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Archives

Introduction

The Archives of the City University of New York Graduate School and University Center consists of reports, correspondence, pamphlets, books, periodicals, other publications and other materials documenting or otherwise related to its history and operations. They are currently arranged in ten record groups or series as listed below, and are located in the Library's Special Collections room, C-196.04, on the Concourse level.

  1. A basic subject file (“Subjects")
  2. Centers and Institutes
  3. Periodicals
  4. Committee Records
    1. Presidents' Files — Rees
    2. Presidents' Files — Proshansky
    3. Presidents' Files — Horowitz
  6. Vice President for Finance and Administration
  7. CUNY
  8. Doctoral Students Council (DSC)

Other record groups will be added as they become available.

Arrangement

The record groups are shelved in this order. Within each record group material is generally placed in archival folders, which are stored in archival boxes. The folders bear titles describing their contents, and the boxes are labeled with the titles of the folders they contain. The boxes as well as the folders within them are usually in alphabetical order. Material within each folder is usually filed in reverse chronological order, i.e., with the latest item in front. As a rule only one copy of each item has been retained – usually the most nearly complete and best preserved. Bound books and oversized materials are shelved, to the extent possible, adjacent to the boxes of the record group to which they pertain. Subject titles of folders are usually in the natural word order (not inverted) (e.g., Ralph Bunche Institute on the United Nations, not Bunche, Ralph, Institute…).

There are separate guides for each record group, and there is a separate introduction (V) to the Presidents’ Files. The guides list the titles of all folders in the group, generally along with summaries of their contents, explanatory notes, and cross-references, all designed to maximize the usefulness of the files and to facilitate the retrieval of desired information from them. There is considerable overlapping among the groups: topics treated by a given committee may appear in other documents in the Subjects group or again in a president’s papers. While cross-references are used extensively within a given record group they are very rarely employed to lead from one record group to another.

Using Materials in the Archives

All the record groups have been completely processed and are available for information retrieval, except the Doctoral Students Council’s papers (VIII), which have been transferred to the Archives but not yet processed. Additions to any of the other record groups are processed as soon as possible after receipt, and the respective guides are updated concurrently.

Users wishing to access material in the Archives should first consult the guide(s) for the appropriate record group(s). The guides may be found in

http://library.gc.cuny.edu/collections/archives.html

Use of the Archives must be arranged in advance, and permission of the Chief Librarian is required. If permission is granted, prospective users should telephone the archivist, Dr. John Rothman, at 212-817-7076, for an appointment. Dr. Rothman is at the Graduate Center usually on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 9:15 am to 4:15 pm.

Because the materials in the Archives are unique and quite fragile, access is permitted only under the following procedures:

  1. The Archivist will retrieve requested materials from the shelves (no more than one box at a time) and will provide folders from a box to the user, for his/her perusal, one at a time. Users may not enter the stacks to remove materials.
  2. The Archivist must be present while a user is working with the files, and will return folders to the box and the box to the stacks when the user if finished.
  3. Users must handle papers with care and make sure that they are returned to the folder in the original order.
  4. Notes may be taken in pencil only. Ink and colored markers are prohibited.
  5. The Archivist will be available for consultation with the user and will accept requests for photocopies of a reasonable number of pages. There are no facilities for self-service photocopying.

Copyright

If a user wishes to quote an entire document or a portion of a document that exceeds fair use limitations, permission to do so must be obtained in advance by a written request to the Archivist. If the document is copyrighted, clearance must be obtained from the copyright holder. In any event, credit must be given to the GSUC Archives by some phrase of acknowledgment such as "Courtesy of the Graduate School and University Center Archives."

Records Retention (to be added)

Last Updated: 04/21/08