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NVC Archives

The Northwest Vista College (NVC) Archives serves the information and research needs of the administration, faculty, staff, students and community of San Antonio. We acquire and preserve archival material that will provide evidence, accountability and history of Northwest Vista College. 

Mission & Vision 

  • Arrange and describe holdings according to archival standards and best practices  

  • Provide regular reference service to students, faculty, staff, administrators and the public interested in using primary source materials  

  • Provide environmentally-sound storage conditions for holdings 

  • Provide a richer educational experience by working with educators to use primary source materials in their classes  

  • Offer educational and outreach programs to increase public awareness and appreciation of the history of Northwest Vista College 

Community Statement 

NVC strives to be a community that is open to all individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, size, veteran status, disability, political affiliation, sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. We value and appreciate the differences that our community represents.  

Selection Guidelines 

The NVC Archives' collections are non-circulating and available for research by appointment only.  

The Archives collects historical materials that help tell Northwest Vista College’s story and document the people, places, and events that contribute to that story. These items include (but are not limited to):  

  • Student life: records of student activities on campus such as correspondences, scrapbooks, photographs, and programs, administrative records, programming and outreach files, memorabilia, and much more.  

  • Publications: publications in which the College is described or mentioned or which provide background for the history of the College. Materials collected by people or organizations not connected with the university but which document the intellectual, cultural, administrative, and social life of the College.  

  • Distinguished faculty, staff, alumni personal and professional materials: The Archives collects materials from faculty, staff, and alumni who made major contributions to their discipline and/or to the College. These collections often contain personal and professional correspondence, diaries, journals, biographical material, records of committees, literary manuscripts, speeches, lecture notes, syllabi, photographs, audio-visual materials, electronic and born digital records, among other items.  

  • Organizational records: The Archives collects records created by students, faculty, staff, and alumni organizations. In addition, the Archives may collect records created by organizations whose members are affiliated with the College in some way through work, study, or general interest.  

  • Oral Histories: Oral History Program includes interviews with campus and community individuals, with students who attended Northwest Vista College, and “campus life-histories” with long-time Northwest Vista College staff and faculty. 

Acquisitions 

Responsible Collecting 

When choosing whether or not to accept materials, NVC Archives will consider the constraints of available storage space, the ability to process material within a reasonable amount of time, and ability to provide for the care and preservation of, and access to, the material. We should not accept collections that are too costly overall to acquire or manage. The Archives may choose not to accept collections which require significant research and arrangement before they can be made useful. Sampling and weeding may be used to selectively acquire a manageable quantity of materials. 

What We Don’t Collect  

Below are the areas and resources that we either do not collect or are no longer collecting. Materials we do not accept generally fall into three broad categories: materials better suited to other repositories, short-term or active records, and materials duplicative of our current holdings. On occasion, there may be types of electronic records or born digital content that we are unable to accept. Please consult with NVC Archives staff prior to donating.  

  • Student files such as: transcripts, registration records, grades, degrees earned, etc. (Office of the Registrar)  

  • Personnel files of employees (Office of Human Resources)  

  • State records that have not yet met their disposition according to their approved records schedule  for short-term and/or inactive storage (State Records Center)  

  • More than three duplicate copies of most serial publications and other items (determined on a case by case basis).  

  • Large items that are better suited for museum displays  

  • Materials exhibiting mold or exposure to rodents/pests  

  • Severely damaged or extremely fragile items  

  • Material unrelated to the College outside of our collecting areas  

Deaccessions 

Deaccessioning is an essential function and tool of collection development and curation. Material selected to be deaccessioned may be returned to the donor (based on donor agreements), gifted/transferred to a more appropriate repository, or discarded. In identifying materials for deaccessioning (whether organized and described or not) the NVC Archives staff considers the following:  

  • Does the material in question fall within the scope of our collection development policy and collecting practices?  

  • Has the material deteriorated in such a way that it cannot be reproduced or is beyond being useful due to its condition?  

  • Have the materials been subjected to poor environmental conditions, resulting in mold, water damage, fire damage, or show evidence of being exposed to rodents/pests?  

Security and Storage  

All public records and manuscript materials acquired by the NVC Archives are accessioned, described and preserved according to established professional standards. Even with these best practices, however, all records deteriorate. To counter and slow this process and increase record life spans, the Archives employs several preservation strategies. Among these strategies are:     

  • Storage of the records in special temperature- and humidity-controlled facilities and vaults     

  • Monitoring the environment to ensure there are no extreme fluctuations in temperature or humidity  

  • Minimizing the impact of light fading the records by using motion-controlled sensors  

  • Diminishing the risk of fire by using heat and smoke detectors   

  • Using multiple layers of security to reduce the threat of theft 

  • Maintaining an integrated pest management program to prevent harm from insects and vermin   

  • Rehousing records in archival boxes and folders   

  • Reformatting records to ensure the long-term survival of the information in the records   

  • Practicing migration strategies, redundant storage and the physical dispersal of copies to ensure indefinite long-term access of electronic records