Coventry University Archives: Donating material to the archives

Coventry University holds the important Frederick Lanchester papers, but it wants to improve the archives of the university itself and its predecessors. This will act as a permanent record of what the university did in the past or what it does now.

A lot of material on the university’s predecessors is held by Coventry Archives but we want to improve our holdings to record how the university has operated since become an independent Higher Education Corporation in 1989 and no longer under the administration of the Local Education Authority (Coventry City Council).

If you have or know of material that you think the university would be interested in, we would be glad to hear from you. Items we are particularly interested in can be produced by or for the university – including the faculties/colleges, schools, research centres, services, students, staff, and alumni. Members of the public might also have material to offer.

They can include things such as:

• publications (e.g. annual reports, prospectuses, staff and student magazines and newsletters);
• promotional and marketing material such as posters and leaflets, or objects;
• photographs (of buildings, staff, students, work and life at the university);
• administrative items such as files, reports, and correspondence.

It does not matter if material you have is not that old because items produced today are the archives of tomorrow.

Details of what archive material we already have is available on our online catalogue and the types of items we would like are shown in our collecting policy. 

The university is keen to get more material relating to it to act as a permanent record of what it did in the past or does now. You can contact us by email or phone (024 7765 7882). 

The archives provided images used in the university’s 175th anniversary celebrations and the aim is to carry on collecting items that may help to celebrate anniversaries in the future.