Navigating Ambiguous Waters: Providing Access to Student Records in the University Archives

Because privacy laws heavily restrict access to student records, archivists are forced to weigh the research potential of these documents against their availability. At the center of this issue is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which protects individual student records from unauthorized third-party review. In 2003, the authors conducted a survey of one hundred Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Archives in the United States to gauge FERPA‟s impact on current archival appraisal and access policies for student records. Based on their survey findings, the authors suggest guidelines for instituting access policies that comply with FERPA and allow for the greatest possible access

Data Curation and the University Archives

Data curation—the active and ongoing management of data through its life cycle—is a concern for researchers. As caretakers, it would seem natural that the university archivist and the university archives have a role in the data curation process. This article addresses the authors' research project to determine the level of involvement of archives and archivists in data curation. The results are contextualized within archival theory and practice, and the authors suggest additional steps that should be taken if the profession is to have a role in data curation.Introduction -- Defining data curation -- Survey setup -- Survey results -- Discussion and implications of study -- Further considerations of curating data -- Conclusions -- Appendix I: Initial survey instrument -- Appendix II: Follow-up surveyPublisher allows immediate open acces

Selling the College and University Archives: Current Outreach Perspectives

In order to remain a viable part of their institutions, college and university archivists must promote their collections and services to their constituencies on and off campus. How should this be done? How do archivists reach faculty, students, administrators, and staff? This article focuses on eight college and university archivists and describes the outreach programs they have used, what successes and failures they have experienced, and why they believe outreach is essential. The author concludes that outreach must be central to what all archivists do, even at the expense of other archival functions, because it can solidify the archives' position within the college and university community