Skip to Main Content

Massasoit Community College Archive & Special Collections: About

Our Community writing our history.

The Massasoit Community College Archive and Special Collections function as the institutional memory of Massasoit Community College. The archive identifies, acquires, and preserves materials that chronicle the history, organization, policies, operations, mission, student life, and goals of the College. The archive ensures the preservation of college records consisting of historical and enduring value. These resources are available to all for research and reference. These materials include, but are not limited to, administrative papers, reports, published/printed materials, scrapbooks, photographs, commencement programs, college bulletins, course catalogs, yearbooks, multi media files and images and much more.

The Archive works to support the college and those who wish to learn. This goal is accomplished by the preservation of materials important to the institution. These materials deal with historical, academic, financial, and social collections which reflect the college's past and present. Through preservation and navigation the archive serves the college community including its administration, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and researchers. The archive is a resource for those who need assistance in college related research. The archives will also seek out materials relevant to the archive's collection policy to strengthen current collections and create new ones.

History Relevance Project: Value of History Statement.

Types of Materials/Records

The following list of types of records is suggestive, not exhaustive:

1.     Legal or constituting documents (e.g., charters, constitutions, by-laws), vital records or security copies produced by any campus vital records program, policy statements, and reports (along with their supporting documents), minutes, substantive memoranda, correspondence, and subject files of the institution's:

  • governing board
  • chief executive, academic, legal, financial, student affairs and administrative officers
  • heads of units operating with a high degree of independence e.g. branch campuses
  • major academic and administrative committees including the faculty and student senate

2.     Reports of:

  • self-studies and accreditation visits
  • annual budgets and audits
  • offices of admissions, institutional research, college relations—public relations both on- and off-campus—and development (fundraising)
  • research projects including grant records

3.     Records of:

  • departments e.g. minutes, reports
  • registrar e.g. calendars, enrollment records, graduation rosters, and other reports issued on a regular basis
  • academic, honorary, service and social organizations of students, faculty, staff and administrators

4.     All publications, newsletters, posters, or booklets about or distributed in the name of the institution or one of its sub-units, e.g., books, posters, magazines, catalogs, special bulletins, yearbooks, student newspapers, college directories, alumni magazines, and ephemeral materials

5.     Special format materials documenting the operation and development of the institution and the curriculum of the faculty such as:

  • multi-media productions—photographs (negatives and positives), slides, audio cassettes, CDs, VHSs, DVDs, 3 ½ floppy disks
  • oral history interviews with their transcriptions
  • maps and plot plans of the campus and its buildings

6.     Artifacts related to the institution, if space permits, due to the lack of an institutional museum.

Constituents

The Archive primarily serves users throughout the institution.

Administrators, Students, Faculty and Staff have access to:

  • The permanent records of the College (board of trustees’ reports, statistics, surveys, strategic planning reports, accreditation reports, etc.)
  • The cultural and social history of the College (yearbooks, graduation programs, catalogs, student handbooks etc.)
  • The intellectual history of the College and the contributions of individuals for research (newspapers, publications, etc.)

The Archive also serves the community.

  • Alumni/ae have access to our materials to refresh their knowledge about the history and mission of the College which may strengthen their connection with the College.
  • Researchers have access to our materials that can benefit them in their search for information.