Athletic Archive Collection Development Policy: What to Preserve and Why
An athletic archive collection development policy is the written framework that defines which record types a school’s athletic archive actively collects, which it accepts on a case-by-case basis, which it declines, and what criteria govern each of those decisions — before materials arrive, not after they accumulate in a storage room. The direct answer: without a collection development policy, athletic archives grow by default rather than design, absorbing whatever is handed to them until the collection is too large to manage, too undifferentiated to search, and too expensive to digitize in full. A collection development policy solves that problem at the source by establishing selection criteria, defining the scope of the archive’s mission, and creating an appraisal framework that staff can apply consistently to every donation, transfer, and acquisition decision. This guide provides a complete policy framework, a selection matrix covering the major record categories in school athletic archives — team records, photographs, video, game programs, awards documentation, and oral histories — and a practical FAQ written for school administrators, athletic directors, archive coordinators, and facilities or IT staff who need to build or formalize a sustainable athletic archive.
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