n.a legal document between an archives and another entity that establishes terms and conditions for transferring physical custody, but not title, of an archival resourcePeterson 1979, 66Finally, it is worth mentioning one other legal instrument common in archival circles: the deposit agreement. A deposit agreement is a statement of intent to transfer title at some future date, usually unspecified; but in the meantime the prospective donor deposits the physical property with the archives for safekeeping.O’Toole 1980, 290–291The Youngstown diocese has a specific deposit agreement with Kent State. . . . Administrative files, including correspondence with parishes, schools, hospitals, and other institutions and organizations, were transferred to Kent State, which has arranged the records and makes them available for research. The property rights remain with the diocese, although the copyright has been given to the public. The university provides reference service to the records for the diocese. . . . The agreement is valid for a five-year period and is subject to renewal.Walle 1985, 117To assess the nature and use of deposit agreements, the author conducted a survey of archival repositories in 1984. For the purpose of the survey, a deposit agreement was defined as “a formal written arrangement whereby an individual or an organization, not institutionally related to the depository, places records in the care of a repository on an on-going basis but retains legal title to the records.”Phillips 1988, 41In addition to recommending minimum standards for collections and repositories, the Report recommends that statements outlining the mutual expectations between repository and office be developed. A draft gift or deposit agreement can delineate these. Included should be the following: a description of the donor and the receiver; an explanation of materials being given or deposited, including a brief list; inclusive dates and size of the materials; any restrictions on use and the time limit of the restrictions; ownership of literary rights and copyrights; the disposition of duplicate materials; expected time to process fully; allowable use of materials for research prior to completed processing; a description of additions; and whether finding aids or guides are to be produced.Becker 1993, 328There is other sound reasoning behind current uses of deposit agreements. For instance, the archives of labor unions and other large organizations are routinely accepted “on deposit” at the Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs at Wayne State University. However, the depositors are charged for the storage and processing of their collections on a fee-for-service contract basis.Maher 1994, 5Associations and organizations need not hire their own archival staff or establish an in-house archives to ensure the preservation of their documentary heritage. Fee-for-service deposit agreements with institutional archives and manuscript repositories provide a mechanism for meeting an association’s archival needs. Such agreements also can help ensure that a repository has the policy and resource base to fulfill its responsibilities for records that document the important role that multiple and diverse volunteer, professional, and trade associations play in modem life.Hirtle 2003, 237There are at a minimum four possible scenarios regarding the ownership of the physical and intellectual property found in archives. First, it could be that the archives owns neither the physical item nor the intellectual property of the item, as when an item is placed on deposit. In such cases, what an archives can do with an object depends upon the terms of the deposit agreement and is likely to be severely limited.Keough and Schindler 2003, 131–132In our interactions, we continually emphasized that we were interested in documenting all sides of the debate and were primarily concerned with preserving appropriate records. This provided another opportunity to educate about the nature of deposit agreements and the repository’s legal responsibility to preserve and provide access to archival materials.Boles 2005, 142–143While repositories prefer outright donation, a deposit agreement can be a useful adjunct in acquiring and preserving records, particularly of active organizations whose corporate owners are not willing or able to relinquish title.Schmidt and Law 2009, 64The university archivist may solicit these materials, common to faculty papers, through gift and deposit agreements.Hackbart-Dean 2010, 20Deposit agreements are another way to build a relationship between labor repositories and trade unions. This is a controversial area and many archivists have mixed feelings about accepting collections on deposit. Some repositories will not take collections that they do not own because deposit agreements come with the risk that repositories will invest in a collection, which a union will then demand be returned.O’Meara and Tuomala 2012, 98Additionally, a deposit agreement is signed before the transfer of materials occurs, ensuring that both repository staff and depositors are made aware of the rights each hold in regards to content deposited into the CDR [Carolina Digital Repository]. This pre-transfer mediation process allows repository staff to uncover foreseeable challenges to providing long-term access, and discuss these upfront with depositors in order to devise strategies for meeting both parties’ preservation expectations and goals.SAA 2013bSome repositories offer the option of placing your organization’s records on deposit in exchange for a fee to cover the cost of preserving and servicing them. Such an arrangement is governed by a formal deposit agreement.SAA 2013cRepositories prefer to accept materials through transfer of ownership. The cost of storing, preserving, and making collections available for research is so high that repositories generally can afford to do so only for materials they own. Most repositories do not accept materials on loan; those that do will generally not accept them without a legal deposit agreement outlining the terms and fixed duration of the loan.
