Library: Archives Scope

Mission and Scope

The Leon S. McGoogan Health Sciences Library Archives hold material that documents the origins, history, development, activities, and areas of emphasis in research, education, and clinical care at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and its affiliated hospitals (past and present). Additionally, the archives hold collections about health sciences in Nebraska that document hospital history and health sciences professional organizations.

Materials are collected to support the information, instruction, and research needs of UNMC students, faculty, staff, visiting researchers, and the public.

The collections are composed of rare and unique documentary materials created and accumulated by UNMC and its constituent members, as well as from individuals and organizations external to the medical center throughout Nebraska.

Archive staff continue to build on traditional collection strengths obtained through donations and other opportunities while responding to changes in administrative functions, scholarly or research interests, and university curriculum by developing new collections.  

Archive staff are committed to developing all the following collections by acquiring unique and distinctive items not held by other libraries.

Collection Profiles

Papers (Manuscripts)

• Papers of an individual if they had a substantial administrative role, university interest, or university impact that is reflected in the documents and if/or the individual had a research area closely related to McGoogan Library holdings.
• The broader phrase "papers" or "manuscripts" is used rather than the words "faculty papers" to reflect the contributions of staff members to the university.

• Examples of papers could include:
  • Record of professional service
    • A body of research primarily created while employed by UNMC.
    • Teaching material, including course outlines, exams, lecture notes, reading lists, and syllabi.
    • Work-related correspondence, minutes, newsletters, and reports, compiled during university employment.
  • Personal papers
    • Audio/Visual material, correspondence, diaries, memoirs, and scrapbooks documenting an individual's personal life. Collecting preference will be given to personal papers that reflect an individual's career.
  • Alumni papers are only collected if they contain substantial information about alumnus' student experience at UNMC or in Nebraska's health sciences history.
  • Typically, we do not collect family papers unless multiple generations of Nebraska/UNMC health services professionals are represented within the family papers.
  • Institutional Records (Archives)
    • Records compiled the University of Nebraska Medical Center, including its predecessors, colleges, schools, divisions, institutes, centers, affiliated hospitals, and student organizations
    • Examples of institutional records include:
      • Architectural plans
      • Audio/Visual material, including photographic material, audio recordings, and moving images created by the university or university affiliates
      • Class composites
      • Correspondence
      • Course catalogs
      • Meeting minutes
      • Newsletters
      • News articles
      • Organizational charts
      • Photographs
      • Planning documents
      • Podcasts
      • Reports including annual reports, grants, accreditation, and similar
      • Social media
      • Video
      • Websites
      • Yearbooks
    • Other Material
      • Memorabilia and regalia
        • Sparingly selected to demonstrate UNMC's history and activities.
      • Secondary sources and publications
        • Selectively collected if they contain substantial content about UNMC.
    • Theses and dissertations
    • Records from professional health sciences organizations
    • McGoogan Health Sciences Library staff sparingly collect archival material about hospitals in Nebraska and professional health sciences organizations in Nebraska
      • Examples include
        • High-level summary Information such as mission, leadership, fast facts, administrative or annual reports, and possibly photographic material
        • The library no longer accepts archival material related to individual medical practices in Nebraska, even if they are alumni.

Active Collecting Areas – larger buckets (public) versus minute detail (internal use)

The McGoogan Health Sciences Library staff focuses on actively collecting archival material related to select UNMC and hospital affiliate research strengths.

Internal Use

Specific research strengths need further investigation to identify and give preference to strengths that are recognized on a national or international level. Strengths may change over time.

• College of Allied Health Professions
  • Diagnostic imaging in research
  • Educational models for the 20th and 21st-centuries
  • Exercise and immune function/inflammation
  • Physical exercise models to improve quality of life
  • Rural health
• College of Dentistry
  • Biomaterials
  • Bioregulation
• College of Nursing
  • Cancer survivorship
  • Cardiovascular health
  • Social determinants of health and health disparities
  • Symptom science
• College of Pharmacy
  • Clinical pharmacology research
    • AIDS
  • Clinical pharmacy practice research
  • Drug discovery, design, and delivery
  • Nanomaterials
  • Nanomedicine
• Clinical Research and Practice
  • CRISPR
  • Infectious disease activities
    • Currently conducted under the Global Center for Health Security umbrella
  • Oncology
  • Stem cell research
  • Transplants
• Munroe-Meyer Institute
  • Education and child development
  • Genetic medicine
  • Integrated Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders (iCASD)
  • Therapeutic services
    • Severe behavioral therapy
    • Occupational therapy
    • Physical therapy
    • Psychology
    • Speech-language pathology
• UNMC and hospital affiliate outreach programs
  • Health of first nations and people of color (health disparities)

Languages

English-language materials predominate.

Geographical

Most holdings pertain to the Omaha area and Nebraska.

Chronological

Archival material from the late-19th century to the present

Materials and Subject Areas Not Collected

Collections

• Collections that are primarily in foreign languages
• Collections unrelated to the university's academic mission or the library's existing holdings
• Collections unrelated to the history of health sciences in Nebraska
• Current local, state, and federal government records

Material

• Autographs (signatures with no historically significant information) in most cases
• Correspondence and administrative files documenting routine activities such as room scheduling, travel logistics, etc.
• Duplicates of material already in the archival collections unless the duplicate copy is in better condition.
• Financial documents such as vouchers, receipts, and canceled checks.
• Material in poor physical condition
• Material containing hazardous materials, mold, insect infestation, or dampness.
• Medical records
• News publications not generated by UNMC or hospital affiliates.
• Photocopies or other reproductions of original material unless the originals are no longer in existence or are unavailable. Select exceptions may be made if the material offers research value and is unavailable for donation.
• Popular magazines
• Research notes
• Scholarly journals not generated by UNMC or hospital affiliates.
• Student records, including transcripts, applications, letters of recommendation, and graded student work.

Acquisition Criteria

Decisions on adding materials to the archives are based on several criteria including, but not limited to:  

• Available resources to properly house and maintain the collection.
• Available storage space.
• Fit within the collecting scope.

Material need not be "old" to be accepted. We accept many formats, including paper-based and digitally based files. Generally, library staff are more interested in a coherent body of material than individual items. University records collecting preference is given to those who provide complete collections or regularly deposit accrued material.

All donations are subject to review by the library's Special Collections and Archives Department. We reserve the right to determine retention, location, cataloging treatment, and other considerations relating to the use and disposition of the material. Any limitations must be approved by the Associate Dean of Special Collections and Archives at the time of accession into the collection.