Coventry University Archives: Coventry University Archives terms of deposit
Coventry University Archives terms of deposit
For the purpose of these terms of deposit “depositor” means any person or body depositing records with the university.
Records will only be accepted within the scope of the university’s collections policy, which describes the types of material collected. The preferred method of deposit is donation or bequest. Under certain circumstances records will be purchased or accepted on loan.
Records donated or acquired as a bequest become the property of Coventry University and the expectation is that depositors include in the donation or bequest their copyright in the records (if it is held by them and not by a third party).
Requests for deposit of materials with conditions of use attached will initially be treated as a loan.
A copy of our deposit agreement form is available below.
All records are stored in secure conditions and all reasonable precautions are taken to preserve the records from damage, loss and theft.
Records may undergo such conservation and preservation as is considered necessary for their safe storage (if funding is available for this work). Extremely fragile records may be withheld from public access.
Upon receipt records will be appraised, catalogued and indexed in accordance with the University’s on-going programme of collections management.
Records will be marked with collection references when catalogued.
The university reserves the right to return to the depositor any record, or transfer them to a more appropriate archival institution (preferably in the UK); to use them for educational purposes (e.g. handling or display); or to destroy them, if at its discretion the university deems the record to be of no historical interest or is considered to be outside the scope of its archives collections policy.
The ownership of and copyright in all lists, catalogues and other finding aids rests with the university.
Records will be made available to researchers in accordance with the university’s reading room rules, the principles of the Data Protection Act (2018), the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act (2000) and other legal and university requirements. University staff will comply with any common law or statutory provision governing public access to records.
The university may make and supply copies of records in any suitable medium for the purpose of private study and personal research, publicity, promotion and any other non-commercial use. It may also publish, or release material to others to publish in any form (including the public showing of moving or still images of such records), subject to copyright provisions, unless the depositor of a record on loan has indicated that their permission must be sought.
The university may make reasonable charges for the making and supply of such copies and for confirming whether there is any objection to the publication of such copies.
In normal circumstances the university does not accept loan items into its archives, but if it does a depositor offering records on loan may make their own arrangements for insurance but the university shall not be liable for any costs incurred. In the event of loss or damage, from whatever cause, the university shall not offer compensation.
A depositor may withdraw their records on loan at any time in accordance with university policies, having given reasonable notice of their intent to the university. During this period of notice, the university reserves the right to copy the records and to make these copies available in accordance with the same access conditions as applied to the original record.
The depositor will be liable for costs upon withdrawal to cover storage and any cataloguing and conservation work carried out on the documents. The amount of the costs (either full, or a proportion of) will be determined by the university. These charges may be waived if the university considers that sufficient public benefit has been derived to fully cover the expenditure incurred. Charges will be made in line with the university’s fees and charges at the time of the withdrawal.
In consideration of the services provided by the university to the depositor, the depositor accepts and agrees to make such payment prior to the withdrawal of the record(s). Where the depositor defaults in making the above payments, the university shall retain the loaned records until payment is made.