Our team's priorities for collecting and surfacing archives, rare books, and special collections.
Special Collections and Archives houses the UC Irvine Libraries' collections of rare books, manuscripts, archives, photographs, and other rare and special materials. The material accepted for preservation and access must have significant research, documentary, or other value. These priorities build on existing collection strengths, balanced with a strong responsiveness to faculty and researcher needs.
Artists' Books
UCI has extensive holdings of artists’ books that encompass all aspects of the genre dating from the 1960s to the present. The variety ranges from traditional published works to altered, sculptural, painted, and unique books that challenge the form of the codex. We strategically acquire artists' books that support instruction and research, especially titles that build upon collecting priority subject areas (such as performing arts or critical theory.)
We are expanding collecting areas that:
- Engage with contemporary local, national, and international politics
- Works that engage with environmentalism and science
- Works produced in Latin American countries or by Latina/o/x artists
- Works produced in East Asia or by Chinese, Korean, Japanese, or Asian American artists
We are currently seeking:
- Works about or related to Orange County
- Works produced in Southeast Asia or by Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian or other Southeast Asian diasporic artists
Historic focus areas of the collection include:
- Works by and about women
- Gender & sexuality
- Californiana
- Works produced in Cuba and Mexico
We have also collected these areas but are no longer actively seeking this material:
- Letterpress works
- Fine art press
The Critical Theory Archive
The Critical Theory Archive holds the scholarly archives of major figures who have worked in the fields included under the loosely defined rubric of "critical theory." The existence of this collecting area recognizes the key role that scholars at UC Irvine have played in the development of the field since the 1970s and the significance of critical theory and critical thought in UCI's academic programs.
We strive to represent the diverse, international nature of critical thought today. This means looking beyond Europe and North America to the world. We have expanded the scope of collecting to include the work of scholars and organizations that reflect critical theory’s impact on the genesis and expansion of sociopolitical and cultural critique as well as social justice movements.
We are seeking the archives of prominent critical theorists, especially those who have achieved international recognition in their field. We welcome collections of materials documenting the history and impact of critical theory at UC Irvine, including the papers of scholars who have taught or lectured on campus such as Wellek lecturers. We also collect monographs authored by those critical theorists whose papers we hold. Rare books and ephemera related to the impact and influences of major critical theorists are occasionally collected.
We are expanding the following collecting areas:
- postcolonial studies
- feminist theory
- gender studies and queer theory
- ethnic studies
- cultural studies
- critical race theory
- ecocritical theory
Historical focus areas of the collection include:
- critical theory and Marxism
- literary theory
- aesthetics
- structuralism
- reader-response criticism
- deconstructionism
- postmodernism
- pragmatism
Dance and Performing Arts
The Dance & Performing Arts collection represents nearly all modes of dance, including concert dance, social dances, world dance, physical movement and exercise, and contemporary performance art. We sometimes purchase or accept books on dance if the volumes are considered rare or valuable, and thus are not appropriate for the general stacks, with an emphasis on materials that support instruction and undergraduate research, particularly illustrated 18th and 19th century books on dancers.
We are currently seeking works in:
- Modern dance, particularly related to ethnic, youth, and marginalized communities of Orange County and the greater Southern California area (Khmer, Cambodian, Laotian, Vietnamese, Latinx)
- Dance and dance history of Southern California, particularly Orange County
We are expanding collecting areas:
- Archival material related to a major collection strength of fashion and costume history in order to support stage and costume design for the UCI Drama MFA program and dance choreography and photography to support the UCI Dance MFA program
- African American dancers, performers and choreographers influential in the various dance movements of the 20th century as part of a greater effort to support an existing collection strength including prominent figures such as Katherine Dunham, Mildred Davenport, José Limón, Bernard Johnson, and Donald McKayle
Existing areas of the collection we will occasionally collect include:
- Folk and global dance traditions from a wide range of time periods but especially as they convey examples of costume, stage and choreography
- World dance from the early 20th century, particularly as it relates to dance as spiritual expression such as Isodora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn and notable students and performers that passed through the Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts such as Edna Guy, and Denise Humphries, as well as performers who went on to influential careers in silent-era cinema such as Louise Brooks and Lillian Powell
- Early modern dance figures such as Martha Graham, Mary Wigman, Merce Cunningham and their collaborators such as photographers Soichi Sunami and Barbara Morgan
- Classical Ballet and Ballet Russe particularly as it relates to Sergei Diaghilev, Anna Pavlova and their performances in Los Angeles and the Southern California area
Faculty Papers
The University Archives acquires faculty papers selectively while also striving to document the diversity of faculty members' backgrounds, perspectives, and research interests.
Our faculty collecting objectives are shaped by the policies developed by the University of California Archivists Council (UCAC), the Policies for Administration of University of California Archives. We have adapted these policies for UCI below.
By collecting faculty papers, the University Archives strives to document the role, functions, and activities of representative faculty members:
- within the context of the UCI campus
- within the context of UC history
- with respect to current and anticipated national/international research
- with respect to service to community, state, national and/or international organizations
- with respect to underrepresented communities and subject areas
For determining the significance of a faculty member’s body of work, the following criteria are taken into consideration. Is the individual known internationally, nationally, in California, and/or on the UCI campus for any of the following:
- participant in/eyewitness to or commentator on major historical event
- established new area of research
- appointment to cabinet-level office [federal]
- appointment to significant national or international organization [e.g. National Academy of Sciences]
- designation as "fellow" within relevant professional society
- top honor (medal, prize) within relevant professional society
- recipient of significant award [e.g. Field Medal, Nobel, Lasker, Pritzker, Wolf, Kyoto, Pulitzer, Guggenheim, MacArthur, etc.]
- significant patents/inventions
- appointment to/service within significant state/county/municipal office/organization
- UC Presidential Chair [faculty designation]
- emeritus/emerita status
- first to teach subject on campus
- established new curriculum, department, or program on campus
- significant service within campus [department chair, provost, dean]
To strengthen our Faculty Papers collection, we are actively documenting the following:
- Significant contributions to campus services, particularly those impacting students
- Faculty activism on campus, including pay and equity issues
- Continuing to collect papers of faculty who have established new curricula, departments, and/or programs on campus
- Faculty who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or persons of color; undocumented; LGBTQ+; differently-abled who meet any of the Faculty Papers collecting criteria
- In accordance with UCI’s Black Thriving Initiative, faculty who “disseminate knowledge and creative expressions that refute anti-Blackness, promote innovative public policy solutions to structural racism, and yield practical benefits to Black communities locally, regionally and nationally.”
We do not collect the published works or research data of UCI faculty. The Libraries encourages UCI authors to contribute their scholarly output to UC digital repositories (e.g., eScholarship, Dryad). For more information, consult the Department of Digital Scholarship Services.
Orange County History
Founded in 1972, the Orange County Regional History Collection continues to expand in breadth and depth. It documents the cultural, social, political, religious, economic, racial, and environmental history of Orange County from the mission period through the present.
Our goal is to surface the historical records and cultural heritage of Orange County for research, even materials not held by the UCI Libraries. We are actively engaged in and seeking ongoing non-custodial, equitable partnerships to ensure sustained preservation and access to the histories of the region, especially related to social justice and communities under-documented in the historical record.
We are expanding non-custodial partnerships and collecting in the following areas:
- Environmental activism
- Arts organizations and artists’ histories
- LGBTQ+ history
- Open space preservation
- Political issues and movements
- Public health
- Social movements, uprisings, and protests
- Under-documented racial and ethnic communities
- Community development and disruption
- Visual history of the landscape, cities, and communities
- Youth cultures
We are committed to the principles and practice of supporting community centered archives.
Existing areas of the collection we will occasionally collect include:
- Agriculture and ranchos
- City histories
- Irvine Ranch and The Irvine Company
- Disneyland
- Helena Modjeska
- San Juan Capistrano Mission
- Surfing
Political Literature
The political literature collection includes pamphlets, newsletters, zines, and other ephemera documenting political ideologies, activities, advocacy, and movements from the end of the 19th Century through the present.
Most items are in English, published by small and independent presses in the United States related to their respective movements. Material that is scholarly in viewpoint is generally excluded.
We are expanding collecting areas that document:
- Counter-culture and youth movements
- Conspiracy theory and fringe beliefs
- Spiritual and alternative religious movements
We are currently seeking works from or about:
- Black radical underground press
- Radical environmentalism and activism (especially climate change)
- Social and political zines including:
- Perzines (personal zines) especially from marginalized communities, voices or perspectives (LGBTQ+, Latino/x, non-binary identities)
- Music zines (as they relate to either historical or underground youth cultures)
- Alternative and new religious zines (such as witchcraft, neo-paganism)
Existing areas of the collection we regularly collect include:
- Civil rights
- Labor unions and organizations
- The women's movement
- LGBTQ movements and issues
- Sex and gender politics
Historical focus areas of the collection include:
- American radicalism
- The two World Wars and their aftermaths
- The Cold War era including the U.S. House Un-American Activities committee
- The California farm labor movement of the 1960s-1970s,
- U.S. foreign policy
- Communism and socialism
- The Vietnam-American War
Prisons and Society
The Prisons and Society collection reflects UC Irvine’s scholarly and policy impacts on the interrelated fields of justice, law, civil rights, social justice, and prison studies. The collection centers the voices of the incarcerated, formerly incarcerated, and exonerated, with emphasis on prisoner rights, prison administration, and political and social movements serving these communities. Foci include restorative justice, decarceration, and prison litigation and compliance.
This is an evolving collecting area, initiated in 2022. Our collecting prioritizes potential impact on research needs of UCI faculty, staff, and students and emphasizes California and the U.S. West.
The Southeast Asian Archive
Since the end of the Vietnam/American War in 1975 a large number of refugees and immigrants from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam have come to the United States, and especially to California. The UC Irvine Libraries established the Southeast Asian Archive in 1987 in response to the community’s interest in having this history documented, preserved, and made accessible. The Archive's collection is broad and interdisciplinary in documenting the social, cultural, religious, political, and economic life of Americans of Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese origin. Strengths include materials relating to the resettlement of refugees and immigrants in the United States, refugee camp and other experiences of the boat and land refugees, and the development and progress of new ethnic communities. There is a special focus on materials pertaining to Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese Americans in Orange County and California.
Note: The scope of the collection is limited to documenting the diasporic communities from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos including self-identified Khmer, Hmong, Laotian, Yao (Iu Mien) Americans, and ethnic and cultural minorities. We do not typically collect materials about the home countries unless there are clear linkages to the diaspora (e.g. reverse migrations, remittances, and other types of transnational exchanges). We also do not collect materials about all Southeast Asian diaspora (e.g., populations from Brunei, Burma/Myanmar, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand). *Histories of these communities in our region are always welcome in the Orange County collection.
Holdings are in English and Southeast Asian languages, and include books, periodicals, refugee orientation publications, government documents, reports and surveys, newspaper clippings, video and audio recordings, personal and family papers, organizational records, oral histories, posters, photographs, ephemera, works of art, some artifacts, and dissertations and theses.
To develop our archival and monographic holdings, we are actively trying to document the following topics related to the diasporic communities of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. These are the current collecting priorities:
- Refugee and immigrant resettlement experiences
- Refugee camps
- Visual arts and film
- Performing arts (music, dance)
- Politics, leadership, and activism
- Social service providers
- Health (including mental health) services
- Education
- Business and development
- Literature
- 1.5 generation and beyond
- Cross-cultural interaction, including Amerasian experiences
University Archives
The University Archives preserves UCI's historically significant records, as defined by the University of California, Irvine Administrative Policies and Procedures, Section 721-12: Archives Policy. Beginning with the founding of UCI in 1965, the University Archives holds materials that document the planning and growth of the campus, the development and administration of academic and administrative programs and services, faculty concerns, student life, and community relations.
The University Archives acquires departmental records that are inactive, and designated for archives review by the UC Records Retention Schedule. The University Archives does not collect all university records, but aims instead to acquire only records documenting the university's decisions-making processes, significant events, projects, and individuals, and essential cultural history. Approximately 1-5% of records created and received by UC Irvine should be transferred to the University Archives. One copy of all UCI published materials should come to the University Archives.
Our collecting priorities for core administrative records are shaped by the University of California Archivists Council (UCAC) joint Policies for Administration of University of California Archives. The records we actively collect include:
Administrative Records
- University Administrators, including Chancellor’s Office, Vice-Chancellors, Provosts, and Deans (including correspondence, organization charts, minutes of meetings, annual reports, calendars)
- Facilities and Planning (planning documents; "as-built" drawings)
- Academic Senate (including educational planning committee)
- Contracts and Grants (annual reports)
- Registrar (Note: vital records not necessarily retained in University Archives)
- Accreditation documentation
- Founding and incorporation documents
Non-administrative Records
- Associated Students (bylaws, minutes, founding documents)
- Student organizations with a substantial impact on campus
- Bio-bibliographies and curriculum vitae of faculty
Publications
- Catalogs
- Directories
- Student newspaper
- Yearbooks
- Personnel manuals
- Faculty and staff handbooks
- Administrative websites
Non-textual materials
- Photographs
- Audiovisual recordings
- Campus maps
To strengthen our University Archives holdings, we are actively documenting the following:
- Student organization records that document the creation of the group, significant events, and activities
- Student publications in all formats, including zines produced by student organizations or as part of UCI coursework
- Student life and campus culture, including events, performances, and social life
- Student led activism, documenting on and off campus events, protests, marches, impromptu performances
- Staff-led student service units, such as disability services, mental health, cultural centers and services, undocumented student services, LGBTQ+ student services, student retention and first generation student services
- Staff, students, and alumni-led initiatives from people who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or persons of color; undocumented; LGBTQ+; differently-abled
- In accordance with the UCI Black Thriving Initiative, documentation of UCI staff, students, and/or campus initiatives which “disseminate knowledge and creative expressions that refute anti-Blackness, promote innovative public policy solutions to structural racism, and yield practical benefits to Black communities locally, regionally and nationally.”
- Continuing to document the vision and impact of senior leadership, including UCI Chancellors and Vice Chancellors
- Acquiring records from academic Deans and Department Chairs to document the significant activities, decisions, individuals, curricula, and teaching of each school
- Records from all campus communications units, including photographs, audiovisual content, press releases, research files, web-based content (i.e. websites), etc.
Last updated: May 7, 2024. aey
How we accept and consider materials.
Scope of Donations
Donations of rare or unique material of enduring historical value are evaluated by Special Collections & Archives based on the Collection Development Strategy, informed by our Mission, Vision, and Values. Potential donations are considered and appraised for their administrative, evidential, or historical value by curators and librarians as designated in the Collection Development Strategy.
Refusal of Donations
UCI Libraries and Special Collections & Archives may refuse potential gifts for a variety of reasons, generally including but not limited to:
- Out of scope of the Collection Development Strategy;
- Physical and/or digital space are not available to accommodate the extent and/or format(s) of the collection;
- Collection material is not unique and is available in other repositories;
- Materials have been damaged by mold, insects, pests or other preservation concerns;
- Restrictive conditions of use have been requested by the donor;
- The donor is unable to provide sufficient or satisfactory provenance information; and/or
- Photocopied and/or reformatted material for which original material exists elsewhere.
Collection Acquisition
Collection donations are accepted as gifts-in-kind by the Head of Special Collections & Archives and University Archivist on behalf of the Regents of the University of California, designated by way of the University Librarian and Associate University Librarian for Research Resources. No departmental funds are specifically designated for the purchase of archival collections. Philanthropic support for acquisition, processing, digitization and other expenses associated with collection development are greatly appreciated and encouraged. Accepted collections are the property of the Regents of the University of California and managed by UCI Libraries’ Department of Special Collections and Archives.
Deeds of Gift and University Record Transfers
New collections require a Deed of Gift, signed by the University Librarian and the donor. The elements of the Deed of Gift include the identification of the donor, definition of the terms of the transfer of ownership including intellectual and physical property rights, delineation of any access restrictions, a content summary, and conditions for separation of materials from the collection.
All transfers of university records require a University Archives Transfer Form signed by the unit representative and the Head of Special Collections & Archives and University Archivist. Materials created by UCI students require completion of a Gift Agreement, License, and Waiver Form for Student Materials.
Collections on Deposit and Unsolicited Gifts
Collections on “deposit” or “long-term loan” are not accepted. Unsolicited gift materials mailed or dropped off to Special Collections & Archives without consultation with departmental staff are subject to disposal.
Unacceptable Formats
Due to space limitations, preservation and/or conservation concerns, and relatively lower priority as archival research materials, items in frames, plaques, and/or awards in general are not accepted. Very large items, textiles, and/or objects best suited for a museum may not be accepted.
Digital formats are continuously changing and have unique, ephemeral qualities that make preservation and access challenging without specialized software, hardware, and/or computational methods. The following formats are currently not accepted: CAD files; databases; mobile phone data and applications; software files; and/or Syquest cartridges.
Collection Appraisal and Tax Deductions
The determination of a gift’s monetary value and the related possibility of a tax deduction is the sole responsibility of the donor. Special Collections & Archives staff cannot give tax advice, nor are they permitted to appraise the monetary value of a collection.
Questions regarding acknowledgement for gifts-in-kind may be directed to the UCI Libraries Development Office.
Last updated: January 18, 2024. aey
This policy was modeled on the University of Baltimore Special Collections and Archives Acquisitions Policy (https://library.ubalt.edu/special-collections/policies/acquisitions.cfm).
Our collaborative approach to stewarding archives.
Our goal is to surface historical records and cultural heritage for research, even materials not held by the UCI Libraries. We are actively engaged in and seeking ongoing non-custodial, equitable partnerships to ensure sustained preservation and access to the histories of the region, especially related to social justice and communities under-documented in the historical record. We describe this work as community-centered archives practice.
Our Principles
Community-centered archives come into being through collaborative partnerships between mainstream archival institutions and communities that are underrepresented in the historical record. The goal is to empower communities in the process of telling and preserving their own histories. In a community-centered archive partnership, archival institutions like the UCI Libraries Special Collections & Archives, Orange County & Southeast Asian Archive Center are:
- Collaborative through shared authority
- In a community-centered approach, the institution focuses on shared authority, making decisions together and respecting the value, expertise, and perspective brought to the partnership by the community.
- Attentive to inequities reflected in archives
- An institution should seek to understand how communities have been misrepresented, absent, or maligned in historical documentation.
- Responsive to the community’s needs
- An institution must be flexible, adaptable, and take an iterative and ethical approach to responding to how community memory and evidence is preserved, described, and made accessible. This means being willing to bend and stretch how archival work is defined to reflect what matters to the community.
- Engaged with the divergent priorities of communities
- Community-institution partnerships must vary depending on the needs of each community, from the level of involvement by specific contributors to decisions about what archival material to collect.
How it Works
Pursuing a community-based archives initiative is beneficial for both a university archives/special collections library like UC Irvine Libraries and community-based organizations (CBOs). A partnership allows for the acknowledgment and the preservation of labor and activism that mainstream history overlooks, involves students in the process of learning and recordkeeping, and respects the stated needs of communities.
Before entering a partnership, we meet with community-based organizations to work on a planning process. Together, we shape a project that speaks to the vision and desired outcomes of the organization related to archival documentation. Projects might include: oral histories, archival inventory and rehousing, digitization, exhibit curation, archival collecting, and/or lesson plan or educational resource development. We explicate the resources available for the partnership, including: student employees, staff time and expertise, supplies and equipment, and compensation and/or honoraria. Additionally, we come to an agreement about the timeframe for the project, as well as clearly articulated roles and responsibilities for each partner that illustrate everyone commits to the success of the project.
We trust in a community’s expertise and lived experience as the impetus for building impactful community-centered archives.