As a trusted repository of community history, we will engage researchers with our unique collections and encourage cooperative projects to provide our students with life experiences.
Special Collections and University Archives collects, preserves, and promotes the distinctive history of the Northeast Florida Region through collection access, outreach, exhibits, and programming to support scholarship, research and education.
The intention of this policy is to give guidance for future acquisitions for special collections, University archival materials, as well as non-circulating and rare books located in UNF’s Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA). As there is limited space for storage, defining what resources our users need for their research and studies will make better use of the library’s resources. This plan also provides SCUA staff with guidelines for reappraising items and deaccessioning them from the collection, as well as to inform all stakeholders of the principles and standards upon which these decisions were made.
The focus of collecting in SCUA is the NE Florida/SE Georgia region (St. Johns River Basin, as far west as Ocala/Gainesville, First Coast, as far south as St. Augustine, as far north as Jekyll Island in coastal Georgia), with a significant focus on Jacksonville content. Books that support a Special Collection in SCUA (examples: Civil Rights, Black History, and Women’s History) will be considered for the non-circulating collection.
Content of non-circulating books can be textual or visual (photography books are as useful as text in some cases). Books that might be ‘folksy’, quirky, or non-scholarly might contain information of a folkloric nature and will be considered for inclusion. In general, no juvenile or young adult non-fiction is collected; the exception are books about and published by UNF. In general, SCUA keeps only one copy of rare and non-circulating books.
For any book added to the collection, the author must have subject authority, and the book have veracity, accuracy, credibility and be useful to our researchers. The following criteria will be used when determining if new books should be purchased or when reassessing books already within the non-circulating collection in Special Collections.
Books that are determined to be relevant and current but do not fit the SCUA collecting criteria may be moved to the general collection within the Thomas G. Carpenter Library, offered to another institution (note: receiving institution must be a non-profit and any transfer of materials must follow institutional procedures), or otherwise surplused in compliance with State of Florida regulations. Other collection materials are handled on a case-by-case basis and will follow the same disposition process. The Society of American Archivists Core Values Statement and Code of Ethics will be used to guide acquisition and disposition of materials/collections.
SCUA collaborates with other local archivists and librarians, respecting their institutions’ missions and collecting policies. As the majority of the items in UNF’s Special Collections are rare or one-of-a-kind in nature, they are not available for inter-library loan.
Exhibit loans to local institutions are permitted on a case-by-case basis and must be approved by the Head of SCUA. The borrowing institution must be able to insure the item(s) on loan from door-to-door and must provide current Certificates of Insurance. Borrowers must also provide all of the library’s loan documentation along with a facility report, and must ensure handling, transportation, security, storage, and display will fall within accepted industry standards. Item(s) must be returned intact in a timely manner as referenced in the loan documentation. All condition reporting will be conducted by both SCUA and the borrowing institution. Any and all costs for the loan of any object will be borne by the borrowing institution.
SCUA accepts gifts/donations of books, maps, documents, photographs, and other archival materials that fall within the stated selection criteria. The decisions on the disposal of gift items are discretionary and will be made on the authority of the Head of Special Collections. If materials do not meet the stated selection criteria: first, the materials will be returned to the donor whenever possible; second, an appropriate repository for the materials will be located and the materials transferred to them; finally, if there is no other option, the materials will be disposed of in accordance with UNF disposition policy.
Special Collections cannot provide an appraisal or place a value on a proposed gift. The archives will provide to the donor a signed statement acknowledging receipt of the item(s) and any value placed on the item(s) must be determined by the donor. Unsolicited materials left for the archives will be considered unclaimed property and will be dealt with in accordance with Florida Statute 265.565.
More information can be found on the Special Collections and University Archives website and in the Library Gifts of Materials Guidelines.
The collection development policy for UNF's Special Collections & University Archives will be reviewed periodically by the Head of Special Collections and University Archives.
