Unlike a library, which organizes its holdings by individual items, the collections in IMSA’s Archives are organized by groups. There are 64 such Record Groups [RG] each determined by the type and source of materials.
RG 2: Pre-IMSA, for example, contains materials about the work that led to our founding. Several RGs include special collections, like “RG 1: IMSA General” which contains two special collections, one on “Getting Started” and another on the (so far) two major financial crises in 1987 and 2002. Within Record Group 6, the material is organized by president; 6A contains the materials from IMSA’s founding president, Stephanie P. Marshall, 6B that from the presidency of Glenn “Max” McGee and so on. RGs 22 – 29 contain curricular and other papers from the Academic Teams; and include special collections of teaching materials from individual faculty members like Ruth Dover (Math Team), Bernie Hollister and Christian Nøkkentved (History and Social Sciences Team). The RGs 31-39 include materials about students and their work and so on. Use the Archives Finding Aid to identify the contents of specific record groups.
In addition to the standard archive boxes the Physical Collections include other items as well. Much of the rich collection of photographs is housed in binders organized by year or type of event or both. Many of the institutional and student publications have been bound and shelved by title and date of publication. There is a collection of books and other publications by IMSA authors; i.e. alumnae/i, faculty and staff. Some of these books can also be found among the circulating items in the library (see the IMSA Authors LibGuide). There is an oversized storage cabinet for large documents like posters, plat maps and architect drawings. This cabinet and a number of other items and materials are housed in closed storage called the Annex. In addition, the collections include a number of DVDs, CDs, and other artifacts as well IMSA wear.
Header photo: Alumni Reunion; Archives Virtual Open House, 2020
Given the nature of an archive with its emphasis on preservation, and because the collections contain many original and fragile items, materials can only be used in the Archives when it is open; they cannot be checked out.*
Moreover, great care must be exercised when working with the archival materials. For example: no food or drink is allowed, only pencils or electronic devices should be used for note taking, and no flash photography may be used.
Some fragile items, like photos, should only be handled with cotton gloves (available from the Archives).
*The Archives provides access to duplication technologies that are safe for most archival materials, upon approval - see Services.
Note: All references to materials held by the IMSA Archives should be cited appropriately, and we ask that any author who makes more than a few references to such materials deposit a copy of their publication in the Archives.