North Carolina Yearly Meeting Archives
Guidelines for Committees
Committees are advised to carefully keep their records and deposit them on a regular basis in the Friends Historical Collection for future preservation. These records establish legal and financial documentation and provide source material for meeting, personal, and social histories. The Friends Historical Collection Librarian works with North Carolina Yearly Meeting’s Committee on the Care of Yearly Meeting Records to insure continued maintenance of the yearly meeting archives and to encourage constituent groups to deposit their minutes and records in a timely manner.
Permanent records that should be deposited in the Friends Historical Collection include:
• Annual reports
• Minutes of all meetings
• Summary financial records of any accounts not covered by the yearly meeting's general accounts
• Key correspondence explaining the decisions and actions of the group and affecting the rights of others
• Files of material about the group and its work (news clippings, etc.)
• Any materials that help document what the group did and why or that otherwise fulfill the goals of keeping records
Groups with larger programs may also generate a significant quantity or records such as:
• Personnel files
• Property records
• Staff correspondence files
It is recommended that committee clerks keep a photocopy set or extra printout of recent records for reference use. Friends Historical Collection staff can assist committees with photocopy requests.
At this time, permanent records are required to be on paper prior to deposit in the Friends Historical Collection. Electronic records, including files on disks, cannot be maintained permanently. Committees are encouraged to print copies of minutes and records of permanent value regularly since computer files are sometimes lost through technological difficulties.
Ideally, minutes should be kept on non-acidic buffered paper. The Friends Historical Collection staff can assist committees in acquiring suitable paper. However, the Friends Historical Collection will accept printed minutes on any type of paper. Care should be taken to use permanent inks. Some inkjet printers use inks that fade rapidly and ballpoint pens are not recommended.
Committees should take care that minutes and other permanent documents are prepared in a way that will not damage the records in the future. Therefore, scotch tape and other adhesive products are discouraged since the adhesives deteriorate the paper rapidly. Metal paper clips and staples rust over time so items should only be clipped together temporarily and staples avoided. Items such as photographs and clippings should be separated from permanent records. Newspaper clippings deteriorate very quickly so it is recommended that they be photocopied onto acid free paper and the original discarded.
Materials deposited in the Friends Historical Collection are placed in archival folders and boxes. Therefore, committees are discouraged from purchasing new folders or notebooks prior to deposit. Records are best deposited in organized folders or neatly stacked in chronological order.
Committees should deposit records on a regular basis but the specific schedule varies according to the type of record and the status of the meeting. More frequent deposits are encouraged to reduce risk of record misplacement or deterioration. Suggested schedules include: annually, every five years, whenever there is a change in the clerk responsible for the records, or when a meeting record book is filled. Any written histories should be deposited when they are produced.
Records may be delivered in person or sent by delivery service to the Friends Historical Collection at Guilford College. It is recommended that items shipped be sent by registered mail or another system that allows for tracking. Deliveries in person should be made during regular business hours and advance contact is recommended to insure that someone will be available to receive them. The Archives Assistant will send a letter of acknowledgement to the committee clerk when the records are received.
Approved 11/26/2002
