Archiving Student Life at Iowa State University

Organizing Your History

How do you currently organize your files? Or do you? To see if a system already exists, start by looking for patterns. Is everything arranged chronologically by school year? Perhaps things are arranged by function (e.g., administrative files, events/activities, correspondence, and photos). Or maybe the years and functions are interfiled and organized alphabetically.   

Consistency is key! If you find a pattern, stick with it and write it down so that others who come after you can easily understand how things are organized. If you cannot decipher a pattern, consider implementing a new system that is easy to follow. This will keep your records organized and easy to find from year to year as new members and officers are filing and searching for information.

Consider organizing your records

• by function, category, or office
• chronologically
• alphabetically 

How you arrange your records should reflect how you and your organization create and use them.  

Label Your Records

Clearly label analog (physical) and digital (electronic) materials by including names, events, and dates. Try to keep folder and file names short and descriptive. If you feel like more information would be helpful to provide the context in which the records were created or the content of the records themselves, consider creating another document with this information. For digital photos, the automatically generated file names could be maintained with a spreadsheet that associates the files with photographed individuals' names, events, and dates. When adding dates, please use the international standard format of YYYY-MM-DD.

Why organize and label your records?

Poorly organized and labeled records can result in 

• Unnecessary time spent looking for things
• Lost and misplaced materials
• Accidental deletion or disposal of important records

Preserving Your History

Physical Records

• Gather your records in a secure, dry, and cool location away from moisture, light, and heat. 
  • Avoid attics and basements where temperatures and humidity fluctuate often and where leaks and floods are common.
• Keep the space clean with no food, drinks, or dust to deter pests that could eat, soil, or make a home in your records.
• When possible, use acid-free, lignin-free boxes and folders to store your records, and avoid using anything that could damage them, like glue, tape, rubber bands, etc.

We are happy to work with you to evaluate your current storage space and make adjustments to better preserve your records on-site if you want to retain them within your organization. We also encourage you to consider donating your records to SCUA when your storage space is limited or not well suited for long-term preservation. 

Digital Records

• Use common file formats
• Create backups and store them in different locations
  • Don’t rely solely on cloud storage or social media to preserve your records
• Use a shared email that is specific to your organization and cloud storage that can keep everything in one place and be passed down from year to year

Websites and Social Media

Let your Student Life Archivist know if you have a website or social media, you want to preserve. Technology is constantly changing, and so too, are the ways in which these information formats are preserved.