Scope
The Pratt Institute Archives contains Pratt Institute’s publications, reports, memoranda, images, audiovisual tapes, and other items documenting the history of the Institute. The Archives also includes selected administrative files of Institute offices and papers of Charles Pratt (founder), other members of the Pratt family directly involved with the administration of the Institute, and some faculty and administrators. Emphasis is placed on primary source materials having longterm research and instructional value for the Pratt community.
The Archives collects the following materials on the following topics:
● Pratt Institute’s history and development
● Pratt’s traditions and events
● Papers of the Institute's board
● Pratt's organizations and departments
● Student, staff, and faculty organizations and activities
● Faculty materials produced while working at the Institute that reflect the Institute’s mission and activities
● Alumni papers produced that document education at Pratt or have a relation to the Institute’s mission and activities
Materials Collected
Collections must be mostly original, authentic, and reflect the people and surrounding communities that Pratt Institute serves. Non-unique reference material is accepted as part of larger donations as long as it helps the Institute Archivist and Processing Archivist organize, describe, and provide access to the collection. Personal collections donated to the Archives must primarily consist of unpublished material. The scope of collections acquired and preserved by the Archives are based on the Society of American Archivists delineation of academic records:
1. Legal or constituting documents
2. Reports
3. Departmental and organizational records
4. Publications and marketing material
5. Special format materials documenting the operation and development of the institution
6. Personal records and papers produced by school-related individuals while actively connected with the school
Collecting Approach
The Archives primarily acquires materials through transfers from Pratt’s internal departments, committees, and organizations as well as gifts from external donors. The Archives will only purchase materials in special instances as determined by the Institute Archivist, the Head of Digital and Special Collections, and the Library Director. Pratt Institute staff, faculty, and members of student organizations should email archives.library@pratt.edu if interested in transferring materials to the Archives. External donors should read Guide to Donating Materials to the Pratt Institute Libraries and contact the Institute Archivist. The Archives only accepts donations that fit into the Pratt Institute Archives Collection Development Policy, Pratt Institute’s mission, and Pratt Institute Libraries’ mission. We ask that donors do not send materials without prior approval and request from the Institute Archivist.
Conditions of Acquisition
Materials donated or purchased by Pratt Institute Archives must aid in the fulfillment of the Pratt Institute Archives’ mission as well as the Pratt Institute Libraries’ mission, particularly of providing “access to a resource-rich environment”. For this reason, the Archives will not accept materials with access restrictions (confidential information will be removed during processing). Donations under an embargo will be considered on a case by case basis by the Institute Archivist, the Head of Digital and Special Collections, and the Library Director. When another repository is in possession of a significant number of records or manuscripts pertaining to an individual or organization related to Pratt, excluding institutional records, the Archives will generally reject the donation in favor of keeping collections of the same provenance together. Donors are required to sign a deed of gift granting the Archives permission to process, deaccession, establish preservation procedures, and provide access to the materials.
Format of the Materials
The Pratt Institute Archives collects a variety of formats and types of materials including paper, photographic prints, negatives, slides, textiles, three-dimensional artifacts, audio visual materials, and digital media including, but not limited to: still image, moving image, audio, digital art, websites, email, and electronic documents. Please consult with the Institute Archivist at archives.library@pratt.edu before making a donation to the Archives to ensure we are able to properly preserve and provide access to new collections.
Languages
Archives collections are primarily in English.
Chronological Focus
The Archives collections address the time period beginning with the founding of Pratt Institute in 1887 to the present. Materials prior to Pratt Institute’s founding are collected insofar as they relate to Charles Pratt.
Deaccessions and Separations
Deaccessioning refers to “The process by which an archives, museum, or library permanently removes accessioned materials from its holdings."2 During appraisal and processing, materials determined to be out of scope, not unique, not archival, and/or not fitting into the Pratt Institute Archives Collection Development Policy, Pratt Institute’s mission, and/or Pratt Institute Libraries' mission will be deaccessioned. Materials may be deaccessioned at a collection level, where a full collection is deemed out-of-scope following appraisal, or at a series or item level, where only some materials are considered out-of-scope and warranting separation from the larger collection. The Archives adheres to the archival concept of provenance and thus will strive to keep materials of the same provenance together. When a large portion of a collection is found to be out of scope with the Pratt Institute Archives, the collection will be returned to the donor and, when possible, recommended to a more appropriate repository. Decisions concerning the deaccession or separation of materials will be made by the Institute Archivist.
2. Society of American Archivists. (2005). Deaccessioning. In Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology. https://www2.archivists.org/glossary/terms/d/deaccessioning
To view the Libraries full Collection Development Policy, click here.