Collection development guidelines

Statement of purpose for policy

The Richard L. D. and Marjorie J. Morse Department of Archives and Special Collections has specific collection strengths founded on major research and educational pursuits of university faculty and students and, with regard to records in the university archives, in accordance with state statutes. Since a primary responsibility of the department is to serve the teaching, learning and research needs of the Kansas State University community, the department focuses on subject areas receiving sustained attention from faculty, students and alumni. It employs acquisitions personnel (e.g., curators, rare books librarian, university archivist) to analyze the relevance of these subject areas and to bring additional holdings to the department. This group consults with others in the department as needed during the acquisition process. The department also seeks to improve the university’s research reputation and acquires targeted collections of national and international significance. The department maintains these materials to enhance the Libraries’ general collections and manages them separately due to their uniqueness, rarity, source, physical condition and/or content.

Acquisition personnel ensure their collecting decisions align with this policy. Such decisions include identifying, selecting, preserving, describing, making available and promoting unique materials that meet administrative, educational or research needs of constituents at K-State and those from other geographical locations. Further, department personnel approach the care and development of collections with considerations of the materials continuing to be available in 100 years or more.

Goals for developing collections

Acquire materials through records transfers, donation and/or purchase that align with collection strengths and support the teaching, research and engagement needs of faculty and students.
Acquire collections of national and international significance to enhance the research reputation of K-State.
Limit restrictions on access.
Ensure appropriate professional conservation and preservation activities occur as necessary.
Collaborate with reference, instruction and outreach personnel in department and Libraries to facilitate use of collections.
Coordinate with processing personnel to ensure acquired materials are available to researchers in a timely manner and they reduce the backlog within the constraints of personnel capacity.
Review collecting areas and this policy at least every two years to determine if they are meeting the institutional teaching, research and engagement missions.

Collection strengths

Consumer Movement

The Consumer Movement Archives (CMA) was established in 1987 through the initiative of Richard L. D. Morse, a prominent leader in the consumer movement and Kansas State University professor. Broadly defined, the consumer movement consists of individuals and organizations that advocate for the rights and welfare of consumers, especially when corporations and governments infringe on those rights. The CMA is national in scope, preserving and documenting the history of the consumer movement in the United States. It provides a repository for the papers and records of consumer leaders, activists and organizations, and it promotes scholarly use of the material.

Foundational collections include the personal papers of Richard L. D. Morse, Roy Kiesling, Stewart Lee, Florence Mason and Dorothy Willner, as well as organizational records from active associations including the American Council on Consumer Interests, Consumer Federation of America and National Consumer Law Center.
Key issues of interest include consumer history, protection, rights, health and safety, finance (e.g., truth in lending and savings), food safety and security, products, representation in government, law, cooperatives, and dependent consumers (e.g., aged, disabled, disadvantaged, underrepresented).
Collections are acquired mainly through solicitation of donations, though purchase will be considered.
Materials considered include correspondence, memoranda, minutes, reports, legal documents, financial records, policies, printed material, photographs, and audiovisual and electronic records.
Specific exclusions are pre-20^th century papers and records, large collections of legal documents, and duplicates of consumer-related books and periodicals.
In an effort to align with K-State’s curriculum, future collection development areas could emphasize consumer issues relating to the financial services industry and the food, agriculture, and nutrition arena.

Cookery

Cookery, in all its forms, is and will continue to be a major focus of collecting both through active purchases and solicitation of donations. The Cookery Collection encompasses both printed materials and the personal collections of food writers, nutritionists and journalists. The collection has an international scope, but is largely focused on United States foodways. With materials dating from 1487 to the present, this collection is comprehensive. Supporting materials include departmental records and alumni collections maintained in the University Archives. This collection strength area is reviewed annually to determine if portions within it need updating or expanding (e.g., food fads such as “paleo diets” and unrepresented or underrepresented areas).

Examples of food writers' papers in the repository include Clementine Paddleford, Shirley Sarvis, Sue Dawson and Marian Van Atta.
The collection has a significantly large number of manuscript cookbooks dating from the 17^th century through the 20^th century, with no restrictions on written language or country of origin.
Items not collected are cooking implements or recipe card files (exceptions may be made in the latter).
The Cookery Collection's greatest strength is printed materials, which began with the donation of the Abby Lillian Marlatt Collection in 1943. Printed materials are defined as books, pamphlets, calendars, trade publications, serials, and ephemeral items.

Kansas Agriculture and Rural Life

Primary and secondary resources in the department's holdings document various aspects of Kansas history, with special emphasis on agriculture and rural life. Areas of note within this topic include beef and wheat production, grassland ecology, range management, water, Native Americans, rural sociology and rural geography in Kansas and the Great Plains. Core collections range from personal papers and business records to personal libraries and printed materials from the earliest known in Kansas (1838) to the present year. Other areas of strength include “Bleeding Kansas,” settlement of Kansas, ranching, general agriculture, Santa Fe Trail, political history, railroads, military history, Prohibition and the development of Kansas State University.

There are records of ranches, farms, milling companies, beef cattle industry and allied agricultural businesses. Far-Mar-Co and Farmland Industries records are the largest quantity of materials in this area. Also collected are personal papers and collections that uniquely document Great Plains rural history including settlement, homesteading, pioneer communities and various facets of grain science and milling (i.e., crop production and protection, breeding and genetics, harvesting, transportation, post-harvest handling and storage, technical manuals printed prior to 1850, and early U.S. milling publications.
Personal books and papers from Kansas and Western historians and writers, including Kenneth S. Davis, Homer E. Socolofsky and David Dary.
Documentation of Kansans in the military, especially women and K-State alumni, are collected on a selective basis.

Kansas State University history

The University Archives is responsible for documenting the history of Kansas State University, and thus includes institutional records, affiliated organizational records, documentation of student organizations and student life and culture, and faculty and staff contributions. The subcategories below further define this topical area.

Institutional records: Records transferred according to the university's records retention policy and schedule, PPM Chapter 3090. Additionally, any documentation of Bluemont Central College, the university's preceding institution, is of interest.
Affiliated organization records: Records of university-affiliated organizations, such as the Friends of the Libraries, KSU Foundation or academic honor societies. Targeted donations of more detailed materials from entities with significance to the university community, with topical relationships to other collection strengths or with connections to underdocumented communities.
Student organizations: Basic documentation of as many organizations as possible (recognized campus organizations and unofficial groups), with targeted donations of more detailed materials from entities with a national reputation, with topical relationships to other collection strengths or with connections to underdocumented communities.
Documentation of student life and culture: Personal papers and collections that uniquely document student life and culture at the university. These may include alumni, former students, staff or collectors of university history.
Faculty and staff papers and contributions: Personal papers of faculty and staff that document the administrative, intellectual, social and cultural history of the university. While faculty papers in all disciplines are of interest, historical collecting strengths have been in traditional land-grant topics such as agriculture, human ecology and military studies. Consideration will also be given to faculty with a national reputation, a topical relationship to other collection strengths, or with connections to underdocumented communities. Publications of faculty and staff are of interest as well. See faculty papers collecting guidelines for additional guidance.

Donations

We actively collect a range of materials, including photographs, maps, printed books, manuscripts, personal narratives, diaries, letters and corporate records. The department reserves the right to accept donations without restrictions, to turn away gifts prior to donation and to dispose appropriately of materials that, after receipt, are deemed unsuitable to the collection. Materials not selected for Archives and Special Collections, whether duplicates or outside the range of current policy, may be considered for addition to the Libraries’ main collection.

Have a question or comment? Please feel free to contact us at libsc@k-state.edu or 785-532-7456.