Donate to our Collections

Historical records are those materials which are no longer used in day-to-day business. Historical records would include correspondence, photographs, meeting minutes, internal publications, annual reports, daybooks, oral history recordings, committee reports, scrapbooks, promotional, social, and educational materials, or ledger-books. In documenting history, the napkin that an idea was first drawn up on is just as important as the final product. Alone these materials may not mean much, but when placed within the context of a collection the items tell the organization's story. Unless an organization has disbanded, some materials should remain with the institution: deeds, charters, award citations, legal agreements, special photos. Donors are encouraged to make a copy of any materials they may frequently need to reference.

There are lots of reasons to donate!

• Your documents, books, and are carefully preserved and organized by professionals
• The SCA provides a safe, temperature and humidity-controlled facility
• Collections are organized and made accessible for future generations
• Researchers from all over the world can locate the permanent home for the materials you donated
• You no longer need to worry about keeping the items safe from fire, a flood-prone basement, or simply losing them
• Donating collections frees up space in your home

There is no cost to donate your items, and collections donated to the SCA are cared for and organized by our professional staff as part of our regular operations. However, because we put many hours into the processing of the materials and many dollars into storing them, in return we ask that the property rights be given to the SCA. This is done through a deed of gift agreement at the time of donation. Like any non-profit organization, the SCA always welcomes monetary donations of any amount from both organizations and individuals to help care for the collections over the long-term. Contact us for more information.

Once we pick up the collection, we take special care to document what you've given us. We will then store it in our temperature controlled facility until we are able to fully process it. Staff size and the number of other collections awaiting processing can affect the time it takes before we are able to get to your collection.

Processing a collection involves removing all metal pieces (staples, paperclips), cleaning dirty or moldy papers, organizing the documents, putting them in acid-free folders, labeling the boxes and folders, and finally, creating an inventory. Along the way, we will communicate with you about any items we many not want or need. This may take a long time depending upon the size and condition of the collection.

In short, archiving takes patience. But the payoff is a fully organized collection that is preserved for future generations of researchers.

We will send you the completed inventory when we have finished your collection and then will officially open it for researchers.

It depends. For archives and manuscript collections it is our job to organize documents as close to their original order as possible. This is largely based on the order, however loose, that you have already created. We will look closely for misfiled items and put them with the appropriate documents; meaning that you should not feel like you must comb through and label all your papers before they come to us. That is our job!

However, some donors feel that their materials are too chaotic for someone else to understand. We do our best to adhere to the original organizational method used, so it certainly doesn't hurt to try to give some order to your documents, but it is not necessary--it is our job as archivists to make sense of it.

Don't feel like you need to start, or even finalize a scrapbook for your organization before donating pictures and newspaper clippings. The most important thing is to be sure pictures are labeled with important names, dates, and events. Although scrapbooks are an important part our collections and give your organization additional personality, they are often difficult to store and were created on paper that deteriorates easily. In short, if you're feeling creative, go for it! If not, don't fret. Either way, just be sure to tell us why the pictures are important, but do not feel as if they must be perfectly organized in a book. For books or other publications, it is helpful to compile and include title lists and acquisition information with your donation.

That is an option that you may choose, but we are happy to pick the items up or, in some cases, have the items shipped. We will work with you to determine the best course of action based on your needs and what suits the collection best.

Unfortunately, no. Unless special arrangements were made in the deed of gift agreement items cannot leave the Regional History Center after they have been donated. After great time and expenses are spent to process the collection, we ask that the property rights belong to the Regional History Center. All your donation is important to us, and it is also important that the complete collection be available to researchers.

Special arrangements can be made with donors if an item is needed by the organization. We are able to loan materials back to the donor for a specified length of time. If you believe you might regularly need a document for future use, be sure to make copies for yourself. We would also be happy to provide a photocopy of a document upon request for donors.

If you are concerned about your privacy regarding specific documents discuss it with us. We want to do everything we can to be sure you are comfortable with your donation.

It is possible to restrict access to parts of the collection, but the SCA discourages this because of the significant investment it makes in processing and housing the collection. If some materials are so sensitive, they must be completely restricted, we prefer they remain with the donor. But again, we would be happy to help you sort all of this out - just ask!

We agree with you that scanning offers a good way to make collection materials available for research and provide widespread access. However, the cost of scanning is very high, and the task is incredibly time consuming. The SCA works with partners across the library, campus, and community on digitization projects, but all decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. As such, the SCA will not automatically agree to digitizing incoming collections as part of the donation agreement.

When a collection is brought into the SCA a formal legal deed of gift agreement is signed. This document carefully spells out the rights and responsibilities of both the donor and the SCA. The SCA is a fully integrated function of Northern Illinois University Libraries and meets all national special collections and archival standards in professional staff, facilities, and operations.

The SCA is located in Founders Memorial Library, which provides 24-hour security. The storage facility for the materials is temperature and humidity controlled and provides a security cabinet for restricted materials. Also, the Center does not allow patrons to remove anything from the reading room: all materials are paged and photocopied by staff for the researchers.

Yes, of course! Call or email to set up an appointment.

Call or email Brad Wiles, Head of the Special Collections and Archives Department, for items related to the RHCUA collections. Please contact Rare Books Librarian, Beth McGowan, to discuss items that you would like us to consider as gifts for the RBSC holdings. She can be reached at (815) 753-9838 or rbsc@niu.edu. If you need documentation for tax purposes, please notify the SCA personnel during the initial contact as our records policy has changed as of September 1, 2017. In all cases, your donation is tax-deductible.