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Collections development statement

1. General

The LSHTM Archives Service aims to make the School’s collections available for consultation and research in line with the LAORS mission which is to:

To provide excellent information-related services, resources and support to the School in pursuit of its mission to improve health and health equity in the UK and worldwide.

The Collections Development Statement is intended to guide the acquisition, retention and disposal of physical and digital archival material. This document aims to provide guidance so that consistency and continuity are achieved in the management of the archive collections.

The Collections Development Statement is intended to sustain a developing and coherent research collection which has a strong focus on public and global health and ensures that the Archives Service is contributing to the School’s mission and values which are: act with integrity, embrace difference, work together and create impact.

The LSHTM Archives service places a high priority on inclusive practice. The archives are re-examining the collections we hold, the stories we tell and the role we can play in critically engaging with the School’s colonial legacy. Collection development activities are all carried out in accordance with the Decolonising the Archives Principles. 

2. Background

The LSHTM Archives Service was established in 2002 when the first professional archivist was employed. One of the first activities for the archivist was to survey and appraise the collections, none of which were catalogued and stored to archival standards. It was important to find out more about the administration and impact of the School and its work in order to understand the strengths of the existing collections and future collections. 

3. Collection strengths

LSHTM Archive collections provide a record of the research and study of various aspects of global medicine and public health from the mid-nineteenth century to present day. 

These include:

  • Malaria research
  • History of tropical disease such as Ebola, sleeping sickness, cholera
  • HIV/AIDS including UK and European public health campaigns
  • Nutrition research
  • Individuals involved in research into global medicine such as Sir Ronald Ross, Sir Patrick Manson and Baron Peter Piot
  • Maps
  • Whitehall Study
  • Administrative records relating to the formation and development of LSHTM
  • Staff and student records

The LSHTM Archives Service is committed to diversifying its collections and consider this a collecting priority in line with the Decolonising the Archives principles. There is an acknowledgement of a strong focus in the archives of traditional white male stories. The Archives Service recognises gaps in the collection and will endeavour, through a more pro-active approach to acquisition and appraisal, to increase the representation of marginalised and underrepresented communities within the Archives. 

4. Acquisition

The LSHTM Archives Service usually acquires material from the following sources:

  • Current staff members
  • Former staff members
  • Family members of former staff or students
  • Members of the public who hold material relating to tropical medicine or public health
  • Collections held in other repositories such as the Wellcome Collection
  • Records held in the Records Management Service 

All analogue and digital material is assessed in relation to the LAORS Collections Management policy, this states that the Archives Service will only accept material that relates directly to the School and its history. The Archives Service is not a collecting repository and will not accept general material on the history of global medicine and public health. In these circumstances, staff should do their best to identify other repositories that may be best placed to accept this material for example the Wellcome Collection or the institution where the individual studied.

In special cases, the accession of material relating to the history of global medicine and public health, which complements the existing collections, may be considered. This is at the discretion of the Archivist & Records Manager, and is subject to the limitations of space, time and resources.

The Archival Selection Criteria document is a tool used in assessing the relevance of material. This sets out how the records should be appraised in terms of providing evidence of what the institution has done and why, what it and its staff and students have achieved, and of its impact locally and in the wider world. As well as using these criteria, all decisions will be discussed and questioned to ensure that they adhere to our Decolonising the Archives principles.

When deciding whether to accept a collection, space and resources are taken into consideration. External funding sources are also considered. The Archives Service reserves the right to decline material that cannot be accessed or preserved at reasonable cost. 

5. Gifts of archival material

There are general conditions laid down for all donations of material:

  • All material must come from a bona fide source and should be able to demonstrate provenance
  • The donor must have the authority to gift the material
  • All material must meet the terms in the gift agreement
  • The donor must sign the gift agreement
  • There should be not unnecessary restrictions on access or availability for research
  • If there are parts of the collection that do not match the Archival Selection Criteria, these will be offered back to the depositor, offered to another institution, or disposed of. This is also the case with duplicate material.
  • There should be no stipulations on storage, conservation, preservation or cataloguing or use which do not conform to the Archives Service available resources or strategic aims.

The Archives Service does not accept accessions on deposit or loan, it only accepts gifts. This is because the Archives Service does not have the resources to appraise, catalogue, store and manage material that may be returned to the owner in the future.

The Archives Service does not have a budget to purchase archive material.

6. Archive collecting and subject development

The Archives Service does not, at present, actively solicit deposits of archive material, although it does respond positively to offers of material in the collecting areas as outlined above.

It is clearly not possible, due to the unique nature of archives and the generally non-routine nature of their survival, to undertake a systematic collecting process in the same way that a library might. However, there are general areas where we might seek to build upon existing strengths or develop certain subject areas.

The Archives Service will therefore continue to collect material in areas of strength, such as global medicine; public health; HIV/AIDS and collections related in some way to the School, ensuring that we are adhering to our Decolonising the Archives Principles and through our processes collecting the archives of underrepresented communities.

7. Implementation and review

This Collections Development Statement will be communicated to LAORS staff, to interested parties within LSHTM, and to external agencies and others with an interest in its context on demand. It will be made available to the public via the Archives web pages.

The Collections Development Statement will be reviewed every two years by the LAORS Management Team. This does not preclude earlier review should internal or external development warrant it.

8. Useful sources

Policies and sources of advice consulted during the drafting of this statement include:

King’s College London, Archives Collection Development Policy

UCL Institute of Education Archives Collection Development Policy

Smith College Libraries, Special Collections: Collection Development Strategy

Archivist & Records Manager
October 2023