[Personal_archives] What to do when...

[Amy Furness]

Hello Sarah,

Thanks for initiating this discussion.  One question I would pose:
what do you feel is the best context for the records on offer?  Do
they have archival value, and is the prospective donor's own fonds
potentially of interest to an archival institution?  I think it's good
practice to suggest a more appropriate destination for unwanted
records, whenever possible -- it frames your refusal as a redirection
and maximizes goodwill.  Or, if these are likely the only records
belonging to the donor that are of any archival interest, do you want
to consider accepting them as a "hyphenated collection" (there would
be various approaches to naming this kind of thing), making both the
provenance and the subject interest of the records transparent.  We
have several such beasts in our collections, and even if they sit
imperfectly with archival theory, they are often of high research
value.

I also wonder if it would be more straightforward to be frank with the
donor about the notion of the archival creator's primary authorship in
shaping his own fonds -- I'm not sure I would call that aspect
"privacy", and I'm not sure naming it as such would make things any
easier for the donor to understand.

cheers,
Amy Furness

On Tue, Jun 22, 2010 at 8:02 PM, Sarah Romkey <sarah.romkey at ubc.ca> wrote:
> Hello SISPA members,
>
> At the section meeting in Halifax, we discussed using the listserv more
> often to ask for opinions, advice, etc. So I'm going to get the ball
> rolling!
>
> One of the discussions at the meeting was about what to do when someone
> offers to donate items to another person's fonds. I've just had such an
> offer today. Assuming that you consider this to be undesirable, how do
> other folks handle this?  This is my current draft response to the offer:
>
> "It is very generous of you to think of us, however we do not as a rule
> add documents to a person's or organizations fonds that did not
> originate with the creator or the original donor, for a variety of
> reasons including privacy and the  provenance of the documents. I do
> thank you very much for the offer."
>
> Privacy is an issue in my mind in this case because the records offered
> would reflect an aspect of this particular creator's life that he never
> chose to contribute to his own fonds.
>
> Any thoughts or suggestions? I'd be very happy to hear them.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Sarah
>
> --
> Sarah Romkey
> Archivist
> Rare Books and Special Collections
> University of British Columbia Library
> Irving K. Barber Learning Centre
> 1st Floor, 1961 East Mall Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z1
> 604-822-2232 / sarah.romkey at ubc.ca
>
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