Materials in the University Archives
| Dates | 1826-2025 and ongoing |
| Size |
15,822 linear feet (as of 7/2025) approximately 26,044,000 pages and 4.5 TB |
| Forms |
architectural drawings correspondence directories films and videotapes flyers, posters, brochures maps minutes newspapers, newsletters, and magazines photographs reports sound recordings theses and dissertations yearbooks
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| Creators |
academic and administrative offices and departments committees, task forces, governing boards individuals and University-sponsored groups OF Case Institute of Technology Case Western Reserve University Western Reserve University |
The Archives has four kinds of sources:
| Inactive University Records | In order to do their work, University offices create and receive email, memos, forms, reports, and other documents. When these records are no longer needed to do the work for which they were acquired, most are destroyed. Those few that have long-term value are transferred to the Archives. |
| University Publications |
University departments communicate with students, alumni, friends, faculty and staff using newspapers, magazines, brochures, flyers, posters, newsletters, and other publications. The Archives tries to acquire the full range of these publications, usually when they are issued. CWRU contracted with Archive-It web archiving service in 2015 to preserve the university's web site. |
| Personal Papers of Faculty, Students, Administrators, Trustees | People affiliated with the University, acting in a personal capacity, create documents which reflect their interactions with the University. The Archives acquires only a small sample of personal papers representative of the experiences of people affiliated with the University. |
| Inactive Records of University Organizations | University subsidiaries and University-sponsored alumni, student, faculty, staff and friends groups create the same kinds of records as University offices. When these records are no longer needed by their creators, the Archives accepts those that have long-term value. |
The Archives has no records or publications of people or organizations not part of the University.
Topics Documented in the University Archives
Archival control organizes records by provenance, not by subject. Records of a single entity (department, committee, office) are maintained as a unit, separate from the records created by other entities. Thus, information on a given topic is dispersed among the records of all the entities that needed information related to that topic to do their jobs. What this means is that almost never is there a single source which brings together all the information available on a given topic.
| Academics |
Development and delivery of the curriculum and operation of academic units, for example:
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| Facilities Management |
Acquisition, maintenance, and disposal of physical plant, infrastructure, and equipment, for example:
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| Financial Management |
Financial obligations, revenue, management of assets and liabilities, for example:
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| Governance and Legal Affairs |
Requirements of and compliance with external laws and regulations and internal governance via University policies and procedures, for example:
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| Information and Communication |
Provision of information and communication sources and services, including technology, content, and expertise, for example:
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| Personnel Management |
Recruiting, hiring, compensating, and evaluating faculty and staff, for example:
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| Public Service and Public Relations |
Community services and activities designed to promote a favorable relationship between the University and the public, for example:
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| Research Administration |
Policies and procedures governing administrative aspects of scholarly investigation or inquiry, for example:
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| Student and Alumni Services |
Students' relations with the University, including those related to academics, extracurricular activities, and relations with alumni, for example:
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