Disposal (or de-accessioning) is part of the management and development of collections by Coventry University Archives and may be considered for a variety of reasons:
- The removal of unwanted duplicates
- Material needing conservation but is beyond repair
- Items are not covered by Coventry University Archives collections policy so are being offered to alternative organisations
- Records no longer meet the criteria to be kept after revision of the Coventry University Archives collections policy
- Material that is not regarded as archival and is due for disposal e.g. items that have reached the cut off period for having to be kept for business or legislative reasons (and that may have been flagged as due for disposal during a records management procedure based on retention schedules)
- Sale – only in very exceptional circumstances and only if funds raised are used to improve the archives service.
Most material held or received by Coventry University Archives has been identified as of archival and historical value. Coventry University Archives has a continuing responsibility for the records it currently holds and will collect in the future, so care will be taken when considering the disposal of items.
Records deposited with Coventry University Archives are usually donated. Such material that does not relate to the objectives of the archive, or after appraisal does not meet the criteria for permanent preservation, will be offered to another archive or the depositor, or disposed of securely. This also applies to duplicate copies of material already held.
This policy is made clear during the donation process.
Coventry University also reserves the right to retrospectively review its archives holdings if its collections policy is updated.