The Passionist Historical Archives
St. Paul of the Cross
Province
Archival Policies Statement
Following is our next segment of the Policy Statement for your
information. (See the previous segment
in the Winter 1994 edition of
the newsletter.) A policy statement is the basic organizational tool of
every archives. It defines the mission and objectives of the
archives, the scope of its activities, the nature of its
collections, the authority under which it operates and the services
it provides to its clients. Our Policy Statement has been reviewed
and approved by Very Rev. Fr. Provincial and therefore has the
force of a Provincial directive
Morgan P. Hanlon, C.P.
IV Collecting Policy
- The Archives actively
seeks appropriate material to add to its holdings. Some records are
preserved because of their historic, financial or educational value
to the Province. The Archives also serves as a Records Center,
preserving non-current operating records of the Provincial Office.
The policy of that office is to retain there the records of the
past two administrations. The Archivist, in consultation with the
staff of the Provincial Office, will draw up an Annual Records
Transfer Schedule to ensure the timely and orderly movement of
designated Provincial Office Records to the Archives. The
Provincial, in consultation with his staff and the Archivist, shall
designate the records which are to be transferred. The Provincial
Office shall compile a list of the contents of each box or
container to be transferred to the Archives. A copy of this list
should be retained in the Provincial Office and another copy shall
be placed inside the box it inventories. When records are
transferred to the Archives, they should be boxed in the same order
in which they were originally filed at the Provincial Office. It
shall also be the responsibility of the Provincial Office to pay
the transportation costs of the material sent.
- Whenever the Archives is
offered material as a gift or donation, the donor shall be
requested to sign a legally binding "Deed of Gift or Donation."
This "Deed of Gift" shall state, among its other provisions, that
title to the materials passes to the Donee (the Archives) upon
delivery to the Archives; and that following delivery and the
completion of the process of accessioning and arranging, the donor
may freely examine any of the materials. The Archives shall not,
normally, accept as a gift or donation any material to which
conditions are in any way attached, e.g. restriction of access. The
Archives shall not receive as a gift or donation any material for
which the donor will not sign a legally binding "Deed of Gift or
Donation."
-
The Provincial staff will ensure that one copy of any document
sent to the Province at large shall be forwarded to the Archives
for preservation. In this way a more complete record of the "Acts"
and decisions of each Provincial Administration will be created.
Such communications from the Provincial to the members of the
Province at large shall usually be considered to be
confidential.
Communications from the Provincial to a particular member shall
always be considered confidential and their contents may not be
divulged to anyone without the permission of the party to whom the
communication was addressed. Personal information concerning
deceased members may be divulged only after careful screening of
the desired information by the Archivist. Qualified persons engaged
in scholarly research may be granted access to the records of
deceased members if they are attempting to assemble statistical
data and do not intend to use individuals' names or identify
particular individuals.
Personal information regarding any living member or former
member of the Province will not be divulged or shared in any manner
to anyone at all without the permission of the person
concerned.
- The Archivist will make
every effort to determine the legal owner of any material received
into the Archives and secure a "Deed of Gift" from that owner.
Material received from Passionist sources may not always belong to
the Province, e.g. parish records, and should never be accessioned
without a legal "Deed of Gift."
- The Archives reserves the
right to handle and process donations according to standard
archival practise. This includes the right to dispose of excess or
unsuitable material either by giving it to another, more suitable,
repository or by discarding it completely. Before such disposition
the Archives will inform the original donor(s) who may wish to
reclaim the gift in whole or in part.
- Whenever a monastery,
house or region (such as a mission or Vice-Province) of the
Province is closed down, all records will be sent to the Archives
where they will be processed and relevant records retained so that
the history of the house/region may be properly documented.
- Whenever a member or
agency of the Province (e.g.NEWSNOTES, Vocation Office) publishes
any material, one copy will be deposited in the Archives.
- Whenever a member of the
Province dies, all his records (personal, health, educational,
etc.) shall be sent to the Archives. His immediate Superior shall
be responsible for creating a brief biography or curriculum vitae
of the deceased and sending it to the Archives where it shall
become a permanent record of the member's life. This biography
shall be in addition to the homily given at the member's funeral
and his memorial card with photo which are also to be sent to the
Archives. Passionists who have lived and worked with the deceased
are requested to send to the Archives a brief account of their
association with him.
- Whenever a member is
separated from the Province permanently, his personal records shall
also be sent to the Archives.
(To be continued in future issues)
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