Policies

General Scope

The CUNY HSI Archives is committed to preserving materials created by individuals, organizations, and other entities a part of the Haitian communities in New York specifically, whether the documents are analog or digital. The archives will serve the research needs of K–12 students, college students, graduate students, scholars, and community members. The CUNY HSI Archives will actively engage in inclusive donor stewardship to build archival holdings for the use of all researchers and to preserve these materials for future generations.

Nature of Ownership

Materials will be accepted into the collection by deed of gift, bequest, or other forms of documentation by which full and absolute title is transferred to the CUNY HSI Archives. We reserve the right to determine retention, location, cataloging treatment, and other considerations relating to the use or disposition of the material. Any limitation on use must be approved by the archivist at the time of accession into the collection. To the best of our ability, materials accepted into the collection will be housed in appropriate containers and stored in secure, climate-controlled areas.

The CUNY HSI Archives will not accept items and collections on “deposit” or “loan” or by any other means whereby Brooklyn College Library does not become the owner of the items. Rare exceptions may be made for items placed on permanent deposit or loan. Such deposits or loans must further the mission of Brooklyn College Library in a considerable fashion and must be approved by the college archivist.

The CUNY HSI Archives will not knowingly acquire items that have been stolen or illegally exported.

The CUNY HSI Archives will require donors to provide a notarized deed of gift when the gift is estimated to be worth more than $10,000 or at the discretion of the current archivist at the time of accession.

Collection Areas

The CUNY HSI Archives collects personal papers, organizational records, audiovisual materials, and artwork of Haitians or about Haitians of the diaspora in the New York area. These include, but are not limited to:

• Personal reflections on life, work, and important events, including scrapbooks, diaries, and journal recordings of conversations and oral histories
• Documentation of networks that have impacted the lives of Haitian community members, including correspondence ( both professional and personal) and social media
• Documentation of creative and other work processes, including drafts and manuscripts, preparatory statements, and research notes
• Evidence of significant events in the lives of Haitian community members, including photographs, moving images, realia, memorabilia, ephemera, and rare published materials (e.g., small print run magazines, zines, sound/video recordings)

What We Don’t Collect

• Plaque, awards, and trophies
• Materials exhibiting mold or exposure to rodents/pests
• Severely damaged or extremely fragile items
• Materials unrelated to or outside of our collecting areas
• Materials to which access is restricted in perpetuity or for a period deemed by the Archives staff to be beyond a reasonable limitation
• Personnel files of employees
• Raw electronic big research data
• More than three duplicate copies of items
• Most serial publications
• Human and animal remains

Reappraisal and Deaccessioning

Deaccessioning is an essential function and tool of collection development and curation. Reappraisal of collections is an accepted and necessary activity that permits archives to identify materials that would no longer be accepted under current standards or no longer fall within the scope of the Archives’ mission or collection development policy. Material selected to be deaccessioned may be returned to the donor (based on donor agreements), gifted/transferred to a more appropriate repository, or discarded. In identifying materials for deaccessioning (whether organized and described or not), the Archives staff considers the following:

• Does the material in question fall within the scope of our collection development policy and collecting practices?
• Has the material deteriorated in such a way that it cannot be reproduced or is it beyond being useful due to its condition?
• Have the materials been subjected to poor environmental conditions, resulting in mold, water damage, or fire damage, or show evidence of being exposed to rodents/pests?
• Do any established externally imposed restrictions apply to the material?
• Does the material duplicate other materials that are equally good or better condition?
• Can the material be properly stored preserved or used?

Focuses

• Haitian activism within the diaspora based in the New York City area
• LGBTQIA communities
• Haitian soccer
• Haitian women in the informal business sector in New York

Reading Room Policies

The Daniel Simidor Reading Room of the CUNY Haitian Studies Institute Archivs and Special Collections is reserved for use for patrons using materials from the archival collections or interested in perusing our special collections.  

-All coats, schoolbags, briefcases, parcels, etc. must be put in a locker.

-No eating or drinking (including water, candy, or gum) is permitting in the reading room.

-ONLY PENCILS may be used for note taking.

– All materials must be handled with care. Do not: mark material or erase existing marks; use pens, markers or high-lighters on or near our materials; fold, tear or cut documents; make tracings or rubbings; rest books or other objects on the surface of items; or touch the surface of loose sheets or book pages if they can be handled by their edges. All materials must be returned to the reading room attendant when the reader leaves the reading room.

-Patrons must wear gloves when requested.

-We reserve the right to deny photocopying, scanning, and digital photography of materials. Researchers must receive permission to photocopy, scan, or photograph archival material from a member of the archival staff.  

-Authorized cell phone photography is permitted upon request.

-Patron use of personal equipment such as laptops, scanners, and tape recorders is at the discretion of the archivist.

-Researchers have access to one box of material at a time. When folders are removed from a box, placeholders must used to maintain existing order.

-All archival material (collections, books, artifacts, ephemera, documents, photographs, audio-visual materials, and microforms) must be viewed in the Reading Room.  Patrons cannot borrow material. 

-Permission to publish or copy any archival material must be requested in writing.

-The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with laws of libel, copyright, and literary property rights when quoting or publishing material.