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Center for the Study of Los Angeles Research Collection: Collection Development Policy

Collecting Areas and Scope

The Research Collection exists as a program of the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles to help fulfill its mission of promoting research about, and a deeper understanding of, Los Angeles. Besides assisting the Center in achieving its mission, the Research Collection also serves Loyola Marymount faculty and students in the study of Los Angeles history and politics as well as scholars and researchers from outside the university. The Department of Archives and Special Collections in the William H. Hannon Library independently administers the Research Collection, ensuring that its practices conform to professional archival standards and making available its holdings to researchers.

To achieve these goals, the Research Collection actively collects, preserves and makes available for study materials in four important categories related to the history and politics of Los Angeles: public officials and issues which have deeply impacted the community life of metropolitan Los Angeles; Southern California business leaders and developers, primarily from the post-World War II era; Los Angeles reform movements and reformers, broadly defined, with an emphasis on the late twentieth century; and Southern California Catholic families from the beginnings of European settlement to the present. The geographical scope of these collecting areas is Los Angeles proper and the county of Los Angeles. Donations not strictly within these collecting and geographical areas may be accepted only after determining that they have especially strong historical and research value which must be related in some way to the four collecting areas.

The Research Collection has become especially known for its holdings in developers and Roman Catholic families in Los Angeles. Collection development in these areas merits special attention to ensure the continued importance of our holdings in these collecting areas.

Acquisition of Materials

The fundamental step in acquiring materials is archival appraisal, which must be undertaken before the Research Collection can accept a collection. Only donations of materials will be accepted; materials are normally not acquired by purchase. Donations will not be accepted as "on-loan" from a donor. Acceptance of collections requires a vote of the CSLA Research Collection Committee. Also required before a collection can be accepted is a deed of gift signed by the appropriate representatives of the donor and by the Director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles and the Head of Archives and Special Collections. The deed of gift irrevocably transfers ownership of a donation to Loyola Marymount University.

Types of Materials

Archival theory and practice distinguish between records and materials left by a private individual or a family and those created by an organization, whether private, public, or governmental. CSLA Research Collection archival practice honors these distinctions. Private papers are called "personal and family papers," and records from non-profit or quasi-governmental organizations are called "organizational records." Below are lists of the types of materials which may be found in these two categories of collections. Issues regarding formats are discussed in the section entitled "General Criteria for Acquiring Materials."

Personal and family papers might include the following materials:

• Correspondence.
• Diaries.
• Speeches.
• Photographs.
• Videos/audio tapes.
• Scrapbooks/photo albums.
• Memoirs.
• Family genealogical information.
• Legal documents.
• Financial records.
• Records relating to activities in civic groups.

In addition to those listed above, organizational records include these materials:

• Architectural drawings.
• Articles of incorporation and bylaws.
• Budgets and financial statements.
• Minutes of meetings.
• Directories.
• Office memoranda.
• Calendars.
• Organizational charts.
• Directories and handbooks.
• Press releases.
• Reports.
• Newsletters and other publications of the organization.

General Criteria for Acquiring Materials

The following criteria guides the acquisition of collections for the Center for the Study of Los Angeles Research Collection. The criteria cover - among other issues - format, issues of privacy, size, and scholarly value.

• Collections considered for acquisition should conform to the four collecting areas defined above. Materials that fall within collecting areas receiving greater research use, eg, Roman Catholic families, should receive priority over other collecting areas if there are conflicts between them.
• Collections considered for acquisition should possess strong research, historical, or cultural value or all of these characteristics. A collection should document thoroughly at least one significant part of the life or activity of the person or organization responsible for creating or organizing the collection’s materials.
• The costs of processing a collection should always be considered when weighing acquisitions of materials. Donor funds to process the collections are encouraged.
  The format of materials acquired can be either textual or non-textual. Materials in formats that have longevity and normal shelving requirements are especially favored. When materials exist in different formats, preference will be given to those meeting the preceding criteria. Large-scale acquisition of audiovisual materials in digital or analog format, or film collections will require extensive technical support and different standards for storage, resulting in excessive administrative and processing costs. Thus, they exceed the capabilities of the CSLA Research Collection, which is not a audiovisual, film or digital archive. The burdens these formats impose must be weighed equally with the research value they possess, in considering their acquisition.
• Books or serials are not archival in nature and should not be collected, unless such materials are intimately tied to the person or party responsible for the creation of a collection. Books or serials in a donation are separately cataloged and housed with the book collections of the Department of Archives and Special Collection, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University. This step is documented and becomes part of the permanent record of a collection.
• Acquisition of artifacts or memorabilia or works of art is not encouraged, since these materials are not archival in nature, but more suited for institutions such as museums. Furthermore, these materials lack research value and are often bulky, requiring large amounts of shelving, further detracting from their value to the Research Collection. Memorabilia, eg, scrolls or political placards, accompanying collections may be accepted, but only in reasonable quantities that will not occupy large amounts of shelving.
• Donations that come with materials with inherent legal issues, eg, medical or personnel records, regarding their use are not accepted. Restricted materials cannot be opened to researchers, and their storage takes up valuable shelving space.
• Collections on which donors wish to place chronological restrictions before opening them to researchers normally are not accepted. Reasonable exceptions of a very limited time may be made.
• Organizational and administrative records that are active, ie, have present and necessary use for a group or an organization, will not be accepted.
• Acquisitions of records and materials from public officials will conform to all public and legal statutes governing their disposition.
• No more than three copies of materials such as pamphlets or brochures that come in large quantities will be preserved. Rare or unique materials, because of their historical and cultural value, are the exception to this guideline and merit complete preservation.
• Later donations of materials to a collection require another deed of gift. This step will be taken to ensure LMU’s clear ownership of materials.

De-accessioning

The CSLA Research Collection reserves the right to discard duplicates of materials during the processing of materials or to restrict any materials that it is legally required to do so. The Research Collection also reserves the right to de-accession materials once in its possession. The CSLA Research Collection Committee has the final say in the de-accessioning of materials. The donor will have the right of first refusal in accepting the materials, once the decision has been made. If the donor refuses to accept the materials, then they will be de-accessioned according to Standards for Ethical Conduct for Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Librarians, with Guidelines for Institutional Practice in Support of the Standards, 2d edition, 1992. Legal issues such as ownership and restrictions, the donor’s original desire for the collection, and possible transfer to another institution will all be considered.