The Duke University Archives (DUA) is the official repository for records of Duke University. In this capacity, it identifies and preserves administrative, fiscal, historical and legal records that have enduring value for the Duke community and makes those records available in accordance with policies approved by the university's administration, board of trustees and faculty. Final selection of materials is at the discretion of the University Archivist.
The following list is an overview of the types of materials the DUA collects. Within each record group, there may be a range of formats, including paper documents, electronic records, time-based media, web-based content, or photographic material. The University Archives collects only records that are deemed to be of permanent value and no longer actively used.
- Board of Trustees records
- Senior Administrators’ records
- President and Vice Presidents
- Provost and Vice Provosts
- Deans/Assoc. Deans
- Officers of the University
- Committees and task forces convened by senior administrators
- Academic Departments’ records
- Departments, Colleges, Schools, Programs
- Councils and governing bodies
- Records of other offices and units, including (but not limited to) those that report to the Provost and Executive Vice President. Examples include
- Athletics
- Duke Chapel
- Sarah P. Duke Gardens
- Nasher Museum
- Libraries
- Records of academic centers (interdisciplinary and research)
- Records of Duke hosted partnerships
- Duke publications
- Student
- Administrative
- Professional/scholarly
- Selected faculty papers
- Selected if the individual had a substantial administrative role, university interest, or university impact that is reflected in the papers, and/or if the individual had a research area closely related to Rubenstein holdings
- Collection of faculty papers is done in coordination with other Rubenstein Library collection development staff
- Theses and dissertations
- Records of faculty, staff, and alumni organizations
- Student organizations’ records
- Selected photographic materials, sound recordings, and motion picture recordings created by the University or University affiliates
- Realia: sparingly selected to demonstrate Duke history and activities
- Alumni papers, if they contain substantial information about alumnus’s student experience at Duke University
- Selected secondary sources and publications with substantial content about Duke
- Website and Social Media Collecting Policy
Out of Purview for the Duke University Archives
- School of Medicine (responsibility of the Medical Center Archives)
- School of Nursing (responsibility of the Medical Center Archives)
- Duke University Health System (responsibility of the Medical Center Archives)
- Duke Kunshan University records (responsibility of DKU). However, UA will collect records created by Duke University administrators related to DKU.
- Most scholarly output by faculty and students (with exception of theses and dissertations, these are often collected by the Duke University Libraries)
- Most research data (information about archiving research data is available from the Center for Data and Visualization Services)
- Duke family papers (responsibility of Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library)
- Most alumni collections (with exception of those substantially documenting student experience at Duke). These may be considered for inclusion in the general Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
- Materials that contain only a tangential relationship to Duke. Materials not related to Duke, including those that focus on Durham, NC, may be considered for inclusion in the general Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
- Due to university and federal restrictions, UA avoids collecting human resources or student records protected by FERPA. Those that are retained for historical reasons are redacted or heavily restricted.
