Appraisal

Appraisal During Processing

After initial appraisal is completed, there may be additional weeding to be performed when processing records and personal archives.

Examples of materials that may be weeded include:

• Personal financial, legal, or medical records

• Calendars (if routine and with little information)

• Duplicates

• Transactional materials (invoices, receipts, travel documentation)

• Junk mail, routine mailings from professional societies

Student records (including theses) and personnel records should be reviewed to determine whether or not it is the record copy. Only the record copy of these documents should be retained.

Publications in collections also warrant further review. Common MIT publications (e.g., directories) do not need to be retained. Books and articles by others may be removed unless there is a special relation to the collection or they are marked up the the creator of the collection.

Additional Guidance

Personal Legal Documents

Remove and return to donor or destroy, with permission. Refer to correspondence within the collection’s control file for additional information and context.

Proprietary Records

Examine consulting records, decide if they should be kept and restricted, kept as non-restricted, or removed.

Remove and return company corporation records to donor or to company or destroy, with permission.

Processor may want to refer to websites of companies, government agencies, and correspondence in the collection’s control file for further information.

Financial Records

Determine whether the document is the record copy. Check financial records schedule. If not record copy, destroy. Refer to official records schedule at Office of the Vice President for Finance: Financial Record Retention for DLCs.