History of The Ohio State University Archives
By Raimund Goerler, University Archivist

Part III: Concerns for the Future (2005)

·        Electronic Records—As of this date, universities generally have had more difficulty in managing electronic records than ones of paper.  Changing generations of hardware and software is only one problem.  Another is that decisions about hardware, software, and the design of records need to include archival considerations at the beginning.  This requires close cooperation between the archivist, information technologists, and record users that has not happened consistently.

·        The Under-documented— Some parts of a university are difficult to document.  One example is the student experience, especially the student organizations that experience leadership changes regularly and have no offices or official storage areas.  Related are the colleges and departments, who may have records retention schedules that direct records to the Archives but who fail to transfer them.

·        Digital Expectations— Increasingly users of the Archives expect to have documentation available on-line and at all times.  Such expectations are impossible to satisfy, given the volume of documentation in paper format since the beginning of OSU in 1870.

·        The Book Depository—Currently, the stack modules of the depository are two in number and nearly full.  Two or three more modules can be built on this site and funding them is a pressing concern.   

Conclusion: 

For forty years, the University Archives has been the memory of OSU.  That mission, however challenged by changing technologies and resources, will continue.  Any person without a memory suffers from a serious handicap. So too does a university need a well-functioning memory to better understand the present and to plan for the future.