Archives Policies

“Firsts” Research Requests

Alverno College Archives staff have sometimes been asked to provide information about who the "first" student, faculty, or staff member on campus was to do something.
In researching these questions, we have found that:

• The Archive’s primary source evidence lacks demographic information that allows for certain identification.
  
  
  • Examples of gaps in historical records include student records, admissions records, and incomplete faculty records
  • Photographic evidence sometimes exists, but we cannot retroactively impose a label on a person based on our observations of that person's appearance
    
    
• There are "silences" in archival collections. The historical record was often created by people who had power in the institution and may not represent unrecognized "firsts."
  
  
• Identifying someone as a "first" can discount others who may have struggled to break barriers. It may not have been easy for the second or eighth person either. This type of identification reduces a person's accomplishments to tokenism, can imply that a barrier has been permanently broken, and ignores larger social, legal, and political contexts of the era.

Therefore, we can no longer provide information on the accomplishments of the "first" person of a certain race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, or academic credentials.

For questions or further information, please contact archives@alverno.edu

February 10, 2023

Acknowledgements 

Thank you to University of Nebraska Medical Center and their policy on “Library ‘Firsts’” and to the SAA College and University Archives Section for its illuminating discussion on “Firsts” held on January 17, 2023.

Access Policies

1.    An Archives Reference Request form must be completed for all users'
       requests, one per request, regardless of request format (e.g. email, voice
       mail, etc.). 

 2.   We reserve the right to require community users to show photo identification
       before beginning  their research.

 3.   Some records have restrictions placed on their use to protect individual
       privacy or because they contain confidential information. All patrons must
       honor these restrictions. Access to  records restricted by law (e.g. FERPA,
       the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) will be limited to individuals
       authorized by statute, by the depositing department, or by court order. 
       Permission to access other restricted materials may be granted by either the
       College Archivist, the creating department, or members of the college
       administration.

 4.   Except for special circumstances according to the judgment of the College
       Archivist, all archives materials must be used in the  Archives reading area
       (Corona B8).

Use Policies

1.  Food and drink are not permitted in the Archives. The Archives is also a no smoking facility.

2.   Coats, briefcases, bookbags, and other personal property not essential to
      research projects must be placed on or near the coat rack.

3.  All stack areas of the Archives are closed to patrons; all materials will be
     retrieved by members of the Archives staff

4.  Due to the risk of inadvertent damage to documents when ink is used, 
     Archives patrons must use pencil or laptop computers to take notes. Pencils
     will be provided upon request

5.  Because of their sometimes unique and fragile nature, Archives materials must
     be handled with care; they must not be leaned on, written on, torn, folded, or
     otherwise handled in any way likely to damage them.

 6.  Records must be kept in their present arrangement; loose pages will stay in
      order if turned like pages in a book. Please notify a staff member if any items
      appear to be misfiled, mislabeled or missing.

 7.   When handling photographs, patrons may be asked to wear white cotton
       gloves provided by the Archives.

 8.   Photocopying is permitted, if it is in accordance with donor agreements and
       copyright restrictions, unless the item is fragile, exceptionally valuable, or
       too large. Members of the Archives staff reserve the right to assist with or
       actually carry out photocopying as necessary.

 9.   The copyright law of the United States 
       (Title 17, U.S. Code) governs the making of photocopies and other
       reproductions of copyrighted materials. Under certain conditions specified in
       the law, copies may be provided for individual researchers'
       private use. These may not be further reproduced, published, broadcast,
       displayed, offered for sale, transferred to another individual or deposited in
       another institution without written permission from the Alverno College
       Archivee and/or copyright holder.

10.  Citations should follow this format:
        
        Alverno College. Office of the President. (A2.2)
        Alverno College Archives
        Alverno College, Milwaukee, WI 
        Box 3, Folder 12.

11.  The user agrees to give the Archives a complimentary copy of
       any publication, video production, or other work relying heavily on
       its collections.