Connecting to Collections Care Online Community

100-75 year old School records

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    • #140525
      Alanna Sablotny
      Participant

      Hi,

      In our collection, we have a grade book, job applications, pension records and other school records from a defuncted school. The grades are from 1902-1920. Some of the other records are from 1920-1960s. We are not sure how we obtained the school records. How should I handle these records? Can I process and accession into our collection? Digitize and put in our digital archive?

      I am new to the archival world and do not have any official training in handling these types of situations.

      Any comments are appreciated.

      Thanks,

    • #140527
      Amanda Malkin
      Participant

      Hi Alanna,

      This is not my specialty, so I am reaching out to a few archives specialists for their recommendations and I will get back to you shortly.

      Amanda

    • #140535
      Amanda Malkin
      Participant

      Hi Alanna,

      To answer your questions, I have a few questions for you to consider. Do you feel that these records would be of value to the general public or your visitors specifically? Processing and accessioning into your collection would be appropriate if they support your institution’s mission and serve your town/county/city. In terms of digitization, if your institution already has an ongoing digitization plan, and you feel the records are valuable, I don’t see a problem digitizing them.

      The experts I reached out to suggested that you also consider contacting archivists in your local region for more specific guidance on value of the records, etc.

      Amanda

    • #140536
      Alanna Sablotny
      Participant

      Thanks Amanda,

      These are local documents that would be helpful for genealogists and local researchers and fall into our mission. We were just concerned about the potential legalities of the digitization when we weren’t sure when and who donated the documents and for the fact that they contain personal information.

      Best,

      Alanna

    • #140537
      Amanda Malkin
      Participant

      Thanks, Alanna,

      The expert referenced FERPA , but also mentioned that it is likely it doesn’t apply here because a) the school is defunct b) The law only came into being in 1974 c) the organization currently holding the records is a third party. However, they believe that these types of Federal permissions don’t apply.

      https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html

      I hope this helps.
      Amanda

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