Donating Private Records

1. To document the wider University community and the academic and cultural heritage of the institution.   These records include the private papers of groups such as the Faculty Association, the Students’ Union, social clubs, and the personal papers of prominent faculty, staff, and students.
2. To support teaching and research at the University of Calgary by acquiring private records to build a research collection that supports the goals of the Academic Plan.  The Archives has acquired a significant volume of papers relating to western Canadian political parties and politicians, including the Reform Party of Canada, the Western Canada Concept Party, Preston Manning, Ernest Manning, William Aberhart, Tom Flanagan, and others.

Scope of Private Records Collected

The Archives' aim is to build a private records collection which somewhat mirrors the campus community, with donations from a variety of faculties, departments and disciplines, as well as from student and staff groups.  In order for the records to be of interest to researchers and worthwhile preserving, however, they must have both breadth and depth.  That is, the records should represent the full range of the individual's or group's activities over a significant period of time.  The records the Archives acquires are made available to researchers, and consequently the Archives prefers to acquire records with few access restrictions and with copyright assigned to the University of Calgary at the time of donation. 

Gifts in Kind Tax Receipts

In return for donating their records to the University Archives, donors may receive a tax receipt for the appraised value of the gift.  The Archives arranges and pays for such appraisals to be completed by experienced appraisers once the records have been accepted into our collection and a gift agreement has been signed by the donor. 

Typically, records of established academics with exemplary accomplishments are likely to be of interest to the Archives for possible donation.  If you would like the Archives to consider your private records for acquisition into its private records collection, please contact Lisa Atkinson to arrange for a meeting.