it must be noted that the accessions of many collections and items in the Archive were not documented; the origin and circumstances may not be determined for some collections. A risk assessment is performed before the deaccession of items with unknown origin and/or without documentation of legal transfer.
Deaccessioned materials will be subject to disposal, gifted to other institutions, or returned to donors per Deed of Gift stipulations. Deaccessions are not sold unless the manner of acquisition was by purchase or in cases where selling is stipulated by the donor. Funds from the sale of items will be returned to the library budget for departmental use.
Date approved: 10/15/23
The researcher is responsible for abiding by copyright law and following regulations when using or copying materials held by the Hood College Archive and Special Collections.
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) allows libraries and archives, under certain conditions, to provide photocopies or other reproduction of held materials. One of these conditions is that the material is copied under "fair use". Fair use pertains to the use of materials for private study, scholarship, and research. Uses that exceed allowable uses under the definition of "fair use" require the user to obtain copyright permission from the creator. The Department reserves the right to deny reproduction of materials if fulfilling the order is judged to be in violation of copyright law.
Citations should include:
Collection Title
Container number, folder number/name
Institution (Hood College Archive and Special Collections, Hood College)
City and State (Frederick, MD)
When permission is granted by Hood College for the reproduction of materials to which the College owns copyright, the following citation must be used:
"Courtesy of the Hood College Archive and Special Collections, Frederick, MD"
Date approved: 10/15/23
The Department may loan materials to other non-profit historical or academic institutions, or other areas on campus. Loans are made for exhibiting and scholarly research.
The College Archivist, under the direction of the Library Director, has the authority to lend items and set loan conditions.
On-Campus Loans:
Before agreement, Items loaned for decorative purposes to other Hood College departments will be reviewed for purpose, duration, physical environment, security risk, and general oversight.
On-campus loans are documented through paperwork, and an annual site audit is performed for all items loaned for periods longer than 1 year.
Off-Campus Loans:
Off-campus loans are made to non-profit historical or academic institutions, preferably to institutions located in Frederick County, MD. The Department will not make loans with individuals.
The loan agreement is a signed document by both parties, which provides the following information:
Responsible party and contact information, at the borrowing institution
Insurance
Full description of purpose, intended use, and housing/handling procedures
Loan period
Security
Entrance fees
Publications (and any fees procured from publications)
Packing and transportation
Attribution to Hood College
Condition report upon receipt of loaned items
Extensions of loans are provided at the discretion of the archivist or library director and documented with an addendum to the original loan agreement. Standards of care of all loaned materials must meet accepted standards of conservation and preservation per the museum and archival professions.
Date approved: 10/15/23