Several AAUW Washington State officers and branch members have expressed an interest in preserving their historical records.  This document suggests some issues to consider when making decisions about what to preserve, what to discard and what to forward for inclusion in the AAUW Washington State Records at the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Goltz-Murray Building, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9123.

What Should You Keep?

The records produced by your Branch or State Office may have current, temporary, or permanent value.  Some record types normally considered to have permanent value for legal, financial, administrative or historical purposes are: charters; bylaws; articles of incorporation; minutes of general, board, or committee meetings; Branch, State, or Regional publications; annual reports; research reports; general histories; and financial documents.

Records unique to AAUW, such as convention programs or transcripts of proceedings, materials describing programs and their implementation, and correspondence files which document the creation of Association policies and projects should also be retained.

The decision to retain a record or record series must be judged according to its current, temporary, or permanent value to the organization.  In order to determine the value of a record, consider the following:

1) How often is this record used?

2) What information does it contain that will or might be needed again?

3) Does it describe an important event, policy, or program carried out by your AAUW Branch or Division?

4) Does it contain vital legal, financial, or administrative information

5) Does it contain unique information?

6) How old is the document?

7) Do other materials adequately document the same issue or subject in your Branch or Division history?
 

Suggestions of groups of records to retain

Branch histories
Records describing establishment of Branch
Branch newsletters
Branch membership records
Educational Foundation
Minutes of Division Board of Directors meetings
Minutes of Executive Committee meetings
Financial records
Fund raising documentation
Meeting minutes
Officers' files
Pamphlets and brochures produced by Division or Branch
Policy records
Public relations files
Foundation and fund documentation
Scrapbooks
Photographs
State Convention material
Directories and Yearbooks
 
 

What not to keep

Not all records can be or need to be retained.  The value of some records is temporary.  Once their usefulness ends, they should be discarded.  Records having only temporary value include:  old receipts; raw data adequately compiled elsewhere; drafts of publications; old forms; routine correspondence; duplicate letters and publications; publications and reports other than your own; and old requisition forms.