University of Missouri - Columbia Archives


Policy Number 21: Administrative Histories
12/2000


1. POLICY:

Administrative histories of the University of Missouri System (UM-System) offices and University of Missouri-Columbia (UMC) colleges, schools, departments, and other units will be maintained and updated as time and staff allow.

2. PURPOSE:

University Archives administrative histories serve the dual purpose of providing a reference source for patrons and in assisting University Archives staff members in processing and describing organizational records originating from the UM-System and UMC campus.

3. SCOPE:

This policy applies to all University of Missouri - Columbia Archives staff members and student workers.

4. RESPONSIBILITIES:

4-1. The University Archivist is responsible for all decisions concerning creation of administrative histories within the Archives.

4-2. The University Archives staff and student workers (under staff direction) are responsible for creation and maintenance of administrative histories within the Archives.

5. DEFINITIONS:

5-1. Administrative Histories - historical summaries located on the University Archives Web site (and in hard copy in the University Archives Vertical File and Administrative History Notebooks) which contain information on the background, development, and changes of UM-System and UMC units.

5-2. Administrative History Notebooks - binders located in University Archives Room 723 which contain paper copies of administrative histories maintained by the Archives.

5-3. Vertical File - ready-reference materials used to provide quick information for patron queries about UMC topics.

5-4. Referential Histories - Web pages prepared by units other than the University Archives regarding the administrative history of a department or office and linked to the University Archives Web site.

6. PROCEDURES:

6-1. Check the Administrative History Notebooks to determine if the University Archives has any preexisting history for the unit and/or its sub-units. If a history does exist for the unit, it can be used as a starting point and to supplement other information, but they should be checked for accuracy and expanded through the other resources discussed below.

6-2. Peruse any University Archives collections from the unit(s) to determine if any collections specifically contain histories of the unit; printed and duplicated materials produced by the unit (particularly catalogs and bulletins) often are good possibilities for historical information. The department's Web site should also be examined. It is also sometimes helpful to check with the department to find out if they have any literature or information that would help in the process.

6-3. Although good background information may be gleaned from the above resources, it will generally be necessary to examine the University General Catalogs (C:0/51/1) to develop a timeline and document changes in academic units. It may also be necessary to consult the University General Faculty/Staff/Student Directories (C:0/4/1) to develop or verify departmental leadership lists.

6-4. When conducting research for administrative histories, the staff member should seek answers to the following questions:

6-4-1. What is the mission/function of the unit?

6-4-2. How did the unit originate within the UM-System or UMC organization? How and when was it authorized and established? What are its predecessors?

6-4-3. How is the unit organized?

6-4-4. How is the unit related to other organizational units?

6-4-5. What changes have occurred in the unit over time (e.g., name changes, leadership changes, changes in function/mission)?

6-5. In addition to answering the basic questions above, the staff member should also attempt to glean from the resources any significant activities or events associated with the department or a few historical details about the unit which will add some interest to the final historical summary. However, please note that these historical summaries are not meant to be detailed historical accounts of the departments. Instead, they are designed to be brief one or two paragraph summaries which answer the above questions and, if possible, also contain at least a few details that will aid in readability and interest of the final product.

6-6. After examination of the resources and answering the questions above, a draft historical summary should be prepared following the format presented in the administrative histories template, adminhist.html, stored on the University Archives Web site (see examples in exhibit pages).

NOTE: The adminhist.html may be downloaded and used to create the first draft of the historical summary or the staff member may find it easier to write the text in a word-processing program and paste it into the template after the text has been approved by the University Archivist.

6-7. If it is determined that a suitable and useful administrative history for a unit or office exists on a Web site other than that maintained by the University Archives, the third party history may be linked to from the appropriate Archives Web page(s). The linking of a third party source for administrative history must always identify the office that produced the history on the Archives referring page. The linking may only proceed with the approval of the University Archivist.

6-8. After final approval by the University Archivist, the administrative history can be loaded onto the Archives Web site (see Policy 10, Posting Files to the Web Server for more detailed information on uploading new files to the web). The new history should then be linked to any appropriate index, inventory, or summary pages for that unit (see examples in exhibits).

6-9. Printed copies of the new (or revised) history should be produced and included in the Administrative History Notebooks and the Vertical File.

Return to the Table of Contents

7. APPENDICES:

7-1. Blank Administrative History Template in HTML

7-2. Blank Administrative History Template in ASCII text

7-3. Administrative History of the College of Human Environmental Sciences

7-4. Administrative History of the Department of Consumer and Family Economics

7-5. Index Page Demonstrating the Placement of an Administrative History

7-6. Archival Inventory Demonstrating the Placement of an Administrative History

7-7. Composite Summary Description Demonstrating the Placement of an Administrative History

(Last Revised: 13 August 2002)

Copyright © Curators of the University of Missouri 1997-2005
Published by: University Archives muarchives.missouri.edu/
URL: https://muarchives.missouri.edu/man-p2.html

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