College Archives

The mission of the College Archives is to collect, identify, arrange, describe, and preserve records generated by the College, its faculty and staff, and to make them available for use.

The archives consist of administrative paperwork generated by various college departments. It includes correspondence, meeting minutes and agendas, memos, course listings, yearbooks, news clippings, student handbooks, faculty directories, graduation materials, and student publications. It also includes photographs, videotapes and audiotapes of people and events, including interviews with key personnel.

Patrons may visit the Archives by appointment during the Library's open hours, pending the availability of staff. Patrons visiting the Archives must be accompanied by a Library staff member at all times. 

To arrange an appointment to visit, or for questions, contact the Library. In-depth and open-ended inquiries must be conducted on site by the researcher.  

Archival materials do not circulate and cannot be taken outside of the Archives room. All materials from the collection must remain in the Archives at all times. Researchers are encouraged to photograph items of interest or to submit a duplication request form (see below). 

Researchers are asked to maintain the order of materials accessed in the Archives. The Library staff provide bookmarks to use as placeholders to maintain the order of boxes and files.  Researchers are asked to refrain from touching the surface of photographs and negatives, and cotton gloves are available if handling of photographs is required. All patrons are asked to handle materials with caution to ensure their long-term preservation. No eating or drinking is permitted in the Archives.  

Patrons may request to have select items of interest digitized or photocopied by the Library staff. Digitization services are available at no cost, while the standard fee of $0.12 per page side will apply to photocopy requests. To request these services, a duplication request form must be filled out, stating the patron’s name and contact information, a complete inventory of the items including box number and file name, and the desired format/file format (if applicable). Duplication requests may take up to 2 weeks to be filled.  

Reproduction of materials does not constitute a transfer copyright to researchers. Furthermore, it is solely the researcher’s obligation to satisfy copyright regulations when using materials found in the collection. When possible, Library staff can assist researchers in identifying the copyright holder for materials in the collection, though it is the responsibility of the researcher to secure permission to publish items from the collection. Requests to publish materials for which Tompkins Cortland Community College holds the copyright must be made in writing and submitted to the Library staff. 

Documents from the holdings of the Tompkins Cortland Community College Archives may be digitized for online access to support non-profit educational and research uses.